MGA Classic Car Insurance

The first post-war MG, the MGA, had a slippery aerodynamic body based on a Le Mans racer. It was also reasonably simple, reliable and affordable, plus it had good handling.

“The big sprung steering wheel and features like the floor mounted dip switch tell you the car is old, but once you are on the move the heavy steering lightens up and develops the kind of feel a rack-and-pinion system should. There is adequate power from the ordinary pushrod engine and the ride is better than you expect, but mid-corner bumps catch it out and send you skittering across the road. Particularly with the Twin Cam engine, there is enough power to slide the back end through corners.”

1955: MGA introduced after three EX 182 prototypes do well at Le Mans: one averages 140km/h (87mph) for 24 hours.

1956: Hardtop coupe follows the original convertible, with larger windshield and wind-up windows.

1958: MGA Twin Cam with its larger, 1588cc (97ci) engine gives more performance. It has Lockheed front disc brakes instead of drums, but problems with the engine see compression ratio dropped to 8.3:1.

1959: Engine size of the overhead-valve cars is 1588cc (97ci).

1960: Bodyshells from the discontinued Twin Cam are used for the MGA De Luxe.

1961: MGA Mk2 is introduced, but production runs only until 1962.

Heavy and strong
The body was sleek but the chassis traditional, with deep box-section side members. The chassis rails kicked up at the back to clear the equally conventional live axle. It was a heavyweight design (which is why the bonnet, doors and boot lid are alloy to save weight) but extremely rugged. The wishbone front suspension, along with its lever arm shocks and the rack-and-pinion steering, came from the last of the traditional MG line, the MG TF.

Twin Cam
Rarest and most desirable of all MGAs is the Twin Cam, with a B-series block and a new alloy twin-cam head giving 108bhp. Early engines were unreliable if not serviced properly and sales never took off – but now a ‘sorted’ Twin Cam is very desirable.

The MGA could hardly fail. It had all the ingredients of the older upright models that came before it – like the TA, TD and TF – but with a body that looked incredibly modern in the mid-1950s.

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