1961 MGA 1600 Mk I LHD, 1588cc. Registration number 201 UYU....

Estimate

£8,000 - £10,000

1961 MGA 1600 Mk I LHD, 1588cc. Registration number 201 UYU. Chassis Number G-HNL 95461. Engine number 16GA-U-H26669.
Sold with the V5C, key, heritage certificate, and some USA paperwork.
The MGA replaced the MG TF 1500 Midget and represented a complete styling break from MG's earlier sports cars. Announced on 26 September 1955, the car was officially launched at the Frankfurt Motor Show. A total of 101,081 units were sold through the end of production in July 1962, the vast majority of which were exported. Only 5869 cars were sold on the home market, the lowest percentage of any British car
It was a body-on-frame design and used the straight-4 "B series" engine from the MG Magnette saloon driving the rear wheels through a four-speed gearbox. Suspension was independent with coil springs and wishbones at the front and a rigid axle with semi-elliptic springs at the rear. Steering was by rack and pinion. The car was available with either wire-spoked or steel-disc road wheels.
In May 1959 the standard cars also received an updated engine, now at 1588 cc producing 79.5 bhp. At the front disc brakes were fitted, but drums remained in the rear. Externally the car is very similar to the 1500 with differences including: amber or white (depending on market) front indicators shared with white side lamps, separate stop/tail and indicator lamps in the rear, and 1600 badging on the boot and the cowl. 31,501 were produced in less than three years.
According to the accompanying Heritage Certificate UYU was dispatched form the factory on the 12th July 1960 as a black car with red interior and grey hood. It was exported to the USA and by 2005 was in New Mexico. In 2015 Stuart Skimming of Dumfries imported it and sold it to Dave Mackenzie as a restoration project. A serial restorer he took the body off, rebuild/replaced the running gear and brakes, including added a servo, the engine was dismantled and new rings and shells fitted to factory specs (the condition of the engine lead him to believe the 36,000 on the speedo was correct). A NOS radiator was fitted. The body required two patches to the lower rear wings where they meet the sills, apart from this the body is original with aluminium bonnet, boot and doors. It was resprayed Chariot Red with black leather seats and a new hood; a new speedo was fitted as were 72 spoke chrome wire wheels.
This was completed by October 2016 when it received its first MOT and was registered with DVLA. In 2019 he sold via this auction at the Sledmere House auctions to our vendor. He has used it sparingly during his custodianship.
Offered for sale with the V5C, MOT's, Heritage Certificate and the USA paperwork. It should be noted that the clutch is slipping a bit but drives very well.