Sparking memories

MGE reader Peter Morrey recalls his very first MG, his family’s experiences of the then-new MGA and advice from a chap with a bit of MG insider knowledge.

- PETER MORREY

During one of his many golf weekends my father Eric became friends with Syd Enever, the guiding light in MG’s racing department at Abingdon, and the one-time Chief Planning Engineer for MG Ltd. My father asked Syd at the tail end of 1954, the year he became Chief Engineer at MG, just before the introduction of the MGA, about the more recent MGs, as my brother and I had been badgering our father with tales of the older MGs. Syd explained that the current TF was about to be superseded by the new MGA and that the prototype for the MG ‘A’-Type, named the EX172, was based on the chassis, engine and running gear of the MG TD, with a special, lightweight, low, flowing version of the body, made by the Design and Development department. There had not been an MG that looked anything like that in the past. Syd and others had more than a hand in the new Experimental car, which the board of MG had decided to enter in the 24 Hours of Le Mans race back in 1951.

After MG’s return to the Le Mans race in 1955 with the EX172, Syd and his team of mechanics modified the experimental design, with a greater width between chassis members, allowing the seats to be mounted lower, between them. After the prototype met with the board’s approval the new MGA could be introduced. Syd said Eric should wait until the MGA was introduced, which he did. My father surprised my mother, Connie, with a special present, a brand new MGA.