Not a good idea?
03/02/2024
At first glance, this MGA looks like its many brothers. But under the bodywork, and in some cases also in the interior, a number of changes have been made. In fact, this '59 MGA is electrified. The special thing about it, however, is that an electric drive was installed in the British roadster back in 2000 as part of a university student project, at that time still using lead-acid batteries and standard components. The result was probably not really fast and the range was also rather modest. Nevertheless, the conversion was given the name "Chuck Morris".
Many, many years later, the car came into the possession of an electrical engineer who decided to refresh the electrical components.
This project was consistently and elaborately implemented by "Flash Drive Motors" in Austin (Texas) and ended with a 120 hp motor (NetGain Hyper) and 33 kWh battery capacity (Tesla). The new conversion cost around USD 125,000.
The result was certainly more convincing in terms of driving performance than the first electric conversion.
Apparently, however, the owner still wanted to part with his electric MGA "Chuck Morris II".
Bonhams auctioned the car at the Amelia Island auctionon February 29, 2024. USD 50,000 to 60,000 was expected, but USD 28,000 (EUR 26,040, CHF 24,640) was enough to take possession of the electric roadster. The new owner therefore paid about the same for the elaborately converted car as a normal MGA with a gasoline engine would have cost. The electrical engineer could perhaps have invested his money more wisely, for example by buying an original MGA and an electric (Chinese) MG Cyberster ...
