The MG VA, or MG 1.5 Litre as it was originally marketed, was produced by the MG Car company between February 1937 and September 1939 and was the smallest of the three sports saloons they produced in the late 1930s, the others being the SA

MG SA

The MG SA or MG 2-litre was a sporting saloon produced by the MG Car company from 1936 to 1939. Launched as the 2 litre, it only later became known as the SA, the car had been originally planned as an advanced performance saloon to rival the likes of SS Cars and even Bentley with all independent...

 and WA

MG WA

The MG WA was a sporting saloon produced by the MG Car company between 1938 to 1939 and was at the time the largest and heaviest car the company had built. Although similar to the SA the car had a wider track at the rear allowing a larger body to be fitted....

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The car used a tuned version of the push rod, overhead valve four cylinder Morris

Morris Motor Company

The Morris Motor Company was a British car manufacturing company. After the incorporation of the company into larger corporations, the Morris name remained in use as a marque until 1984 when British Leyland's Austin Rover Group decided to concentrate on the more popular Austin marque...

 TPBG type engine that was also fitted to the Wolseley 12/48 and Morris 12. The MG version had twin SU carburettors and developed 54 bhp at 4500 rpm. Drive was to the live rear axle via a four speed manual gearbox with synchromesh on the top three ratios though on some early cars it was only on the top two speeds. Nineteen inch wire wheels were fitted and the 10 inches (254 mm) drum brakes were hydraulically operated using a Lockheed system. In-built hydraulic jacks were standard. Suspension was by half elliptic springs all round with a live rear axle and beam front axle. Luvax shock absorbers were fitted, the rear ones adjustable from the dashboard

The four door saloon body was made in-house by Morris and had the traditional MG grille flanked by two large chromium plated headlights. Unlike the SA the front doors did not have separate quarter light windows. The spare wheel was carried on the left front wing with a second spare on the other side as an option. Inside there were individual seats in front and a bench seat at the rear, all with leather covering. A fitted radio was an option.

A special version of the car was made for police use and had a 1707 cc engine and calibrated speedometer.

The British Motor

The Motor (magazine)

The Motor was a British weekly car magazine founded on 28 January 1903....

 magazine tested a VA tourer which reached a top speed of just over 76 mi/h and a 0-50 mph time of 15.8 seconds. With the windscreen folded down the top speed increased to nearly 82 mi/h.
The factory could also supply the car as a Tickford

Tickford

Tickford is an automobile engineering and testing company with a history of coachbuilding and tuning and is famous for such products as the 140 mph Tickford Turbo Capri.-Early years:...

drophead coupé or as a four seat tourer. The saloon was priced at around GBP325, the four seat tourer GBP280 and the Tickford coupé GBP351 all prices depending on exact specification. 564 tourers and 591 coupés were made. A very few chassis, probably only two, went to external coachbuilders.

Production stopped with the outbreak of World War II in 1939. After the war, MG launched the Y-Type to fill the small saloon slot.