MG Car Club of South Australia
THE SVW SERIES OF MG’s
By Peter Shipside.
W
hen talking to others about my
MG WA I have frequently been
told that they have never heard of such
a model. So here is a little history of the
relatively unknown and rare SVW series
of MG’s.
In the mid 1930’s, as a result of a push
by the parent company, Morris Motors,
for the rationalisation of models, all pro-
duction MG’s from 1936 up to the out-
break of war in 1939 used the much sim-
pler pushrod OHV engines, the previous
OHC models being phased out.
This decision led to the beginning of the
iconic T-types, the first TA hitting the
market in 1936.
At the same time production of the SA
started, with the VA following in 1937,
and the WA in late 1938.
Interestingly, the total production of T-
types in this 4 year period, [3392], was
far outweighed by the number of SVW
cars produced [5517], a ratio of getting
on towards 2 to 1. Quite surprising!
Also of interest is the use of the letter ‘A’
in the series. As it turned out, there was
no need for it to be used in the name
because the Second World War halted
the manufacture of MG’s, including the
SVW series which was never resumed
after hostilities ceased.
The SVW range was aimed at the luxury
end of the market. All models were 4
seaters with coach built bodies of steel
panels over a timber frame, trimmed in
leather and fine carpet. Available in
three styles, saloon, open tourer, or
Tickford Drophead Coupe with 3 posi-
tion hood [closed, open halfway in the
cabriolet style, or folded all the way
back]. They were not dissimilar to the
Bentleys and Jaguars of the period. At
first glance it is difficult to tell the three
types apart. The VA is more easily rec-
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