BRAVE NEW WORLD

Compared to the cars which came both before and after it, the MGA stands out as an elegant high point for the MG brand. The lithe shape is in its own delicate way just as iconic as the E-Type and while the MGB may have been rather old-fashioned even at launch, the MGA represented a state-of-the-art sports car when it appeared.

It so nearly didn’t happen though. Early prototypes for the car were shown to BMC boss Leonard Lord in 1952 but instead of the expected green light for production the proposed new MG was put on the back burner in favour of the new sports car collaboration with Donald Healey which was to become the Austin-Healey 100.

This left MG to soldier on with what by then was really a very outdated product range. Triumph was turning out the TR3 and the European makers were producing modern-looking sports cars too, but MG was still relying on the TF which looked closer