1960 MG A 1600 review from North America

Everything! Literally everything had gone bad at one time or another. I honestly spent more time repairing the car than driving it.

During a 350 mile trip to the mountains I had to rebuild the fuel pump three times. If I could have purchased good parts, the failures would not have been as bad.

While in the mountains the crankshaft pulley fell in two (rivets broke). The trunk was filled with every part I could think of, along with all needed tools, but I never considered the possibility of a pulley breaking.

Shortly after buying the MGA, a piston burned a hole, which led to a major rebuild of the engine and a majority restoration of the whole car. When disassembling the engine I discovered the crankshaft was cracked too.

Most of the electrical problems were solved when I built my own wiring harness.

The A is total fun to drive. More leg room than a Cadillac, arms straight out to the steering wheel, seat is almost on the floorboard, and although the handling is not what might be expected in a modern sports car, the MGA has a great feel of what some of us think of when we think "sports car".

Due to the light weight and wonderful balance, it was fun to toss the car a foot or more into the air when entering parking lots and then land and stop inches from the parts house's front window (it was amusing to see the parts guys quickly step back from the front counter whenever I arrived :-) ). I have not since found a car that could be so easily handled to the extreme.

The styling remains one of the best of any car (in my opinion).

Like other English cars of the era, the electrical was bottom grade.

My MGA gave me some of the very best memories of my life. The car itself is actually not so great as far as quality build and performance, but the fun factor and proper fit is worth the lack of dependability.