(none of the images are of his actual car. I found this one recently at BAT and it’s a pretty good facsimile except for lacking the actual deep rust)
(2007; revised 2026) The pop rivets on the crudely fabricated rocker panels were a dead giveaway: tell-tales of cancer under the distraction of a fresh $29.95 Earl Scheib paint job. I noticed the rivets as soon as the smarmy soon-to-be seller of the ’57 MGA pulled into our driveway. But I was fifteen, and not his intended victim. That would be my older brother, who was utterly blinded by lust as the late-summer sun sparkled on the curvaceous roadster. He was nineteen, and about to enter that unique form of parallel hell endemic to the ownership of a clapped-out rusty English car. His only consolation: unlike most self-inflicted drives to auto-hell, his would at least be fairly quick, and a one-way trip.
My nagging doubts about the rocker panels and smoky exhaust were temporarily forgotten during my first ride. Sitting inches above the pavement, elbows hanging out over the low-cut doors, the warm evening air assaulting my head from all directions, I was intoxicated. And since I didn’t own the fragile roadster, there was no hangover… for me.
In its prime, the MGA’s 1500cc engine had once made all of 72hp. For England in the early-mid nineteen-fifties, that might have been sufficient. By the late sixties in the US, the tired MG was anything but fast. But the cacophony of loose valves, rattling main bearings and howling drive-line components overlaid with the “vintage roadster coefficient” made any speed seem at least three times faster. Which was just as well, what with its balding el-cheapo tires and drum brakes that oozed their vital fluid as copiously as St. Francis’ stigmata.
The big Jaeger speedometer did nothing to dispel the sensation of speed; its spastic pulsations were indecipherable above forty-five. Who cared? Most MG’s had never been truly fast cars. They just felt that way– until after 1968, when smog controls choked off even the illusion of speed.
The key to enjoying the elderly MGA’s still-precise steering (at least in comparison to Mom’s Coronet wagon) and other remaining talents: getting lost on north Baltimore County’s winding rural roads. On these near-perfect facsimiles of narrow English country roads, the roadster made its origins and preferences perfectly clear.
Joyriding was its only purpose, as well as mine. More than once, I surreptitiously took the roadster out for a spin during my pre-license driving era (sorry about that, bro, I just couldn’t resist). Driving the MGA released an adrenaline-heavy hormonal cocktail, as I worried about getting caught and/or whether or not the old heap would make it home. The notchy shifter and the quick and direct rack and pinion steering were a totally new experience, one never forgotten.
My brother’s daily commute to college was the MG’s ostensible mission, and the rationale used to talk my father into financing the acquisition. Needless to say, post-purchase, practically every major system of the roadster failed in rapid succession: the notorious “Prince of Darkness” Lucas electrics, those leaky brakes, the anachronistic lever shocks, the perpetually unsynchronized Skinners Union carburetors. The left front fender went MIA after a frat party. It’s a good thing my brother’s buddy drove a boring but dead-reliable ’55 Chevy sedan.
Despite being out of action for weeks at a time that first winter, the pop-riveted rocker panels crudely fabricated from hardware store sheet metal quickly began to disintegrate. This opened-up an ever-widening gap between the floor boards (plywood, actually) and the doors. It was handy for discrete refuse disposal, but not so pleasant in the rain (as if an MG roadster could ever be so). Army surplus blankets were literally pressed into service to keep out the road spray.
At least the clattering, worn-out engine obligingly held on a few months longer, when income from a summer job and warm weather made an engine transplant from a Nash Metropolitan feasible (it used the same BMC B-series engine). And a bright red front fender acquired through highly unconventional means restored the body to a vague semblance of wholeness – even though it clashed with the Kermit-the-frog green paint job. In psychedelic 1969, the car looked almost fashionable.
That summer’s endless greasy and sweaty labors only temporarily forestalled the MG’s suicidal tendencies. Within months, the transplanted Metropolitan engine gave up the ghost, perhaps a form of organ rejection. The MG sat forlorn in the driveway leaking bodily fluids until my father called a wrecker, sealing its final fate.
And since he was called upon to finance its replacement, something more reliable was in order. My brother settled on a well-cared-for three-year old ’66 VW Beetle, still in the prime of its life. The Volks was the antithesis of the MGA in every respect, except for those rare summer evenings when it actually ran. It gave absolutely faultless, economical service for several years to come. And then he sold it for almost what he paid for it. It was probably the best car he ever had.
Now you might think that I would have learned to stay away from old MG’s, watching my brother and his ever leakier barchetta inexorably founder in a sea of brake fluid, oil and gas. And I did, for a good ten years. And bought several VWs almost as good as his. But youthful memory is short. I eventually succumbed to MG fever. But that’s another story.
Related reading:
CC: 1958 MGA – The Almost Great Leap Forward
Back in the day, in dear old England, the great thing about Lucas electrics was that if anything failed you could pop down to the scrapyard and be sure that almost every car there used the same parts, so spares were never a problem.
I remember making my own manometer ( a “U” tube filled with oil) for balancing the twin SUs on the Spitfire engine in my Herald. Only had to do it the once.
The MGA was said to be a superb handling car – shame about the rust problem.I never thought the MGB was a worthy replacement.
SU carbs are the best side draft money can buy and once balanced give no trouble only ignorance of how to tune them causes problems not the carbs themseives
Ah, British sportscars. My first lust was a $400 MGA, but it sold before I could buy, so I got a ’64 MGB, purchased in 1972. It had rusted out rocker panels and loose sheets of sheet metal acting as scoops for rain water puddles (yep, got soaked a couple of times). I got the floorboards kind of fixed with better galvanized sheetmetal, but the car was a wee bit maintenance intensive. It only stranded me once (low fuel and old sparkplugs on a late winter’s night, so it wasn’t too bad.
Unfortunately, I didn’t know about the real rubber brake seals, so a few months after refilling the brakes with DOT 3 fluid, I got to be proficient in the hand brake… Sold it a year later after the brakes failed again. Learned why it died about 10 years later.
Not sure why, but I bought a ’60 TR3A, “90%” restored, in 1983. A lot of fun when it ran, but it was my 30 mile car, that being the distance I was willing to pay for a tow. Never needed a tow, but it was close a few times. At least the brakes worked. Sold it in 1986 to finish the house I was remodeling.
Sportscars and rural Klamath County don’t mix, so I find MGAs to be resistible, at least now.
If your Brother still has little sanity, I know where there is one for sale under a rotting tarp.
And then came the Miata and proved that you could have the fun part of the experience minus the POS part.
Amen.
No, the Miata isn’t that same.
Somewhere in the annals of Road & Track there’s a hilarious story about one man’s experience in the business of “restoring” British roadsters and selling them to college students (given how hilarious it was, I’m thinking it’s a Peter Egan story, but maybe not)–this reminds me of that.
In the mid-’80s, I almost had my dad convinced I needed a ’75 or so Triumph Spitfire to drive to high school, and a little later almost had him convinced that he needed an admittedly well-maintained (at least it looked that way) pre-ugly-bumpers MGB-GT to drive to his own job…both of us got over those impulses, probably for the better. (But that BRG MGB…I would have looked so cool “borrowing” it from him!)
Having owned many British cars in my youth the thought of going to a VW for reliability fills me with dread one thing Vdubs werent was reliable.
Over the years I had minimal trouble with Lucas electrics as long as maintenance was carried out and any faults were easily repaired. The Prince of Darkness title actually pertains to lighting magnetos used on British motor cycles not car electricat systems if you must know. I used Lucas distributors in old Holdens because they are better than the later Bosch units and dont wear as badly.
Im amazed given Americans usual disdain for maintenance that VWs were considered reliable as the constant maintenance required just keep one in running order puts most people off them, the need to dismantle and clean the oil pump screen and adjust the valves every oil change is a pain in the arse but the burnt valves and cracked cylinder heads that result from neglecting said adjustments are expensive @$500 per head garages will not do the oil change properly so the poor misguided owner has to DIY. The only upright VW motor with even adequate power the 1600 twin port had a fatal design flaw that cracks an oil gallery behind the flywheel requiring new engine casings@$1200, no thank you Id rather have a Hillman which were mechanicly sound and well made.
My experience with several 1200 and 1300s was that if they were maintained reasonably well, and not overheated, they would run 100k miles or more on thir original engines before needing a rebuilt engine. And everything else on them was extremely robust and made of very high quality. They could be made to last a very long time. My brother’s ’66 still looked like new inside and out when he sold it with 100k miles and eight years old.
They had their shortcomings, and it helped to know what those were, but they also had their strengths. There really was a reason why they sold a thousand times better than Hillman Minxs! 🙂
In the states they sold better not here my current Minx has 100k plus on it the motor is perfect, as it should be, dont make the mistake of lumping Rootes cars in with the rubbish that came from BMC its chalk and cheese as far as quality and durability goes I know BMC had 3 sizes of standard pistons to make up for the inaccuracy of its cylinder boring equipment Rootes with the exception of the Imp built good cars untill Chrysler mismanaged the into them ground.
The reason being that VW was the only one of the bunch to properly build a dealer network in North America with adequate service and parts.
Contrast that with say, Renault.
It’s an old debate, and your point is relevant. But the consensus in Europe and the US was that the VW had exceptional build quality, substantially more so than the Renault Dauphine, and pretty much anything and everything else in its class. Any old review of the Beetle makes that pretty clear.
Keep in mind that there was a bit of chicken/egg thing too. VW sales exploded in 1955, at which point the dealer network was still none too great. The did quickly respond and demand that dealers re-invest in better facilities.
I know this is a old post, but the worst VW will always be better than the best Hillman.
I learned to drive in my father’s new Hillman Imp back in ’67 – it’d out run any VW Beetle I ever encountered and didn’t feel depressingly pre war like Beetles do . Also it was utterly reliable during the 3 years he owned it.
LBC’s are a very subjective thing .
In 1972 I had access to a 1959 Hillman Husky, this being a tiny two door SUV typ vehicle that had a single side hinged door across the back .
It ran fine and we had fun with it but like most LBC’s from the 1950’s wasn’t well put together and it was summarily junked .
Bosch and Lucas distributors in Holdens? No Delco in Australia?
Afraid not. Local parts would have been used – local content laws and all that. Delco would seem obvious for GM, but Holden would have been limited to what they could source here, or pay a hefty premium.
same for Ford too. My Ford Cortina came with a Lucas distributor, and I replaced it with a rebuilt Bosch.
Most people don’t know Delco stands for Dayton Electric & Lighting Company
$500 for VW heads! You were getting royally ripped off! For a head job on a stock VW head it doesn’t cost close to that today! Brand new dual port heads sell today for less than $200 each!
You can’t tell me they were $500 in the 70s.
Sorry dude, they were, installed. In fact “import” repair shops were one of the great rip off scams of the 1970’s You are comparing today to yesterday. Yesterday was much different, you must be young, and don’t have a clue. I bet you have never rebuilt a mechanical fuel pump either.
Dude, one could buy complete new or rebuilt VW engines for less than $500 in the 1970s. I paid much less than that.
Don’t let the children get under your skin Paul =8-) .
He’s clearly too young to remember the 1970’s .
-Nate
Good one Paul, I too have a soft spot for British Roadsters and succumbed to the lure of a $1000 TR4 when I was 19. Dad helped me bring it home on the promise that I would buy no more cars while still in University.
I must have been more stubborn than your brother, because 19 years later I was still trying to get it on the road, having spent about $6k. Finally I gave up and sold it for … $1000.
I replaced it with the 63 VW which I promise to do a CC on when I get it on the road next year. Please don’t get me started on VW parts quality vs British car parts quality,
Gee, Paul, that car brings back an interesting memory. My first room mate in the air force after I went to Beale AFB in NoCal in late 1969 owned a red 1958 MGA – virtually identical to the specimen of interest.
I had never ridden in or drove a car quite like it. After my room mate went to Okinawa for his turn of four months, he let me have the key for awhile. The seats? well, it was just a pad on the floor. Windows? Ha! There were none – only screw-on sliding side curtains. Insert key, pull out choke, pull out starter knob until the engine fires up – or doesn’t…
I will admit it was “interesting” to drive around base, I don’t think I’d want to drive it to Lake Tahoe or Reno like he did on a regular basis!
You keep pulling my chain with stuff like this!
Well the vw’s I have owned were reliable if 1200 or 1300. The 1500’s IIRC had a problem with pulling the block studs. 1600’s were gifted with new cases, I think but for some reason the ones I owned never were really reliable. The comments above are talking about 1200’s or 1300’s. I think they were good if maintained just a little.
I owned a 64MGB and it had constant problems. The side draft carbs were a nightmare that I think I repressed for many years. Unable to find air cleaners I fashioned some from Borkum Riff pipe tobacco cans and cloth filters. Could get them working but I will never believe that when adjusted well they stopped needing the adjustment. They had a mind of their own. That was symbolic of the attitude and behavior of the car overall.
As we speak of the VW vs Brit dependability. I finally had a manifold fashioned and put a vw carb for a 1600 on it. Since both were cable pull it worked great. Sometimes stumbled just a bit from idle but it was an improvment even there. Gained in mpg. Did not lose in mph. Just a winner.
The vw carb and newfound dependability allowed me to drive this beauty until rear ended in traffic. Couldn’t kill the engine. The MGB experience (which should be listed in the psychiatric manual) sent me back to American cars until I personally experienced the Japanese.
“Now you might think that I would have learned to stay away from old MG’s”
That can’t happen to any man.. Once you’ve been touched by the BritCar fairy you’re done.
I still want to stuff my rotund bottom back in to a Midget.
Horrible car, I couldn’t balance the carbs, the synchros were bad and nothing really worked on it the way it was intended.But what a ride..
(I started writing this yesterday, but had to run out before I was finished)
I was wondering how long it would take for the MG to show up. I own a 1975 MGB. I’ve had it since 2000 and I don’t care to think about how much I’ve dumped into it. They can be like boats, only there’s no water surrounding the hole.
And sure, it has stranded me. A week before a cross-state drive, I had noted that the throttle cable had started to fray. I didn’t fix it. It broke. I can’t really blame the car. The water pump failed on another cross-state trip, leaving a green puddle at a rest area (I stopped to pee, guess the car felt the same need). Both cases were unpleasant, but easy to fix once I got the part.
The faults are now pretty well known, and assuming you spend the time and money to fix them, rather than just bodge it, they turn in to pretty reliable cars. They probably aren’t worth the trouble of course, but damn are they fun to drive.
With a late-model MG sitting in my carport, you’d think that would be what I consider “my worst car,” even if I have a pretty sorted case. You’d be wrong. That honor has to go to a 2002 Suzuki Grand Vitara. Reliable, but horrid. I’ve never had a car that scared me when I drove it, until I had that one.
“The faults are now pretty well known, and assuming you spend the time and money to fix them, rather than just bodge it, they turn in to pretty reliable cars.”
That is key. It’s reasonably easy to fix these things properly, thanks to their relative simplicity and the excellent parts availability. The basic design is more or less sound, and any problems related to uneven build quality have likely been sorted out years ago.
While these cars are reasonably durable, they do not like to be neglected. I suspect that when many of them were on their third owner or so they were let go a bit, which would have made them difficult to live with.
I think that my MG experience may be one-of-a-kind. I was in grad school at Corvallis, Oregon, and one bright September day I went to the MG dealer and made noises like a buyer. The salesman took me out in a new bright red MGB with the top down. He wanted to drive first before he let me drive. He pulled into a left-turn lane behind a dump truck, and when the light changed the truck started moving in reverse. I thought that the salesman would back up, but he just sat there and the truck hit the MG. We weren’t all that far from my apartment so I just bade the salesman goodbye and walked home.
My brother-in-law had a red MG A that he’d allegedly brought back from Florida. I say “allegedly” because I never saw the car move under its own power in the several years he had it.
adding on to the discussion of Brits vs. VeeDubs …
My first car was a ’78 MK IV Mini, which was a real hoot to drive. BUT … oh the BUT’s … you wouldn’t believe so many BUT’s can fit with in such a tiny car …. amongst its numerous failures, it left me stranded manymany times, usually going on strike in the rain, slurping away more oil then gas, a third gear only to be found with a good amount of luck (or at least more than a few trials). Oh, and sometimes it just accelerated (very much Audi 5000-like) as the throttle got stuck and had to be undone by hand. Oh, the adrenaline-rush! And you could literally watch it rusting away. In it’s short 8 month run with me, it developed a hole of about 6 inch diameter right under the passenger seat. End of the story: a loud “crack” and off to the junkyard.
Not being cured from the “British car experience” and naively thinking I merely had got myself a lemon, I instantly bought an ’84 Mini MK V tuned up to roughly 85HP … sooo much fun, but after two months, the suspension of the right front wheel just broke off. That being at roughly 50mph in a tight bend in the middle of nowhere in the middle of the night. Lucky enough to got out of the crumpled remains of the little fellow, I turned my back to British cars while walking miles home through the night. And swore I’ll only ever get back to owning one if I’d had at least two other – reliable! – cars at hand.
Speaking of reliable: next on was a pretty maroon three door ’79 VW Dasher, which I got dead cheap with 180k miles on the odo. That guy truly deserves the medal for being the most reliable thing I ever owned: I added 40k miles in under one year, only filling up gas. No maintenance, no oil, no nothing. I still regret giving it away for the same money I bought it for.
The gist: there is a reason VW is still around, while there is virtually no U.K. car make left, of all the dozens there once have been.
The BMC/BL Mini is the absolute worst car to come out of England rather than being knighted Isigonis should have been shot just after his best effort the Morris Minor. The mini while being fun to drive when it runs is appaling to own just like its 1100/1300/1800 cousins. VW learnt its lesson in the 70s and began making good cars that people wanted BL learnt nothing and kept making those horrible front drive shitboxes that nobody would buy.
haha … true!
but “worst car to come out of England” might be a bit harsh. there are just too many competitors for THAT title! (Allegro, Marina, Princess , … )
The Allegro and Princess follow on from the 1300/1800 the Marina was just an updated Minor with none of the charm or utility/durability.
Not the worst, Bryce. I saw many Minis and 1100s running well into the eighties. Not many Marinas still going by then!
The rot really set in after Leyland got their hands on the reins. That’s when we Aussies turned away in droves. Quality was better (not good, but better) in the BMC days.
Minis and 1100’s were considered cute or fashionable hence people hung on to them even if economically it didn’t make sense. The Marina was a basic econobox that you’d use up and throw away just like an Escort.
I’ve always had a soft spot for the MG A, balancing out my irrational antipathy toward… erm, every other MG badged vehicle ever*. Reading this I can sympathise with the elder Niedermeyer brother mentally editing out the obvious signs of impending mechanical catastrophe and plumping for the shiny roadster. Flip the relative ages round and I can picture a similar scene playing out between me and my (older) brother, though I’d have been the starry eyed one.
On the issue of VWs and reliability, it always startles me to hear VW trash talked by Americans as an unreliable make. On this side of the pond their reputation for reliability is cast-iron.
Back in the 80s there were rumblings among those in the know that the reputation was based entirely on past products and no longer applicable (much like Mercedes Benz in the 90-00s), but VW seemed to turn that around before the average Euro-punter noticed any significant slippage. These days from what I can tell it’s a fairly earned reputation, and the cars’ (extortionate) premium over other marques carries in no small part because of that reliability. Strange that it’s so very otherwise there, but then same’s true of many things.
* possibly to do with growing up in the era of plasti-bumpered museum piece MG Bs and nasty badge-job “MG” Metros/Maestros… or possibly just to do with preferring coupes to convertibles.
Those cars were so sharp. Nice story, Paul.
Saw a chrome-bumper MGB in a junkyard (pillaged for parts, not much left) a few months ago positioned high enough to see the suspension. Not being too experienced with them, I was shocked to see a kingpin front end. No ball joints. Citroen had them on Traction Avants in the ’30’s and most US manufacturers had switched over in the ’50’s. Did MG continue with these until the B went out of production in 1980?
My father told me what a hassle it was to replace front spindle carriers when the kingpins wore them down. Ball joints were a big step forward.
My best friend bought a clapped-out ’57 MGA 1500 in 1965. This was in San Juan, PR where just about every car in the pre-galvanized sheetmetal era would disappear before your very own eyes in less than three years. The MGA was no different. The rocker panels had long disappeared but my friend had repaired them with wadded-up newspaper and and fiberglass. Except he didn’t know about gel coat or Bondo so the panels had an interesting texture. But it worked well with the red lacquer that he had painted it with since he wasn’t into color sanding and buffing. My contribution was painting dual racing stripes on it in white paint. Pretty spiffy.
Efficacy of lever shocks? Who knows? My friend didn’t know that you had to fill them with oil. On some of San Juan’s rougher streets the whole car was a blur. And what 17 year-old had money to have the wire wheels trued and tightened? You could hear the spokes creaking as you drove.
Slow? I beat my friend one day while driving my mother’s 1964 Falcon 170 with a two-speed auto. He said he wasn’t trying. Hah and double Hah!
But the most amusing aspect of the MGA was that MG’s solution to left-hand drive models was to run a big round bar from the right-hand side of the car over the transmission hump to the left side of the car which hooked up to the accelerator. Looked like a sway bar. My perceptive eye caught this amusing engineering solution, and one time, when my friend was making a u-turn, I lifted the bar with one of my feet and gave him a real Audi 5000-moment. Tres amusant as they say in Paris.
But we were in San Juan.
When I returned from ‘nam in 68, I was assigned to Camp Roberts CA and bought a 57 MGA in San Luis Obispo for $300, restored and repainted in the Army auto shop and drove it almost every weekend to LA. Over 400 miles one way. With the original faded red patina changed to BRG, and the chrome shined, it was a beauty. The only draw was that was California’s wettest winter and the rain would pour over the header and drench my lap. I never had a problem, except I lost first gear -right outside a Mexican auto shop, which put me back on the road in a day for $50.
I finally sold it after my discharge for a grand. I regretted it for almost 50 years! I sure miss that car!
Around 1969 my big brother brought home a really clean light blue 62 TR3. In was in the land of no rust and had a new Earl Schieb $29.95 paint job. It was not equipped with a heater and he found a few miles away a 1956 TR2 parts car for $75.00, I remember it was missing it’s left front fender and it ran badly, but he did drive it home under it’s own power, though the trip was mostly downhill. It had wire wheels (his had steel with hubcap wheels), and donated it’s Smith’s heater. It also came with a well worn factory service manual that was an interesting read for his 13 year old younger brother (me). I helped him install it and the operation was a success. He only had it for a couple of years, I don’t remember it giving him a whole lot of trouble. After the Triumph he started buying old VW’s. He bought a 56 VW Bus that he had for several years and really liked, I drove that car a few times and a few years later caught VW fever and bought myself a 65 VW Bus. It had the cool flip up windshields. I used to enjoy starting the old TR2 once in a while when no one was home trying to make it run better with no clue as to what I was doing. The Triumph was a nice looking car and a blast to ride in with the top down. I liked it.
Excellent little tale that cheered up my monday morning Paul. Been there, done that, got the T-Shirt.
I love the MGA’s shape. I empathise with your brother Paul.
I grew up learning my Mechanic Trade from WWI Veterans who insisted I stay far away from any British cars even though they were everywhere in the 1960’s onwards .
In 1971 (IIRC) I got a free MGA Coupe sans engine and top , shoveled it full of dirt and planted flowers in it , it looked really sweet .
Once the MG bug bites your arm , you’re like a heroin junkie ~ always lusting and working towards that first ride experience ~ they’re not fast cars (dammit) but they’re not supposed to be either ~ as Paul nailed it , they’re for joyriding .
Happily they’re dead easy and rather cheap to repair , the myriad of little parts and assemblies are all available and usually you can fix whatever ails it over the weekend .
I still drive my unrestored 56 year old LBC daily , it still gives me that odd rush most LBC’s seem to have designed in as they leak , rattle & vibrate their way along .
FWIW : one the dual S.U. carbys have un worn throttle shafts and are properly adjusted , they never , ever go out of adjustment .
As most engine issues are accompanied by popping and spitting back out the carbys , folks tend to touch them first instead of last after the tight valves , worn breaker points , worn out spark plus and so on have all been peaked & tweaked .
Although not as reliable as any _stock_ VW Beetle ever made , LBC’s are reliable in my view .
Another far too long post but suffice it to say I’ve owned and worked on many LBC’s , mostly BMC products because BMC was like GM in it’s heyday , cheap and simple .
-Nate
I bought first car in ’69; it was red with wire wheels, ’68 TR250. I had it for 9 months, Ann Arbor had a policy back then that freshmen couldn’t have a car on campus. Now, I’m bright enough to know they couldn’t have ever enforced it.
I only had a couple of problems with it. I’d be driving down the freeway and it would cut out and die. It had a group 27 battery in it, so after a bit of cranking, it would start. Eventually, I popped the distributor cap off on the side of the road. Noticed a little pile of carbon dust on top of the rotor. Wiped that off with my finger and it started. Couple of days later, silence and coast to the shoulder. Pull the cap and again the carbon dust, cleaned it and off I go, Bought a new cap….
Other thing was it would intermittently jump out of second gear; maybe once in every 50 times it was in second on a deceleration it would shift itself. The other, other, thing was having my head up under the dash and saw the evidence of a cowl fire; burned paint. They did a good job of fixing the visible damage, but the firewall was scorched.
My uncle Dan’s first car was a ’57 MGA. Well before my time (he bought it after graduating high school in ’73) but it was a car both he and my Mom remember fondly. Not sure how good or bad shape it was in, as it was already 16 years old (sounds like something of an achievement) but at least it looked good, and ran. Most of the time.
Somewhat amazingly, he managed to keep that thing running as his primary car for a solid 6 years. Regretfully sold it when my oldest cousin was on the way, as the logistics no longer worked for a family! One amusing story about it I’ve heard multiple times–my grandfather’s job was transferred from New York City to Greensboro, NC in 1975. My Uncle was still living at home at the time, so he switched his college enrollment to UNCG and moved along with the family. Evidently the MGA was small and light enough that it fit *inside* the moving truck! After the rest of the household was packed up, they simply rolled the MGA into the cargo area and strapped it down. Imagine doing that with a modern car…
My addiction was a series of Triumph TRs. And yes, the original Miata was everything those were but better. The only things it lacked was the smell of leaking oil, gasoline and damp woolen carpet. And yes, I do miss that smell.
To my eyes, the MGA is second only to the E-Type as the best looking sports car. British cars were like that girl you met in college. Trash, but oh so much fun!