This A has a strange back story .. at least what we know of it.
The current owner has had it since 2004, 22 years. He purchased from a fellow in MA, Mr. Vulopas who owned it for about 5 years. The previous owner bought the car from a shop that had it for many years, apparently in for paint work, (?) and it got left there, bills unpaid. That shop had an office fire that destroyed the paperwork and original VIN tag. That previous owner, Mr. Young, filed for an alternate VIN from the state of NY and had the shop adhere that new MG aluminum data plate to the car. The VIN does not apply to MGA coding. It was titled and registered in NY as a 1960 MGA. However, upon deeper digging, the engine is a 1956 1500 high compression engine and the body is also stamped as a 1956. What IS 1960 MGA 1600 are the emblems, the front driving lights, the tail lights, the grill, the brake master cylinder and the front disc brakes.
It is currently registered in CT as a 1960 MGA and has been registered that way for the last nearly 40 years.
None of the above takes away from the driving enjoyment of an MGA.
The current owner was told by Mr. Vulopas that the car was reportedly painted in a bright red lacquer way back when it was in that shop.
That paint is still holding up today, very bright red and shiny. There are several nicks in the paint (pointed out in the photos) and there are a couple of spots that also show some bubbling from probably poor prep back in the day. They haven't changed any in the last 10 years according to the current owner. There are a couple of scratches in the paint, primarily on the left rear wing, called out in the photos.
The current owner has taken care of the MGA as if it was a child, building a garage with a lift for it those 20 years ago. Regular maintenance was handled in his own garage with other items deemed maybe a bit too much, handled by local import specialists like the British T Shop.
Aside from regular maintenance (Oil, filters, brakes, hoses, etc), the ignition was replaced with an Advanced Distributors pointless distributor, cap and rotor and a FlameThrower coil. He also had a full tan tonneau cover made. He installed a wood dash to replace the original red metal one (it comes with the car), carbs have been tuned, the wheels were removed and powder coated in black when the tires were replaced about 10 years ago. The tires are MasterCraft Radials in 165R15 size.
The body is rust free and the underside only shows some minor surface corrosion on a couple of the suspension bits. The floors in MGA's are wood and those are marine grade, clear coated plywood. Frame is solid and rust free.
The interior is in very good condition, tan leather bucket seats, matching door cards and arm rest. The carpet is black and also in good nick. As mentioned the metal dash was replaced several years ago with a wood one, it looks great with the tan interior.
The gauges all work, the wipers work, the blinkers work, the headlights in both low and high beam work. There is a one speed fan and it blows air, albeit a bit slowly compared to modern cars. The horn is the only non-working electrical component.
The vinyl top is in great condition and folds easily behind the seats, windows nice and clear, crack free. The original side screens come with the car, the vinyl wrapped metal frames are in very good condition, the plastic screens are another story - as they have never been employed on this car, the owner didn't look into restoring them, but Lexan can be easily cut to fit and will be highly resistant to both cracking and yellowing.
From the cockpit, you turn the key on, and then one pulls the choke with one hand, the starter pull with another and lightly taps the gas with the right foot. The engine fires right up and produces 65 PSI of oil pressure, dropping to around 50 when at warm idle. This brings one to believe that the 31,000 miles on the odometer may be correct (it apparently sat in that shop in NY for quite a long time), however, true mileage is unknown.
The 1500 series 4 cylinder breathes through twin SU carbs which are aided by the installation of K&N air filters. No other mods have been made. The engine winds up nicely, the clutch grabs as it should, 4 speed manual shifts easily and the car accelerates like a true British sports car. The non power steering is precise in the corners and the front disc brakes, along with the rear drums easily bring it to a halt when needed.
Great open top motoring fun.
While it may not win any judged car shows, that wouldn't stop me from attending and letting people see her, it is meant for driving though.
Unfortunately, with a couple of other "kids" in the garage now, getting out in her has been less and less and the current owner admitted that in the last few years, he's become less fond of open air motoring, so he's decided to let her go to a new home.
Asking price is $20,000
Any questions, for several hundred additional photos and video, to schedule a time to see her or to make an offer, please don't hesitate to contact me.
Thank you for the interest!
