For as long as I can remember, we've had British cars. It started with a '57 Triumph TR3 which lead to a number of MGAs, Bs... The first car I ever worked on, nearly 40 years ago, was a '58 MGA Coupe, which I still own. Around 1987 or 88, my Dad bought MGAs #7 and 8 from a classmate of mine. This would be "the last" MGA and here it is the day it was brought home.
Dad was friends with a guy that had a combination rollerskating rink/heavy machinery and tire service station. We kept the other MGAs here in the warehouse below the skating rink. Immediately the restoration began. Dad and I pulled it apart and stripped it down.
In 1989 a job promotion required a move south so "the last MGA" was loaded up and stored beside MGA #1 in a rental house garage. A year later, Dad bought a farm up the road and the MGA was loaded inside a U-haul and deposited in a barn. It sat there for the next 20 years. Everyone grew up and old. Dad retired and I got married. Not being able to sit still Dad started a new business and later retired again. His third retirement finally took and he decided to clear out his to-do list while he was still able. He moved the MGA from the barn to his hangar and started on the mechanicals.
By 2013 he was done and he brought the car to me to do the bodywork. My daughter had just turned four.
Periodically I would pound a dent out or weld a fender together, but having three little kids and a number of other projects, the MGA waited six more years. In the meantime, Dad roused MGA #1 and finally started to enjoy retirement in the traditional sense.
When COVID hit I began working from home and it became harder to ignore "the last MGA" in my garage. So I decided to finish this legacy once and for all.
I stripped the body again and did the best I could to get the car flat. The old, shoddy repair of the RF damage was fixed properly and by November, it was ready for paint. "Make it green and shiny" was the goal and I think it turned out fine.
My daughter will be 10 tomorrow and I finally got the front bumper to fit on last night. I still need to install the carpets and wax it, so by 2025 it should be done for real. I think this actually is going to be the last MGA. Dad and I have moved back to our TR3 roots. I am welding on a '59 now and when he returns from Florida in the spring, we're dragging a '57 TR3 home from Ohio. This one will be the last for our team.
