MG Sports Cars

engine swaps and other performance upgrades, plus "factory" and Costello V8s

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mgaman
marshall de leon
Portland Oregon
(80 posts)

Registered:
09/17/2008 06:11PM

Main British Car:
Mark 2 Jaguar 350 Chev. V8

MGA V8
Posted by: mgaman
Date: December 12, 2015 10:48PM

Not mine------and no relation to the seller. For as long as the link remains active I guess....

Not really my cup of tea but sounds as though it is pretty well done~

[sfbay.craigslist.org]


BlownMGB-V8
Jim Blackwood
9406 Gunpowder Rd., Florence, KY 41042
(6468 posts)

Registered:
10/23/2007 12:59PM

Main British Car:
1971 MGB Blown,Injected,Intercooled Buick 340/AA80E/JagIRS

authors avatar
Re: MGA V8
Posted by: BlownMGB-V8
Date: December 13, 2015 12:33PM

I really don't get the MG-to-Cobra styling thing. Why be a wanna-be when you already have a better car that can be modded to your own likes and which has character and looks quite the equal to the Cobra?

Jim


tbo
Tim Body
St Thomas Ontario
(221 posts)

Registered:
01/27/2013 06:47PM

Main British Car:
1954 Triumph TR2 stock 2 litre

Re: MGA V8
Posted by: tbo
Date: December 13, 2015 08:50PM

How about just kind of ugly?


MGBV8
Carl Floyd
Kingsport, TN
(4511 posts)

Registered:
10/23/2007 11:32PM

Main British Car:
1979 MGB Buick 215

authors avatar
Re: MGA V8
Posted by: MGBV8
Date: December 14, 2015 10:09AM

Quote:
Why be a wanna-be when you already have a better car that can be modded to your own likes and which has character and looks quite the equal to the Cobra?

Not IMO. The Cobra has very alluring lines. It's a Ginger & Mary Ann combined. The MGB is not even on the same stage. I lusted after a Cobra for many years. I was going to build one & paint it Brandywine Candy. Then, I finally got to sit in a Factory Five that my friend was building. Poof, it was over. I much prefer the ergonomics of my MGB even if it's not nearly as sexy as a '59 Les Paul.


MustangSix
Jack Collins

(30 posts)

Registered:
12/16/2011 10:53AM

Main British Car:


Re: MGA V8
Posted by: MustangSix
Date: December 14, 2015 11:32AM

Gawd, I hate stuff like this......"customized to look like a Cobra".......yeah, right.....more like a 12yr old's vision of a Hot Wheels car. At least, according to the ad, it is "smoke exempt" and has new "break lines".

You know why scoops, flares, wings, and other stuff like that look right on a real race car? Because they are needed to go faster - form follows function. Adding stuff like that when it has no real function just looks stupid.


britcars
Phil Ossinger
New Brunswick, Canada
(346 posts)

Registered:
02/02/2009 07:58PM

Main British Car:
1977 MGB Roadster, Rover 3.5 ADVENTURE BEFORE DEMENTIA!

authors avatar
Re: MGA V8
Posted by: britcars
Date: December 14, 2015 11:33AM

Same here Carl. Had a ride in one a couple of years ago. Very fast with a 400+HP 427, very loud and rode a bit rough but the ergonomics were terrible. Wouldn't want to put a 5-7 hour day in the cockpit.


BWA


(344 posts)

Registered:
04/13/2010 08:13PM

Main British Car:


Re: MGA V8
Posted by: BWA
Date: December 14, 2015 02:09PM

The MGA has such elegant lines; it is a shame that this one was butchered. The cobra has great lines also. This car is some kind of hybrid that is in between the two and it does not look very good.

Cheers
Byron



BlownMGB-V8
Jim Blackwood
9406 Gunpowder Rd., Florence, KY 41042
(6468 posts)

Registered:
10/23/2007 12:59PM

Main British Car:
1971 MGB Blown,Injected,Intercooled Buick 340/AA80E/JagIRS

authors avatar
Re: MGA V8
Posted by: BlownMGB-V8
Date: December 14, 2015 04:58PM

Not to denigrate the Cobra, it was a truly ground breaking achievement at the time. But it would never have made it on it's looks.

How many people remember the AC Ace? And would you even know what it was if not for the Cobra? I seem to recall the company was near bankruptcy when Carrol Shelby approached them about putting a V8 in the Ace and the rest is history of course, but the Ace did not save the company or bring them to any kind of prominence.

MG did not survive either, but enough MGAs were made and sold that they are still well known, to say nothing of their later cars, all of which were more refined than the Ace/Cobra.

The reason the Cobra became an icon was because of that massive American V8 engine. There were plenty of cars with the looks, the light weight, and the handling. It was the engine that made all the difference.

So trying to make the MGA look more like a basically inferior car (although admittedly attractive), without that huge V8 that made it what it was makes it the worst kind of poser. With the engine there is no need for the copywork which only says,"I wannabe like them guys only I can't."

Much better to make body modifications in keeping with the enhanced potential of the upgraded MGA and retain the styling cues that make it recognizable for what it is. You like wide swoopy rear fenders and a wasp waist? Yes, you can also do that with an MGA and still have it say MGA. And look VERY good doing it.

Jim


MGBV8
Carl Floyd
Kingsport, TN
(4511 posts)

Registered:
10/23/2007 11:32PM

Main British Car:
1979 MGB Buick 215

authors avatar
Re: MGA V8
Posted by: MGBV8
Date: December 14, 2015 08:03PM

Apparently YOU can do it to a B, as well. :)


RMO 699F
Mike Maloney
SW Ohio
(531 posts)

Registered:
12/09/2007 12:28PM

Main British Car:
1974 MGB Sebring GT, 3.9 Rover V8

authors avatar
Re: MGA V8
Posted by: RMO 699F
Date: December 14, 2015 09:13PM

Gotta disagree Jimbo....do agree that the Shelby Cobra put that original AC on the map...where my thinking is slightly different is I always admired the styling and looks of the original car ...subjective thing for sure...in particular, I always like the Aceca version of that car...kind of the precursor to the Pete Brock coupe that set the automotive world on it's ear at the time..
I have no problem putting V8's in MGA's , or making them look similar to the Cobra...but the featured car is an abomination...I can not find one line on that car that I like....
And, one other thing while I'm on the negative side of things...although I have always admired the Cobra styling...And know the current copies are in most cases much better cars than the originals..I think the market is saturated with these things...nothing worse than going to the local cruise in and seeing a Superformance with a bright yellow metal flake paint job...and the owner knows nothing about original history of the car.....only that it is associated with Carol Shelby...ok..my sunshine has been spread...



Edited 5 time(s). Last edit at 12/14/2015 09:34PM by RMO 699F.


ex-tyke
Graham Creswick
Chatham, Ontario, Canada
(1165 posts)

Registered:
10/25/2007 11:17AM

Main British Car:
1976 MGB Ford 302

authors avatar
Re: MGA V8
Posted by: ex-tyke
Date: December 15, 2015 10:11AM

Quote:
Cobra..... would never have made it on it's looks.....
Are you kidding me - you must have drunk some bad well water on Gunpowder Rd!
It's the styling that always elevated the Cobra to the top of my list - check my garage wall - pictures of Cobras abound (No E-types tho)!


MGBV8
Carl Floyd
Kingsport, TN
(4511 posts)

Registered:
10/23/2007 11:32PM

Main British Car:
1979 MGB Buick 215

authors avatar
Re: MGA V8
Posted by: MGBV8
Date: December 15, 2015 10:38AM

http://cdn.techgyd.com/smiley-big.jpg


BlownMGB-V8
Jim Blackwood
9406 Gunpowder Rd., Florence, KY 41042
(6468 posts)

Registered:
10/23/2007 12:59PM

Main British Car:
1971 MGB Blown,Injected,Intercooled Buick 340/AA80E/JagIRS

authors avatar
Re: MGA V8
Posted by: BlownMGB-V8
Date: December 15, 2015 11:23AM

Guys, I agree with you, the looks were fantastic. But the point is, if that were good enough the company would have been succeeding, not failing in the days before the Cobra, and then even when combined with the big engine afterwards did it save the company?

So the car could not get by on it's looks alone. That's all I'm saying. The marketplace clearly decided the MGA was the better car because it was a success. Either one could have had the big engine, and still could.

Jim


Dan B
Dan Blackwood
South Charleston, WV
(1007 posts)

Registered:
11/06/2007 01:55PM

Main British Car:
1966 TR4A, 1980 TR7 Multiport EFI MegaSquirt on the TR4A. Lexus V8 pl

authors avatar
Re: MGA V8
Posted by: Dan B
Date: December 15, 2015 11:53AM

too funny!


burner1
Gary W

(212 posts)

Registered:
09/24/2011 09:59AM

Main British Car:


Re: MGA V8
Posted by: burner1
Date: December 15, 2015 12:29PM

I agree the MGA has beautiful looks but it does not make it a better car then the Cobra; just different if not more dated. It's kind of like a Deusenburg is georgeous but hard to compare to a corvette.

Shelby was shady. Many of the Cobra's he sold were actually kit cars other built when he could not fulfill orders. You never know what you really got with him but he did hit a niche.

I also like V8 MG's (A,B) but when they try to copy a Cobra my first response would be, why not buy a Cobra Kit car instead of trying to copy one. It ends up looking like a Volkswaggon with a RR grill.

http://www.oldbug.com/061604%20146.jpg

Superformance sells one of the better Cobra's. Shelby left the country for 7 years to get away from the people he owed money to and the orders he could not fulfill. When he left he told the Cobra makers, "good luck caus' I didn't". When Shelby returned he sued most of the companies for making copies. Most were small companies who did not have the capital to fight.

Superformance had the money to fight and was I think the only one to win their case against Shelby. Peter Brock ended up building the Daytona Coupe for Superformance. It was NOT a coppy but a continuation.

You see when it was time to race, the cars were not really finished. After they were raced and won they were already behind the times. Shelby tried to dump the cars in the ocean returning from Europe but the dumping fees were more then bringing them back.

Peter Brock took the car as built and finished designing it. The SF Coupe was the Brock coupe and was not a re-creation but a continuation of the design. Then Shelby wormed in and got his name on it which makes me sick. But the Super Formance cars became the liscensed Shelby vehicles.

It was actually better before Shelby wormed his way in.

If you want a Cobra, build a Cobra. If you want a MGA supercar build a Supercar that does not copy a cobra, a Lambo, a porsche.....



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/15/2015 12:30PM by burner1.



MustangSix
Jack Collins

(30 posts)

Registered:
12/16/2011 10:53AM

Main British Car:


Re: MGA V8
Posted by: MustangSix
Date: December 16, 2015 07:56AM

If you like that MGA, you will love this MGB....

[spacecoast.craigslist.org]


TR6-6SPD
Ken Hiebert
Toronto Ontario
(255 posts)

Registered:
04/23/2008 11:43AM

Main British Car:
1972 TR6 1994 5.7 L GM LT1

authors avatar
Re: MGA V8
Posted by: TR6-6SPD
Date: December 16, 2015 10:32AM

Teal colored garage, car and seat belts. I think I know this individuals favourite color.
Ken


MGBV8
Carl Floyd
Kingsport, TN
(4511 posts)

Registered:
10/23/2007 11:32PM

Main British Car:
1979 MGB Buick 215

authors avatar
Re: MGA V8
Posted by: MGBV8
Date: December 16, 2015 11:23AM

He did great job with the gauge pods, at least.


BWA


(344 posts)

Registered:
04/13/2010 08:13PM

Main British Car:


Re: MGA V8
Posted by: BWA
Date: December 16, 2015 02:44PM

I guess that is an "MGB Highboy".

Cheers
Byron


BlownMGB-V8
Jim Blackwood
9406 Gunpowder Rd., Florence, KY 41042
(6468 posts)

Registered:
10/23/2007 12:59PM

Main British Car:
1971 MGB Blown,Injected,Intercooled Buick 340/AA80E/JagIRS

authors avatar
Re: MGA V8
Posted by: BlownMGB-V8
Date: December 16, 2015 05:32PM

>He did great job with the gauge pods, at least.

Unless you are the passenger. (Now where was that seat belt?)

Jim
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