1935 MG PA

This PA emerged from MG’s Abingdon factory in November 1935, initially as a two-seater variant. It was acquired by a family by the name of Butler who, among other things, used it for sporting trials. However, the trail of this trials car then went cold until the early 1970s, when it resurfaced. From 1982 to 1984, the MG wasn’t just restored but also rebuilt as a four-seater, in the same style as the factory cars. It changed hands in 1994, moving into the custodianship of an owner who looked after it but used it very sparingly. The current odometer reading is 4241 miles; by looking through the paperwork, we believe this was zeroed during the restoration, so in the last 37 years, the car has covered the equivalent of just a few hundred miles each year.

Looking at the car, it’s difficult to believe that the restoration was done almost 40 years ago. The MG is in a remarkable state of preservation, and gives the impression of having been redone just a few years back. As a historic vehicle, the PA no longer needs an annual MoT test and the last one expired in July 2015. It’s done less than 100 miles since then though. The vendor describes it as “stunning - a real little beauty” and a “potential concours winner; I just fell in love with it”.

This is an endearingly pretty car, with its prominent chrome headlamps framing that trademark MG grille. It looks cheeky and ready to have fun. And in very bright, shiny red, it’s extremely eye-catching too - even at a car show full of similar classics, this one would stand out. The restoration must have been a good one, for it still to look so great after all this time. Standing back to admire the car as a whole, everything hangs together very well; problems under the skin with the ash frame often manifest themselves as ill-fitting doors, panels that don’t fit together that well or just general unevenness. But there’s none of that here; everything is tight, even and hangs together well.

The exterior is practically flawless. Even the bolts on the front panel, underneath the radiator grille, show no signs of any rust. This MG seems to have largely escaped even minor blemishes such as stonechips (although there are, inevitably, some to be found) etc, even underneath the arches. It has obviously been very carefully looked after. There are areas where the paint has a slightly ‘orange peel’ effect, but it’s not something that detracts from the car. There are a few imperfections, such as the headlamp bar wing mounting rubbers being somewhat perished and the weatherproofing trim around the bulkhead, where the bonnet doors rest, being a little ragged. There’s also some paint cracking around the front hinged MG badge cover that conceals the hole for the starter handle. But that’s about it; even the edges of the bonnet doors, which often get damaged during constant opening and closing, have protective sleeves in place.

There’s a beige canvas hood, with sidescreens, which is generally clean and fits well. Its plastic windows are clear, with little clouding, but there’s an intermittent line of red across the rear screen which looks like it might have come from the frame during storage, since the current vendor admits that he didn’t even put the hood up. Some careful cleaning would either minimise or remove it completely. There’s a full tonneau cover as well; this has a black mark around the top of the zip-line that looks like it is from the exhaust; perhaps lying on the ground behind the car one day when it was started?

Most of the chrome is in excellent order, especially that substantial radiator grille surround. Up close, on areas like the front screen frame, you’ll find some very superficial tarnishing and pitting, but nothing that is especially noticeable under normal viewing. The wire wheels are painted silver rather than chromed; aside from a few random signs of wear here and there, all looks great, and there’s no looseness to the spokes. The tyres, including the rear-mounted spare, are Dunlop crossply items, although they do look like they’ve been with the car for quite a while, possibly since its restoration.

As you’d expect from something with a ‘Midget’ designation, it’s quite a snug cockpit for the four occupants it’s possible to squeeze in. The interior is done in beige leather. Such a shade doesn’t hide dirt and wear that well, but there’s very little to be concerned about here. There’s minimal creasing to the bucket seats, and only marginal wear, tear and marking. Most of it is, naturally, on the more oft-used driver’s seat, where there’s scuffing around the right-hand side base from the shoes of those manoeuvring their way into the car. There’s also some light wear to the top edges of . The door cards, with their ‘MG’ monograms, are in fine fettle.

The floor mats, brown with beige edging, are in good order, and lifting them reveals a wooden floor that exhibits no issues. Speaking of wood, our botanical knowledge doesn’t run to being able to tell if the dashboard is American Sequoia (the correct spec for a PA) or burr walnut (as found on the PB, but easier to source in more recent times); but whatever it’s from, it’s holding up very well, with only minor cracking of the veneer in places. The instrumentation - all that a sportsman would need, remember - runs to an intriguing combined rev counter and speedometer behind the steering wheel, with a smaller temperature gauge alongside. The centre of the fascia occupied by a chrome panel containing some of the controls plus a Jaeger tripmeter and odometer, while over on the passenger side are more controls (plus a two-pin electrical outlet), the ignition and amp and oil pressure dials. This is the correct set-up for a PA, as PBs adopted a central speedometer. Don’t worry though, you won’t need a passenger in place at all times to tell you what the electrics and oil are up to; such is the compact nature of this MG that they’re still easy to keep an eye on despite their placement. All of these are in very good order; the speedo/rev counter looks almost brand new. There’s no cracking to the steering wheel, as can often happen.

Under the dash - where you’ll also find the choke controls behind the remote control gearlever, as well at the starter handle clipped to the scuttle firewall - the gearbox and pedals are painted in Morris green. This colour was reserved for four-seaters, red being used for the two-seater variants. Poke your head right under, and some of the wiring has black or blue bullet connectors, but all the connections look very secure and everything is kept tidy with a modern plastic cable tie. All the exposed areas of the ash frame, behind the rear seat, are well-protected with red paint and there’s no rot. The inside of the hood has some light mottling in some areas, but is otherwise spick-and-span.

The Morris green paint extends to the twin-SU carburettor-fed engine underneath the centre-hinged bonnet doors; the Wolseley-designed motor being a derivative of that used in the earlier Morris Minor. While the working environment of the engine bay has some inevitable oil and grime, it’s still nicely detailed and very presentable. The manifold has been finished in high temperature black paint and thus looks far better than many manifolds do, often coated with superficial rust.

There’s a mounting for four spare spark plugs, set into the bulkhead. The scuttle’s rubber insulation exhibits some light perishing around its top edge.

Few engines of this era are completely oil-tight, and so the chassis has a nice coating of preservative engine oil towards its front. But back from this, everything else looks extremely solid. There is the expected surface rust on some of the metal chassis, but none of it is remotely structure-threatening. The wooden areas are similarly sound. These MGs are quite low to the ground, but there are no hints of any underbody damage.

The engine starts easily - with absolutely no need for the starting handle, we hasten to add - but don’t just take our word for it. Check out the video for a demonstration of just how healthy it sounds. The vendor’s assessment of the car is that it “drives beautifully - everything just works as it should”.

While a chunk of the car’s earlier history is missing, there’s a still an extensive amount of stuff for any new owner to pour through. And some of it does date back to its earliest days, albeit some of the original paperwork is photocopied. So, for example, we learn that shortly after its purchase, the MG had to be returned to the College Motors dealership in Bristol for a defect to be rectified under guarantee while, near the end of August 1936, the car needed an oil leak sorted. College Motors had been notified of this back in May 1936, but its service department was too busy! There’s even a 1935 issue of The Times newspaper; perfect for settling down to read in the MG, although it is rather fragile now, as is the included 1936-37 AA handbook. Fortunately, the included instruction manual for the car looks to be a reproduction and is in much better nick.

There is various old style buff logbooks chronicling the MG’s passage through several owners over the decades. These show that the PA was once green, then black, before its transformation into its present red.

The detailed history starts from the 1970s. It’s fascinating to see the prices paid, such as refurbishment of the wheels in 1974 for £7.50 each. Not a price you’d get now! There are details of some of the restoration work - for example, the paintjob came to £534.75 in 1985 - plus photos of the task being undertaken. A large selection of MoT certificates can also be found in the history file too.

It all adds up to a car that has been well-looked after over the last 50 years particularly, and received attention, time and money when it needed it. The onus will be on the new owner to keep this history going so comprehensively.

What a charming example of a pre-war lightweight MG sports car this is. While its restoration may have been some time ago, it’s received so little use since then, and obviously been attentively cared for, that its condition is still close to excellent. It retains all its original features, with no modifications that take it out of period, and is simply delightful to look at - and delightfully simple to drive too. With less than 2000 of these PA Midgets built, over just a couple of years, it’s a very scarce machine today. Something rare, something special, and something that could easily win concours events with a little bit of elbow grease.

We’ve put an estimate of between £26,000 to £34,000 on this car, as a prime example of the sort of model with which one of Britain’s greatest ever sporting marques, MG, forged its pre-war reputation. It may be a Midget in name and dimensions, but it’s a giant in terms of character and enjoyment.

Inspection is always encouraged (within government guidelines of course), and this particular car is located with us at The Market HQ near Abingdon; to arrange an appointment please use the Contact Seller button at the top of the listing. Feel free to ask any questions or make observations in the comments section below, or try our ‘Frequently Asked Questions’.