Member Gallery – MGA 1500 Coupe

1959 Sebring Coupe, 1622 motor, black interior. Front and rear hidden bumpers.

Tail of the Dragon

Driving Tail of the Dragon

The Little Blue Coupe in her garage

Photo taken at the 2018 Southwest Idaho All British Field Meet, Meridian, ID. The coupe was my late wife’s car and I drive it in her memory.

First drive of 2012! Background is Lake Lanier in Cumming, Ga. I have owned the car since 1976. I lived in Miami and bought car from my best friend’s mom.

2017 Coast to Coast caravan visit. On the Tail of the Dragon.

This is the beginning of a great relationship. My parents bought this project for me for my 37th birthday. After helping my step dad and uncle restore 5 different MG’s over the years. It’s now my turn to carry on the tradition.

1957 MGA 1500 coupe. Full body off restoration taking 5 years to complete.

“Miss Scarlett”, Bob Agar’s ‘57 MGA 1500 Coupe

This is Miss Scarlett, a 1957 MGA 1500 coupe in Ferrari Red with black interior and chrome wire wheels. Bone stock and a joy to drive.

This car had sat in the rear yard of a North New Jersey repair shop for about 15 years and had been exposed to the weather and attacked by vandals. The owner was going to sell it for scrap. After purchasing the car I enrolled in the county vocational night school to restore the body towing the car two nights a week over 18 months for a total of about 3,000 miles. At home I rebuilt the engine, interior, installed new wiring etc. The car was finished in June 1988 and has won over 90 awards. In 1990 it won best coupe at GT15.

At the local Cruise Night in Winnipeg, just a few days after I bought it. One of the rare moments it was not surrounded by spectators!

Getting the car out of the upholstery shop soon and “Miss Bell.” will be on the market. This car appeared on the front cover of the March 2018 issue of MGA!

This car is a frame off piece by piece driver. A lot of thought went into this car and it will be fun driving it to car shows. I like this photo as it brings a slightly dark character to it. At the time of this photo I was putting the new wiring harness in it…I took a break and put a drop light on it and snapped this for later.

Production Date – May 29, 1957. This car has been through a ground-up restoration over the last 4 years being restored to its original Mineral Blue color with gray carpet and trim. Mineral Blue was a Coupe-only color for 1500 MGA Coupes. It left the factory fitted with wire wheels, a heater, an adjustable steering column, whitewall tires, and a windscreen washer. The records I received when I purchased this car indicate that it has not been registered for the road for 45 years (1972). I have restored this car to keep its appearance as close to original as possible but have made some upgrades to make it safer and more drivable on today’s modern highways.

Out for an autumn cruise…...Roseland Cottage Woodstock, CT. Purchased in upstate NY for $25.00 down at 5pm. That was all I had on me before driving 6 hours home. Picked it up a week later for 6 hour trailer ride. While picking up 2 other groups had/were looking it over for purchase. Honorable garage owner waited for me with my $25.00 down. Amazing….a car I always wanted growing up. Have enjoyed it for 8 years now with not much work other than brake adjust and minor replacements.

I found this 1957 MGA Coupe for sale on Craigslist in Omaha NE in 2017. It was the last remaining car of a larger collection of vehicles that were being liquidated as part of an estate sale. The car had been sitting for at least 30 years, possibly longer. I was able to track down and speak with the son of the owner who originally purchased it from an a USAF service member who raced the car during the late 50s at Offutt Air Force Base, Omaha NE during a time when General Curtis LeMay, then the Strategic Air Command (SAC) Commander, sanctioned Sports Car Club of America (SCCA) racing events at Offutt as well as other SAC bases across the United States: https://www.google.com/search?q=SCCA+racing+offutt+afb&tbm=isch&source=univ&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwij8-i0k8DkAhUNKK0KHX1HDyMQsAR6BAgIEAE&biw=1430&bih=604) Although Air Force sanctioning of SCCA racing officially “ended” in the late 1950s, it continued surreptitiously into the early 1960s. The connection with previous ownership was made possible using the 1969 registration tag attached to the telescoping steering column of the MGA. According to the son of the owner (1964-1997), it was pretty rough and needed to be restored at which time the color changed from Mineral Blue to Black. When I purchased in 2017, it was dusty and needed pretty much everything but was surprisingly complete and free of rust having spent most of its life near the NE/KS border. A BMIHT certificate documents that the engine is original to the car. Over the course of two years, I disassembled the entire car to a bare body on chassis, and performed a complete mechanical and cosmetic restoration (engine, transmission, fuel system, wiring harness, brakes, headliner, etc.) with the exception of the 50+ year old paint which has wonderful patina as does the interior, argent 48 spoke painted wheels and spinners. I added a dry brush technique “eight ball” roundel…interestingly, this was before I learned about the cars SCCA racing history. I absolutely love this car…beautiful MGA styling, handling, completely analog in every respect. It draws attention where ever it goes. It isn’t “perfect” but that’s how it like it…wouldn’t change a thing! Safety Fast!

After 6 years of restoration, our coupe hit the road to Michigan, Tennessee & Pensylvania now on to Wisconsin this year.

MGB 3 bearing engine

After 7 years of restoration the car is finished! MGB 3 bearing motor, and painted by hand with a foam roller using Rustoleum paint.

Interior

Picture taken for the NAMGAR gallery - June 2010.

This picture of my 1958 MGA coupe, which I have owned since 1964, was taken along the shore of the St. Clair River at Marysville, MI with a foreign freighter going upriver to Lake Huron in the background. A body on frame restoration was completed in 1980 and the car won a 1st place award in 1985 at GT-10 in Plymouth, Michigan.

Purchased as a project in 2003, along with two parts cars (traded for a TR3). Primarily a bodywork, paint and re-assembly project although I recently had to redo some of the P.O.‘s engine rebuild work so the motor would turn! Retrofitted with a 5-main B motor and transmission and a 3.9 rear-end.

Our 1958 Dove Grey Coupe is affectionately named “Little Cutie.”