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 M.G.
History in a nutshell, the following information is from the
official M.G.-Rover website........ |
| heritage
The mere mention of
M.G. is enough to make the eyes of motoring enthusiasts mist over.
To fans of cars and driving, the famous octagonal badge
represents the definitive British sports car.
The latest embodiment of the M.G. sporting spirit is the stunning
M.G. TF - a state of the art roadster inspired by the same passion
for driving as the very first M.G.s all those years ago. |
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in the beginning...
As any self-respecting car fan will tell you,
the initials M.G. stand for Morris Garages. Back in 1921, shortly
after the garages had opened, 33 year old Cecil Kimber joined as
a sales manager. Kimber wasn't just a salesman: he was into
automotive body styling, coach building and - here's the clue -
driving sports cars. |
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1924, the first M.G.
First cab off the rank for Cecil Kimber. 1922
saw Kimber become General Manager. The release of his first
specially designed Morris car soon followed. But things really
started happening in March 1924, when the first M.G. car proper
was built. Based on a Morris Oxford chassis, the car that
launched the M.G. legend was a sports tourer with four seats. A
four door saloon model was also offered. |
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1925, M.G. strikes gold.
By now, the company was really getting into its
stride. A range of M.G. Super Sports models were produced,
available in two-seat, four-seat or 'salonette' form. This year
also saw the birth of the first ever purpose-built M.G. sports
car: 'Old No.1'. It was made for the Land's End Trial, in which
it won a gold medal. |
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1929, early success.
As a result of the great success of the early M.G.
cars, production had to be moved to larger premises - several
times. In 1929, production started at Abingdon-on-Thames, where
it stayed until 1980. In 1930, the M.G. Car Company Ltd was
officially incorporated. |
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1930-35, the classic years.
The early '30s were vintage years for driving
enthusiasts. A wide range of four and six cylinder models were
manufactured - mostly the kind of sports cars for which M.G. was
rapidly becoming famous. A number of pure racing cars were also
developed - cars which had great success in road and track
competitions around the world. |
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1935, times changing.
In 1935, big changes were afoot. Lord Nuffield,
who up until this point, owned M.G. lock, stock and barrel, sold
the company - plus Wolseley and his other business interests -
to Morris Motors Ltd. The new company became known as The
Nuffield Organization. |
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1952, the merger.
Nuffield and Austin merged to form BMC. The
Austin-Healey sports car was now a family rival for M.G..
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1955, the M.G.A. a star is born.
1955 saw the launch of the M.G.A. Designed by Syd
Enever, it was the first M.G. sports car with all-enveloping
bodywork. |
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1957-59, the fastest ever M.G..
M.G. has an astounding history in international
speed records, which culminated in the 1950s with the M.G. EX181.
The car, nicknamed the "Roaring Raindrop" by its designer Syd
Enever, had an extraordinarily original design based on an
aircraft drop-tank.
As a 1500cc class car the EX181, driven by none
other than Sterling Moss, achieved 245.64 mph in 1957, 50 mph
faster than he had ever driven in his life. Two years later the
car, driven by Phil Hill, reached 254.91mph, making the EX181
the fastest ever M.G. - a record which still stands today.
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1962, M.G.B. big brother is here.
In 1962, the Midget's 'big brother', the 1800cc
M.G.B, replaced the M.G.A. In 1965, a GT coupe version was
introduced - known affectionately as 'the poor man's Aston
Martin'. The M.G.B became a mainstay of M.G. production until the
end of 1980. |
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1973, short-lived M.G.B GT V8.
In 1973, the Rover V8 engine was put into the
M.G.B bodyshell to create the M.G.B GT V8. A fuel crisis at the time
meant the car wasn't as successful as it might have been.
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1992, rebirth is just around the corner.
The introduction of the Limited Edition RV8 was
a step towards M.G.'s rebirth as a sports car manufacturer. The
RV8 had a contemporary version of the classic M.G.B roadster
bodyshell. It was fitted with the 3.9-litre V8 engine. Between
1993 and 1995, there were just 2000 built. |
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2001, the next generation.
A new Millennium. A new line up of M.G. Sports
Saloons. Named ZR, ZS and ZT, these seriously sexy sports cars
are not for the faint-hearted. They're fast and furious. Sensual
and visceral.
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Sadly, MG Rover Group Ltd. went into bankruptcy in April 2005.
Following a bidding process the trademarks to MG and the tooling
and equipment, assembly lines and the Longbridge factory were
sold to Nanjing Auto of China. Nanjing Auto transferred the
tooling to a new, purpose built factory in China and began
production of a lightly revised MG ZT called the MG 7 in 2007.
This was followed by the MG SW a reworked version of the former
Rover Street Wise and the reborn MG TF sportscar.
Longbridge also saw small scale auto production renewed with the
assembly of the revised MG TF sportscar, from kits manufactured
in China, in August 2008. A special limited 50 car MG TF 85th
anniversary edition was produced in 2009, along side the
standard MG TF 135 at Longbridge.
In December 2008 Nanjing Auto was purchased by Shanghai Auto
Industries Company (SAIC), China's largest auto producer, and
the UK operation renamed MG Motor UK Ltd.
In November 2009 the first new MG in fourteen years was
introduced, the MG 6 which was designed by the SAIC design team
based at Longbridge. The five door hatch is engineered for sale
all over the world and will be produced both in China and the
UK. The MG logo received a light redesign at the same time. The
brown and gold version of the logo with a horizontal lined
background, introduced with the MG RV8 in 1993, was replaced
with the familiar octagon shape and MG letters now in chrome on
a mesh black background. |
MG TF 85th
MG-6 |
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