The MGA coupe may not be as popular as the convertible, but you will be grateful for that hardtop when inclement weather hits. This 1961 MGA Coupe was recently pulled out of storage and includes a bunch of spares. The engine runs, but the car is going to need work to be road worthy again. There is some rust, but as long as it is not structural this could be a bargain. It is listed for sale on Nashville’s craigslist and the seller is only asking $3,300.
Here is an example of when you might actually be glad to have a roof. Although most of us will never drive our classic in the snow, these coupes were popular in rallies back in the day. The photo above is actually from the 1996 running of the Monte Carlo Challenge rally. The craigslist project car may never make it to Monte Carlo, but this car may provide some much needed inspiration.
Image Credit: mgcars.org.uk
I have always wanted one of these or an MGB GT. it just seems like everyone I know who has had one seems like they were cursed.
what in the world happened to the steering wheel?
This is a fabulous deal that comes along very rarely. The parts alone are probably worth all or most of the asking price, which is seriously under the true value of this car. Even with a paint job and some repairs you will never be under water with this car at that price.True that these fixed head coupes don’t command the values of the roadsters, but still this is a wonderful MG to own. I owned a red ’59 roadster years ago and thoroughly enjoyed it but would take a coupe in a heartbeat because of the weather tightness and good looks. The roadsters could—and did—leak rain onto your lap if the seal between the front of the soft top and the top edge of the windscreen was not perfect, as my car was not. This coupe will never have that problem.The claimed 55 pounds of oil pressure is normal for this engine, as I recall. This is a good sign that the rebuild was done correctly, but you can never be certain until you hear it run and drive it for a while. If it keeps going, makes good power, and doesn’t start knocking it’s probably OK. The handling of these was really good for the time. In fact I sold mine for an Austin Healey 3000 and that car was wonderful to own but didn’t handle as well as the MG. For one thing the MG has rack-and-pinion steering, while the Healey had geared steering and was not as quick or precise. The MG was also a fair bit lighter, which also helped. My MG had Dunlop Road Speed tires, which showed no noticeable wear in all the time I owned it. We used to joke that these hard tires wore like cast iron. A set of modern sticky tires—if you can find them in the MG’s size (5.90 X 15 if I remember right) would make the car even better on the road. If I had my hauler in shape and the time I would buy this. I hope someone gets it who will keep it and enjoy it.
I have both an MGA roadster and MGB GT both great cars …still would like to add a MGA Coupe to the collection…all different driving experiences in their own unique way but always all fun….with TLC they will reward tenfold
Pulled the mill out of a roadster (convertible) like this in one day. Ported and Polished head and changed jettiing in SUs… used thinner oil in dampers for better accelration and less stalling. Head gasket torque was really important. Found that torques were off by several footpounds on almost every journal. Also pushrods needed pairing and balancing…just too much variation on every sub-system. Many problems were solved when we rewired the Lucas (Prince of Darkness) anything and replaced the coil etc with electronic no-points ignition, like a RITA motorcycle distributor. The bushings in the distributor shafts were pig metal and had no oil cerc fittings so they wore-out gradually and started to wobble almost at the 10,000 mile mark in every case. Bulbs in rear went out as soon as they sensed any moisture at all… Lucas again. Tach and speedo cable needed oiled and greased often… so much on these well designed cars got out of the factory with bad inspections. The Twin Cam versions were better because they got a different assembly line, but they were very rare. The hard top version was a little drier as the inside was not exposed to San Francisco drizzle and fog etc. but they were also very rare on the A models. The B GT was, really a better car by far.
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