Recent
History.
Again, I am the proud owner of an original 1959 MGA 1600 Mk1 Roadster in Chariot Red. For the past 3 years I have been looking for an early MGA 1600 Mk1 roadster with wire wheels. To date, I had been very disappointed with all the MGAs that I seen for sale in England. They where either too expensive or had been badly restored or modified out of recognition of the original car. I am not an MGA purest but I was trying to find a car that was as near as original as I remember the MGA I used to drive That included all it good points and it's failings.
The MGA, as seen above, was advertised by North Shore Sports Cars in Lake Bluff near Chicago USA in the April 97 edition of Classic Car magazine. So on my return to the USA from Saudi Arabia I contacted the dealer to see if the MGA was still for sale. The answer was YES! and the dealer in turn sent me 6 photographs of the car. From the photographs the car looked in very good condition. I flew to Chicago O'Hare airport and took a very expensive taxi from the airport to Lake Bluff to see the MGA at the dealer's showroom and garage. The showroom was full of North American specification British built sports cars ranging from the 1930's through to the 1970's. The MGA that I was interested in was much better than the photographs and great fun to drive. We agreed a price on the spot and I flew back the following week to complete the transaction and collect the car.
The previous owner of the car had been the president of the Rotary Club USA and had used the car for shows and parades, hence the condition of the car.
As far as I can gather the car was originally built for the UK market
but was converted whilst still on the production line to fulfil outstanding
orders for North America. A British Motor Industry Heritage Certificate
confirmed the car's specification, including details on the factory options
that had been fitted; which included radio, heater and spot lamps.
It also confirmed that the date of manufacture was September 1959.
The
Story.
I purchased the MGA on 7th June 1997 from North Shore Sports Cars a
reputable British Car garage, renovator and dealer located at Lake Bluff
in the Illinois near the Michigan boarder north of Chicago. I then
drove the car 1,000 miles in two days back to my house in Morristown New
Jersey, USA. During my short introduction to less than 1/3 of the
USA I experienced a most enjoyable views of the countryside and hills of
4 states from the interstate highway 80/90. My only regret was that
I was unable to share my experiences with someone else.
I got to the dealer at around 12:30pm so that I could get an early
start from the Chicago area to beat the Thursday rush hour traffic.
It took about 2½ hours to register the MGA in my name and get temporary
license plates at the local DVLA. I was told that the temporary license
plates were only valid for 10 days and that should be long enough to get
back to New Jersey. I eventually left Lake Bluff just after 3:00pm.
The journey from Lake Bluff to south Chicago tool longer than I had planned,
so inevitably I hit the rush hour traffic about 10 miles from IS80/90.
In fact it took me over 5 hours to travel the 80 miles to IS80/90.
I was not a ‘Happy Bunny’. Most of the delay was due to MAJOR road
works south of Chicago on Rt94 and when joining IS80/90. Then the
heavens opened up and I got drowned. At that moment in time I remembered
that the MGA Roadster was not very waterproof and I got so wet I was forced
to stop in Milwaukee for the night. To cap it all I got the local
‘Holiday Inn sting'; "We are sorry we only have suits available at $150.00,
no club discount and no corporate rates; of course Sir! tonight we can
sell all the rooms".
My memory of Illinois was expensive airport taxis, a long wait at
the DVLA office, lots of traffic, plenty of roadwork's and rain.
After a good night sleep and dry clothes I was ready for the next stage
of the drive. Next day was so much better; it was sunny with blue
skies and no sign of the bad storm that forced me to stop. Just like
English weather, the only thing you can guarantee is that it will change.
I was able to get the car dry and make up some of the lost time of the
previous day. Things were going well while travelling through Indiana
until, that is, I stopped for gas (that's American for ‘petrol’) near a
town called Angola near the Ohio boarder. I tried to bump start the
car but nothing happened, it just would not start. I was forced to
call the AAA (America Automobile Association) and test their claim to excellent
service. They proved to be a great organisation. Their local
representative arrived within 20 minutes of the call. A quick jump-start
got the car going and I was once again on my way.
Thinking it might just be a battery fault I drove to Angola to find
a car parts shop and fix the car. The parts shop, Hires Auto Parts,
was located on the outskirts of Angola. I can assure you that it
was nothing like the place of the same name in Africa. On investigation
I found that it was not the battery that had failed but a fault on the
heavy power cable from the battery to the starter solenoid. I found
that during the rebuild someone had made a bad joint in the heavy power
cable. Removing the joint from the heavy power cable and using the
old 12 volt battery would have been enough to fix the car. However
for peace of mind I decided to replace the original single 12 volt battery
for two new 12 volt maintenance free batteries. The Guy at the shop
was so helpful. He gave me a hand to remove the old battery, fit
two new batteries and make up new leads and clamps to connect the batteries
in parallel. It took about 3 hours and 4 pints of honest sweat to
complete the repairs.
My memory of Indiana was very nice friendly people, few houses, flat
roads, no traffic and plenty of hot sunshine.
I left Angola confident that I would now have a trouble free journey back the Morristown. More road works and and to cap it all I missed my turning at the IS80 and IS90 split. For those who don't know the area IS90 goes to Boston and IS80 goes to New York. Yes you guessed; I was now on my way to Boston. At the next tool both the very nice lady told me to leave IS90 at the next intersection (that's American for Junction) and take route 61 south. 10 miles later I was back on IS80. I decided to stop for the night in the Allegheny Mountains at another Holiday Inn near Du Boise Pennsylvania. After checking in to the hotel I came out to move the car to the parking lot (American for Car Park) only find that I now had a flat tyre. Changed the wheel and took the flat to the local garage for repair. The mechanic could not find anything wrong with the wheel or tyre and concluded that someone had let the tyre down whilst I was checking in to the Hotel. On the way back to the Hotel I was able to fill the car up with 97 octane leaded petrol; “MGA said t h a n k y o u”.
My memory of Pennsylvania was lots of hills, beautiful mountains,
sad people, bad roads, little or no traffic, fast trucks and leaded petrol.
Early start on Saturday 7:30am from the Hotel meant that I was able to get to New Jersey by 12:30pm. This gave me some time to visit my friends Sharon and Robin who live in Dover New Jersey for afternoon tea. I eventually got back to Morristown at 2:00pm.
The journey took 21 hours driving time.
The MGA's fuel consumption was around 30 miles/USG (36 mpg).
The engine used no oil.
The cooling system required only 1 pint of water.
And my average speed was around 55 mph (excluding the Chicago section).
Here
is a list of work that has been carried out on the MGA.
Since purchasing the MGA I have spent the last 8 months tidying up the
car before shipping it back to the UK. I was lucky to be able to undertake
many of the jobs without expert help except for, those damn battery cradles
at the back of the car, and the master brake/clutch cylinder.
Minor
jobs included: -
A special mention for Tom Necede my very good friend from Bloomsbury
New Jersey. Without his help getting the car to Port Newark it would
have been very tedious and expensive for me. Thank you Tom
and Lisa for letting him out to play.
Also a mention for Sharon & Robin Van Derlyn, very good friends from Dover
New Jersey. For sharing with me some of the fun and enjoyment that the
MGA gave us during the last six months of my stay in New Jersey.
Thank you Robin and Sharon for putting up with me most weekends. Sharon I hope
the hair has recovered.
In addition to previous listed credits, a mention for Thomas P. Callahan, for
without his during the weekend MGA maintenance the beer would not have tasted so
good after a long days work on the lights, brakes and plishing. Thank
you Tom. I hope that you have now recovered from my strange English humour, cooking
and sometimes a little too much beer.
Other
minor jobs include: -
More
History.
In the early 60’s I was a part owner/driver of a 1962 MGA 1600 Mk2
in Iris blue. I was forced to pull out of the partnership when my
employer moved me from Maidstone in Kent to Harwell in Oxfordshire.
After I was married in the late 60's, other things took greater priority
than my car; a house, a family and schooling. Now all those things
are behind me I can relax and play with new - old toy. It is even
more fun to drive today than I remember in the 60's. Wonderful thing
‘Old Age’ shame about the memory!
When my employer relocated me to Harwell in 1964 I lived in a bed sit
next to the MGA factory Abingdon. Alas, today the factory no longer
exists. It has been demolished to make way for the Abingdon by-pass.
This trunk road, the A34, links Southampton to Birmingham. However
a house on the original factory site does still exists.
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