The MG VA is the British Motor Corporation that answered a simple question — how much car can this badge carry? — with 54 bhp at 4500  from 1548 . It was built from 1937 to 1939, when streamlining and independent suspension were arriving together.
How it came about
The MG VA, or MG 1½-litre as it was originally marketed, is a motor car that was produced by MG 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 SA and WA. The car used a tuned version of the push-rod, overhead valve four-cylinder Morris TPBG type engine that was also fitted to the Wolseley 12/48 and Morris Twelve series III. The MG version had twin SU carburettors and developed 54 bhp (40 kW) at 4500 rpm. Drive was to the live rear axle via a four-speed manual gearbox with synchromesh on the top three ratios, though on some early cars it was only on the top two speeds.
19-inch wire wheels were fitted, and the 10-inch (250 mm) drum brakes were hydraulically operated using a Lockheed system. In-built hydraulic jacks were standard. Suspension was by half-elliptic springs all round with a live rear axle and beam front axle. Luvax shock absorbers were fitted, the rear ones adjustable from the dashboard.
The hardware
Power comes from 1548 54 bhp at 4500  is the published figure. It shifts through a 4-speed manual. The wheelbase is 108 inches (2743 mm). These are manufacturer figures carried by Wikipedia and Wikidata, not road-test measurements.
Family and rivals
Its family tree is legible: it took over from the MG NA Magnette saloon; its successor was the MG Y-type; assembly was at Abingdon-on-Thames, Berkshire, England. Its British Motor Corporation stablemates include the Austin 10 and the Austin 12.
What it costs now
There is no federal ownership record for the MG VA — it predates the complaint database or was never sold in the United States — so MotorJury publishes no running-cost figure for it. For a car of this age the price is set by the collector market and the condition of the individual example, not by a formula.