Restoring an old car which has rotted out and has a seized engine, hardly makes good economic sense.  So, building a 1956 MG Magnette V8, the early ZA Magnette, powered by a 1960/70's classic V8 makes more sense.  The Rover V8 is a logical power unit as it was also the engine in the MGB GT V8, so this engine now carries MG badges!  Very apt as the company in it final throes was indeed, MG Rover.

The project was started May 2004, and the engine was finally fired up just before the end of 2008.  Almost 11 years after acquiring the car, it was finally road legal and a project that was supposed to take a couple of years is still ongoing.  Even though now on the road, legally, there is still a lot of wok to be finished, especially the fibreglass bonnet and boot panels, though some progress has been made. Some aspects will probably need to be redone, such as some damage to the dashboard.   

This is in some respects is a bit of a saga but tries to faithfully document the various ups and downs of a major project.  The concept has hardly changed at all - "take a 1956 car and repower it", sounds rather like a weekend project for a competent fabricator or mechanic.  What follows has turned to be anything but a simplistic weekend project and turned into a major update of a classic British saloon car, where just about all that remains of the original car is the steel bodyshell, the doors, the radiator grille, a couple of bits of wood trim, front and rear screens and the heater blower!

The saga not only takes you through the ups and downs, but also into several blind alleys that cost me a real packet of money, especially when dealing with the legal requirements for modified road cars, through the LVVTA and a frustrating issue regarding the roll cage, that effectively lost me the full use of my left hand...

February 26th 2015 - road legal at long last.

Most recent update, April 2021 

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