Up until about fifteen years ago, I had no idea that MG had actually built a four-door sedan, such as this 1955 Magnette. A dear, departed friend of mine was a consummate car-guy and British sports car enthusiast. And back around 2010, he bought a ’58 Magnette. Move forward a few years, and I was visiting him at his garage in Maryland. As he opened one of the garage doors, there it was, the Magnette sedan in British Racing Green. I think I exclaimed something to the effect of “Wazzthat?” I was so surprised simply because I had never seen one and knew nothing of the existence of an MG four-door sedan. Curvette found this Portland, Oregon, domiciled Brit for us, and I’m very thankful he did. Here on craigslist is where you’ll find this one of 18K Magnette ZAs, and it’s available for $16,000. RSK, this one’s for you!
The Magnette is not as rare or unusual as I may have initially believed. Offered between model years ’54 and ’68, a total of 68K four-door sedans rolled off the Abington, Oxfordshire assembly line over those fifteen years. Four different series comprised the Magnette’s run: the ZA (our subject car ’54-56), the ZB (’56-’58), the Mark III (’59-’61), and the Mark IV (’61-’68). These are nicely styled cars, well-balanced from front to rear, with an oh-so-British bearing about themselves. Not surprisingly, a prominent grille is one of the more characteristic aspects of the Magnette’s exterior – and in this case, that grille appears to be unkissed. The seller states, “Excellent condition, body work supreme,” and it certainly looks it! The finish has beautiful depth with an excellent luster. Ditto the stainless and chrome-plated bits – they show as new!
The interior cabin is notable for its right-hand-drive steering position, and the seller tells us that the front seats were just reupholstered. The “old-world” wood trim is artful and lends a lot of class to this small sedan (169″ in length, a 102″ wheelbase, and a 2,465 lbs. curb weight). The environment doesn’t exactly possess an “English smoking room” vibe, but there’s no mistaking this car’s ethnicity.
For power, this edition of the Magnette employed a 60 HP, 1.5-liter in-line four-cylinder engine, driving the rear wheels via a four-speed manual transmission. There’s no word provided as to how this 66 K-mile example runs and drives, though the seller does mention that regular oil changes are part of this car’s maintenance routine.
Other than my friend’s ’58 version and this listing, I’ve not encountered another MG Magnette. My friend led me to believe that some parts are hard to source. For example, when I was visiting, he told me that he’d found an extra rear windscreen and he was going to pick it up and put it away for a rainy day – he said they rarely turn up. This is a really neat little car, and so different from what my mind conjures when the subject of a fifties MG arises. So tell me, has anyone ever owned one of these non-typical MGs, and if so, how was it?
It’s a poor man’s Jag and I love it! It’s a stick, RHD and has a solid A series engine! It’s a great car for tooling around and Sunday morning coffee meets! It would bring much attention. Great lines!!!
A 1950’s sports sedan! 60hp isn’t much but a later 1.8 with the appropriate mods can wake it up nicely-maybe a Rivergate 5-speed and disc brakes and it would do anything a10-15 year younger BMW 2002 can do while retaining that 1950’s English charm-or you could just drive this rare beauty as is and be perfectly content!
The MG Magnette fitted with any mod to the original motor that you like, would NEVER compete with a BMW 2002. I have owned both a 1969 BMW and an MG ZB (the rear window is slightly bigger than the ZA) and the MG would never get near it as it wasn’t designed as a “boy racer” but as a gentleman’s saloon car to carry the wife and kids. Nice cars but no comparison to the BMW.
It’s a B series engine, not A. If you really need, the MGB engine fits right in. But then why is everybody in such a hurry? For me, the fun is to drive a historic car the way it was driven back in the day and enjoy the experience. No need to prove anything….
Sure, it’s a B series engine but I was alluding to it’s series description with the larger rear window not it’s engine.