SEBRING.  The first international sports car race after WWII.  A showcase for American drivers against the best Europe could offer.  Phil Hill, Dan Gurney, Ginther and dozens of others against Moss, Fangio, von Trips.  And our cars from the Cunningham to the Corvette. It was THE sports car race in the U.S. and MG knew it needed to showcase its hot new car, the MGA, to attract American buyers.  From 56 to 62, (exception was 1958) the factory had MGA's at Sebring and many of those cars are still with us today.

1956                            1956 and Juan Manuel Fangio along with Eugenio Castellotti win for Ferrari and 3 MGA's debut. #49, 50 and 51 all finish with #50 Steve Spitler and Bill Kinchloe finishing 19th, #49 Dave Ash, Gus Ehrman and John van Driel 20th and #51Fred Allen, Sid Blackman in 22nd photo credit to Bob Rubin - the 56MGA team celebrates a fantastic finish

The Start Grid for the 56 Sebring 12 Hours of Endurance Cars were lined up by displacement with biggest engines at the front.  Here we see the Ed Crawford, Huschke von Hanstein/Herbert Linge 550 Porsche #42 and the #43 550 of west coast aces Pete Lovely and Jack McAfee in front of the MGA's.

1957
For 1957, Dave Ash was back with 3 more cars.  #49 finishing first in GT 1.6 with Ed Leavens and Alan Miller driving.  Ash with buddy Gus Ehrman and John van Driel took #51 to second in class and 27th overall and #50 of Bill Kinchloe and Steve Spitler were 36th and 4th in class
The Sebring MGA's 1957   1959   1960   1961   1962	This Jess Woods photo became a postcard for the Sebring race	Ash in the esses - the cover shot for the Christy/Ludvigson MG Guide	Ash again, and this shot became the cover shot for Harvey Jane's Young Sportsman's Guide to Sports Car Racing.
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