Meet Gracie, the newest addition to our MG collection.
Vickie and I purchased this car at the end of May, 2018, just
after the Spring GoF in Salado. The owner at the time lived in
Crowley, TX and was looking to sell the car. Nick Pappas had
heard about it, and he drove by to look at it and took some
photos. I saw the photos and thought I’d check into it some
more. I contacted the owner and went to look at it, along with
Ken Langford and Ralph Ratta for moral support. I negotiated a
deal with the owner, and the following week it was mine. It’s
all Nick’s fault!
The VA cars were in production from 1937 through 1939, when WW2
stopped the factory production. This car number is VA0358S,
manufactured in the 2nd week of May, 1937. The factory started
the numbering of the pre-War cars with 251 (the factory phone
number), so this makes this the 107th VA built. There were 6
pre-production cars in 1936, so Gracie is the 101st car in 1937.
Gracie was first registered in London on November 6, 1937, with
registration number ELA 434.
The VA series had 3 body styles – the Saloons (like Gracie),
Tourers, and Tickford Drop-head coupes. There were a total of
1,238 Saloons, 591 Tourers and 564 Drop-head coupes. All had 1.5
liter (1548 cc) Morris/Wolsely engines.
The SVW Register of the MG Car Club in England knows of 100
Saloons that still exist, but not all are road worthy.
Gracie is running, but she needs a little TLC. She sat, covered
and unstarted, in the garage in Crowley for over 6 years. I’ve
had to drain the petrol tank of the remnants of 6 year old fuel,
clean the carbs, and a few minor things – like replacing the
more than 25 year old tyres with newer ones that aren’t as hard
as fine china. But otherwise she starts easily and drives well.
I’ve put over 50 miles on her so far with no problems.
Gracie came to the USA in October of 1966, and sat in a garage
in Maryland for 10 years, until she was purchased in 1976 by an
Air Force officer who was into MGs, and wanted to restore her so
as to be able to drive his family of 4 in a single MG. But
transfers and other things kept the restoration from completion
until 1992. By then his kids had graduated from high school.
In 2004, he and his family moved to Virginia and didn’t have
room to keep Gracie. So she was sold to a couple in Ukiah, CA
who kept her running and driving until 2011, when they sold it
to the couple in Crowley. The husband was born in 1937, which
was part of his attraction to Gracie. Unfortunately, about 6
months after the purchase, he passed away and his wife kept
Gracie, reluctant to sell the MG that her husband was so
interested in.
Well, that brings us to today, when Vickie and I are the current
caretakers of VA0358S.
