The Fascinating 1934 MG PA Roadster

Long before the Americans caught onto the diminutive delights of sporting MGs, Abingdon had been producing cracking two-seaters such as this 1934 PA Roadster. It may not have captured the imaginations of our cousins across the pond in the same way as the post-war TC Midget would, but the PA was certainly loaded over here. Its headline-grabbing appearance at Le Mans in 1935 has a lot to do with that.

An all-female team was put together by famous racer and land-speed record holder Captain George Eyston to take on La Sarthe. Two of the drivers, Margaret Allan and Joan Richmond, boasted a 120mph badge from Brooklands and a JCC 1000-mile race winner’s honour respectively. Known as Eyston’s Dancing Daughters, the three-car, six-woman team all performed faultlessly, finishing in eighth, ninth and tenth in the up-to-1000cc class.

The MG’s sporting success stems from the tried-and-tested nature of its design and the evolutionary ethos behind its development. Its 847cc overhead-camshaft, crossflow engine might have first seen service in the 1928 Morris Minor, but its design was ahead of the curve and easily tuned for higher-rpm sporting applications. For the PA generation a three-bearing crankshaft was adopted that further aided reliability. The aforementioned Le Mans cars got a boost in power via a Marshall supercharger, which proved to be a popular factory upgrade for road cars, too; including this one.

This PA’s graceful lines transport us back to a pivotal period for MG. Founder Cecil Kimber had only created the brand a decade earlier, yet MGs were already making their mark in competition. A one-two in class at the Mille Miglia in 1933 was bolstered by a further class win at Le Mans the following year. Mid-1930s MG was booming, and this car is a compelling reminder of why we still see this as a golden era for the manufacturer.

This car, which I saw and photographed at Concours of Elegance 2020, is a superbly original example, and its history shows just three owners to date, the earliest of whom shipped it to Madrid, Spain. Remaining there for most of its life, it was later restored by Madrid’s prominent vintage and classic car specialist Rafa Pueche. Still in Spain in 2017, it was the subject of an article in Coaches Classico magazine before finding its way to its third (and current) owner, Cici Muldoon.

ENGINE

847cc, four-cylinder, OHC supercharged, 36bhp, twin carbs

CONFIGURATION

Front-engine, four-speed manual (non-synchronised) transmission, rear-wheel drive, separate steel ladder chassis with aluminium-over-ash body, drum brakes