Jay Leno met with a young car enthusiast who restored a 1958 MG A car

Posted on March 27, 2022
Classic cars
Jay Leno met with a young car enthusiast who restored a 1958 MG A car

Jay Leno is spotlighting young car enthusiasts. His most recent guest on "Jay Leno's Garage" was 24-year-old Daniel Harrison, owner of a 1958 MG A that he began restoring when he was 15 years old.

Whenever Leno sees a cool car, he makes it a habit to reach out to the owner, chat with him, and invite him on the show. Such is the case with Harrison, who restored this MG while pursuing an engineering degree. He named the car Helen after his mother, who died of cancer when he was 16.

Harrison, who also has a YouTube channel called "Limit 55," immigrated to the United States from England when he was seven years old. He began looking for a car to restore when he was in high school and found an MG in Los Angeles. He says its styling was the deciding factor in his decision to buy the little sports car.

The car started out as a "lemon yellow rust bucket" that barely ran, but Harrison said that was the point, and that he and his father wanted to try their hand at restoring it.

Much work was needed to get the MG to its current state, but Harrison said "young energy and ignorance" got the project through.

One of the major aspects of the project, Harrison said, was assembling and installing a 1.8-liter inline-4 engine from MG B after the stock 1.5-liter inline-4 died, presumably due to chronic low oil pressure. The new engine has an output of about 95 hp, he says. Stopping is handled by non-stock front disc brakes and rear drums. Harrison, a mechanical engineer, did most of the mechanical work, but outsourced the bodywork and paint (the latest Jaguar stuff).

Driving around Los Angeles, Leno seemed impressed with Harrison's restoration work and the nimble MG A itself. He noted that he enjoyed getting the most out of such a car because the engine did not overwhelm the chassis.

Check out the video above for the full restoration project. You will be impressed with the work done by this young enthusiast.

You may also like

PIASTRY Wins 2024 F1 Azerbaijan Grand Prix by Winning Late-Day Drama
PIASTRY Wins 2024 F1 Azerbaijan Grand Prix by Winning Late-Day Drama

McLaren's Oscar Piatri won the 2024 F1 Azerbaijan Grand Prix with a brilliant drive. [McLaren overtook Red Bull Racing to take the top spot in the 202...

Sep 16

Nissan is already planning the architecture of the Modern Silvia
Nissan is already planning the architecture of the Modern Silvia

It was back in July that Ivan Espinosa, Nissan's head of global product strategy, said that the company was building a business case for launching a m...

Sep 11

Pirelli and Bosch develop software-based smart tires
Pirelli and Bosch develop software-based smart tires

Pirelli and Bosch plan to jointly develop tires that incorporate sensors that can send data directly to the vehicle's on-board computer.These software...

Sep 14


Trending

Modern Citroen SM as imagined by DS
Modern Citroen SM as imagined by DS

With its hydro-pneumatic suspension, quad-cam V-6, drag coefficient of 0.26, a figure that is still low today, and aerodynamic design that was excepti...

Sep 11

2024 F1 Azerbaijan Grand Prix Preview: Final Race in Europe
2024 F1 Azerbaijan Grand Prix Preview: Final Race in Europe

The 17th round of the 2024 F1 World Championship will be held this weekend in Baku, home of the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.The race is the final European r...

Sep 13

Volkswagen Discontinues DSG Transmission in Non-Enthusiast Vehicles
Volkswagen Discontinues DSG Transmission in Non-Enthusiast Vehicles

Dual-clutch automatic transmissions have become increasingly rare at VW.At the launch of the 2025 Taos in Orlando, Florida, on Thursday, Volkswagen to...

Sep 12