Beschreibung
An exceptional MG VA Tourer in award winning excellent condition, total bare chassis rebuild with photographic record. Running beautifully this comfortable larger MG will accommodate four people in comfort or with driver and passenger, ample more than luggage space for a long touring holiday with comfort and luxury far exceeding the smaller MGs of that period. This MG VA Tourer is in award winning excellent condition, having been subject to a total and comprehensive bare chassis mechanical and bodywork rebuild with photographic record. Finished in its original colour and trimmed in red leather, the excellent black ‘double duck’ hood, side screens and tonneau cover weather equipment compliment the rest of the vehicle’s condition. -----
The car comes with its original registration, original logbooks, complete ownership history, a large file of documents including 1940s photos from the original owner. The documented history records that an RAF Flight lieutenant in Salisbury first owned the car. The car then passed through several RAF officers until its long-term 34-year ownership with the Head of English at St Luke's College in Exeter. After a couple more owners the car was taken off the road and fully rebuilt during over a ten-year period by Richard Skinner of the North Oxford garage. After the restoration in 2012, the car was bought by a new owner Oxford where it was campaigned locally, winning ‘Best MG’ in the 2018 Cowley Classic Car Show. Since then the car has been well maintained and carefully used with little mileage. -----
The MG VA, or MG 1½-litre as it was originally marketed by MG, was sold between February 1937 and September 1939 and was the smallest of the three sports saloons they produced in the late 1930s, the others being the much larger SA and WA. With its graceful lines the MG VA was designed to compete with other similar offerings such as the Jaguar SS. A quality vehicle, refined and elegant, it found its own niche in the market due to its extremely good value for money. Produced primarily as a replacement for the N type Magnette, it looked like a scaled down version of the SA. In keeping with the SA the new car was available as a saloon, an open tourer or as a coach built Tickford convertible. -----
The VA was a neat well proportioned car built on a conventional and sturdy MG chassis which was unique to the VA, the car had a 9' 0" wheelbase and was 14' 3" long. The main chassis side members were of box channel construction and swept up at the rear over the rear axle line to accommodate a softer rear suspension arrangement and to allow greater vertical wheel movement. Although the chassis was unique to the VA, other components such as the front and rear axles were shared with the Wolseley 12/ 48. Lockheed hydraulic brakes with 10" drums were fitted to the VA unlike its predecessor the N type Magnette that had a cable operated system. -----
Popular with police forces around Britain, a special version of the car was made for police use and had a 1707 cc engine and calibrated speedometer. The British Motor magazine tested a standard factory VA tourer, which reached a top speed of just over 76 mph and a 0-50 mph time of 15. 8 seconds. With the windscreen folded down, the top speed increased to nearly 82 mph. Just 564 MG factory tourers were made before the outbreak of WW2. -----
Engine: in-line four 1548cc, cylinder bore 69. 5 mm, stroke 102 mm. Three-bearing crankshaft; low-expansion aluminium alloy pistons, steel connecting rods. The overhead valves are operated by pushrods from the camshaft by the block's crankcase skirt. drive to the camshaft is by silent duplex roller chain. Twin SU carburettors and automatic electric fuel pump. Spur gear pump driven from the camshaft pushes oil to main and big-end bearings, camshaft bearings and valve gear from a reservoir in the sump. Cooling system water circulated by centrifugal impeller and with thermostatic control. Power output 54 bhp at 4500 rpm, treasury rating 11. 98hp
