Crusty ’57 MG MGA Claims To Be a Former SCCA Racer, Is It Legit?

You know, the old bait-and-switch tactic of taking a Pontiac Fiero, slapping a Ferrari body kit over the top, and selling it as a numbers-matching 355 or something of that sort. Well, this 1957 MG MGA might be another one of those cases. But then again, there's also a chance that this is a genuine Sports Car Club of America racer from back in the time that was its arguable renaissance.

The MGA was nothing short of a transformative vehicle for MG. As one of the very first MGs designed after World War II, the visual differences between itself and its older, boxier predecessors spoke volumes about the direction British sports cars were taking in the early 1950s. Like their forbearers, these sports cars would keep their lightweight statures and plucky little engines but were designed with sleeker, arguably nicer-looking bodies. In the case of this purported SCCA racer, the body is quite a bit sleeker indeed.

In any case, there does appear to be quite a bit of modification made to this car after it left the factory. For starters, the original wooden floorboards are now replaced by welded lengths of sheet metal. The car certainly sits lower to the ground than normal as well, indicating both the front and rear suspension were either cut or otherwise lowered at some point before these photographs were taken. As you'll no doubt notice, the front and rear bumpers have also been removed, further adding to the race car mystique that this rolling chassis has in spades.

Under the hood of MGAs, these days was a paltry BMC B-Series four-cylinder motor that was in production in some form or another from the mid-1950s up until the mid-1980s, a staggering 30-year production run. A couple of racing bucket seats with full harnesses are essentially where the features of the interior begin and end. However, the original MGA dashboard is still inside. But this begs the question, is this a genuine SCAA race car from over 60 years ago or a very well-fabricated counterfeit?

Well, after a bit of digging and some rummaging through each of the photographs presented, we've come to the very scientific conclusion of *shrug*. Yes, it looks like an old SCCA race car, but without logbooks of service records to speak of, every claim made here needs to be taken with a grain of salt, if not the whole darn salt lick. With an asking price of $4,800 out the door, it appears this car is priced like the owner doesn't really know what they have parked before them.