Maybe the best looking automobile ever. (I say "maybe" because it's a tough choice for me between it and the Austin-Healey 100s. Those of you who prefer Duesenbergs or early Lincoln Continentals are welcome to weigh in. Those who prefer 1960 DeSotos or Caddy Fleetwoods please keep your thoughts to yourselves.)
My closest friend in high school had a copy of Oscar Brand's Sports Car Songs, which had a "glossary" on the back of the sleeve. It defined "MGA" as "an abbreviation for meshugganah."
Update: Lots of reaction to this post (note to self: cars a good topic). Goinglikesixty plumps for the MG TC. There was a time, when I was more into retro for retro's sake, when I would have agreed. Now I prefer the minimalist, streamlined look of the MGA to the boxy, open fender aspect of the T series. Joe Martini agrees, though he prefers the Healey to the MG. Uh, Joe, unless you at some time drove a Chevy Vega, don't address the subject of combustible wiring harnesses. Karen Oh puts in a good word for the Morgan, a worthy mention indeed. I learn, to my delight, that Schad and I have something alike in our pasts - Sunbeam Alpines. Finally, Louise Crawford says a Healey was her family's car in the early 1960s. It must have been a very small family, and, at that, a very tight squeeze.
Close! Early MG TC.
ReplyDeleteMG TC was great, for the Roaring Twenties. Out of place in the 40s and 50s, and especially the 70s despite Oliver Barrett.
ReplyDeleteI vote fot the Austin Healy, although the MGA is a great looking car...
But ohhh... that combustible wiring harness.
if only british cars ran as well as they looked...
ReplyDeleteOur next door neighbour had a Morgan. Getting the chance to sit beside him when he took it out for a drive (usually to the parts yard) was a coveted experience, earned by carefully buffing the metal and wood with the appropriate cloths.
ReplyDeleteOh, God. Satan invented the British sports car. I am a veteran of Triumph Spitfire, Mini Cooper, Sunbeam Alpine and Ford Cortina. All but the Mini looked like a million bucks. All but the Mini were total crap. The Mini looked like crap but ran like a dream (once you figured out how to tune the twin carbs and how to bang on the starter with a hammer).
ReplyDeleteThe Ford had to be started with a screwdriver, when it started at all, and it had no heat ( a serious deficit in a prairie winter). I eventually traded it for a used tape deck.
The Sunbeam was a dream, except, well, I only ever got it to run three times (there...back...there...hitchhike).
The Triumph, apparently in protest over Vietnam, set itself on fire and burned to a charred shell on my front lawn.
I always liked the look of the TR6.
Yes, the MGA was a good locking car. I owned a MGB, which someone once described by saying “with its top up, the MGB looks like a pregnant hamster wearing a baseball cap.” Sigh.
ReplyDeleteAn Austin Healey convertible was our family car in the early 1960's.
ReplyDelete