MG- (Morris Garages) - British Sports Car Manufacture

THE HISTORY OF MG

MG is a British marque that traditionally has produced sports cars from 1924 to 2005. MG originally stood for "Morris Garages", a dealer of Morris cars in Oxford which began producing its own customized versions to the designs of its Sales Manager Cecil Kimber. Mr. Kimber himself maintained in later years that MG didn't stand for anything in particular. MG is best known for two-seat open sports cars, but MG also produced saloons and coupes. More recently, the brand has also been used to designate sportier versions of other models belonging to the parent company. HISTORY There is some debate over when MG started. The company itself believes it is 1924, although the first cars bore both Morris and MG badges and a reference to MG with the octagon badge appears in an Oxford newspaper from November 1923. Some dispute this and believe that MG began trading in 1925. The first cars which were rebodied Morris models using coachwork from Carbodies of Coventry and were built in premises in Alfred Lane, Oxford but demand soon caused a move to larger premises in Bainton Road in September 1925 sharing space with the Morris radiator works. Continuing expansion meant another move in 1927 to a separate factory in Edmund Road, Cowley, Oxford, near the main Morris factory and for the first time it was possible to include a production line. In 1928 the company had become large enough to warrant an identity separate from the original Morris Garages and the M.G. Car Company Limited was established in March of that year and in October for the first time a stand was taken at the London Motor Show. Space again soon ran out and a search for a permanent home led to the lease of part an old leather factory in Abingdon, Oxfordshire in 1929 where production would remain until 1980 . Originally owned personally by William Morris, the company was sold to Morris Motors (itself part of the Nuffield Organisation) in 1935; a change that was to have serious consequences for the company, particularly it's motor-sport activities. MG was effectively absorbed into the British Motor Corporation in 1952, and latterly British Leyland in 1968. The factory was shut down as part of the ruthless programme of cutbacks necessary to turn BL around after the turbulent times of the 1970s and since then MGs have been made at the Longbridge plant. MG became part of the MG Rover Group based in Longbridge, Birmingham. This Group went into receivership in 2005; the future for English production — if not the brand — remains uncertain. The earliest model, the 1924 14/28 consisted of a new sporting body on a Morris Oxford chassis. This production continued through the next models following the updates to the Morris. The first car which can be described as a new MG, rather than a modified Morris was the 18/80 of 1928 which had a purpose designed chassis and the first appearance of the traditional vertical MG grille. A smaller car was launched in 1929 with the first of a long line of Midgets starting with the M-Type based on a Morris Minor chassis. MG established a name for itself in the early days of the sport of international automobile racing. Beginning before and continuing after World War II, MG produced a line of cars known as the T-Series Midgets which, post-war, were exported worldwide, achieving better-than-expected success. These included the MG TC, MG TD, and MG TF, all of which were based on the pre-war MG TB, with various degrees of updating. MG departed from its earlier line of Y-Type saloons and pre-war designs and released the MGA in 1955. The MGB was released in 1962 to satisfy demand for a more modern and comfortable sports car. In 1965 the fixed head coupé (FHC) followed: the MGB GT. With continual updates, mostly to comply with increasingly stringent American emissions and safety standards, the MGB was produced until 1980. Between 1967 and 1969 a short-lived model called the MGC was released. The MGC was based on the MGB body, but with a larger (and, unfortunately, heavier) six-cylinder engine, and somewhat worse handling. MG also began producing the MG Midget in 1961. The Midget was a re-badged and slightly restyled second-generation Austin-Healey Sprite. As with the MGB, the Midget design was frequently modified until production finally stopped in 1979. The marque lived on after 1980 as British Leyland (later Austin Rover Group), the then-owner, placed the MG badge on a number of Austin saloons. In New Zealand, the MG badge even appeared on the late 1980s’ Austin Montego estate, called the MG 2.0 Si Wagon. There was a brief competitive history with a mid-engined, six-cylinder version of the Metro. In the late ’80s, ARG was renamed as the Rover Group and revived the two-seater with the MG RV8, then in 1995 introduced the all-new MGF (redesigned and relaunched as the TF, reviving an old MG name). With the demerger of Rover from BMW in 1999, the MG name appeared on sportier versions of the current Rover saloons and the Rover 75 estate and even a van. The MG Rover Group purchased Qvale, which had taken over development of the De Tomaso Bigua. This car, renamed the Qvale Mangusta and already approved for sale in the United States, formed the basis of the MG XPower SV, an "extreme" V8-engined sports car. It was revealed in 2002 and went on sale in 2004. MG car production has been suspended since 7 April 2005, due to the receivership of the MG Rover group. It is hoped that MG production will continue, either at Longbridge or elsewhere, if a buyer for the marque is found. It has been rumoured that Rover production could also continue - possibly in China or Iran, depending on where the company's buyer comes from. As of 2003, the site of the former Abingdon factory was host to McDonalds and the Thames Valley Police. In 2001 MG launched their motor sport campaign to cover Le Mans 24hrs race (MG X-Power Ex 251), British Touring Car Championship(BTCC) (MG X-Power ZS), British and World Rally Championships and MG Independent British Rally Championship ( MG X-Power ZR)and in 2004 plans to race in the German Touring Car Chamionship (DTM) with a heavilly modified V8 powered ZT supertouring car were cancelled due to MG Rover's liquidation in April 2005. The Le Mans team failed to win the endurance race in 2001 and 2002 and quit in 2003. MG Sport+Racing raced in the British Touring Car Championships with the MG ZS between 2001-2003 as a factory team. In 2004 WSR raced the MG ZS as a privateer team and still race in the series today with many wins to date. The MG British Rally Challenge still runs today despite the liquidation iin 2005 PROJECT KIMBER AND THE SMART ROADSTER Project Kimber is the acquisition group, run by David James, that lost out to Nanjing in the bidding for the remains of MG Rover in 2005. It is named after Cecil Kimber of the original MG firm. In 2006, it was reported that David James had entered talks with Nanjing to buy the MG brand in order to produce a number of sports cars based on the discontinued Smart Roadster design by DaimlerChrysler. On Friday February 17th 2006, The Times newspaer reported that Mr James was in discussions with DaimlerChrysler to buy the design and technology to produce the Roadster for approximately £13 million. The rebadged car would be then produced at a former Dunlop tyre factory in Coventry, whilst the Longbridge plant could be closed down. It is understood that Project Kimber is being funded by Grant Gazdig's Access Capital firm, as well as a private equity firm called European American Securities. MODELS Sports car 1929-1932 MG M-Type Midget 1930-1931 MG 18/100 "Tigress" 1931-1932 MG C-Type Midget 1931-1932 MG D-Type Midget 1931-1932 MG F-Type Magna 1932-1934 MG J-Type Midget 1932-1934 MG K-Type Magnette 1933-1934 MG L-Type Magna 1934-1936 MG N-Type Magnette 1934-1936 MG P-Type Midget 1936-1939 MG TA Midget 1939-1940 MG TB Midget 1945-1950 MG TC Midget 1950-1953 MG TD Midget 1953-1955 MG TF Midget 1956-1962 MGA 1961-1979 MG Midget 1962-1980 MGB 1968-1970 MGC 1973-1976 MGB GT V8 1992-1995 MG RV8 1995-2005 MG F 2002-2005 MG TF Subcompact car 1982-1990 MG Metro Compact car 1962-1968 MG 1100 1967-1973 MG 1300 Midsize car 1924-1927 MG 14/28 1927-1929 MG 14/40 1928-1933 MG 18/80 1937-1939 MG VA 1947-1953 MG Y-Type 1953-1956 MG Magnette ZA 1956-1958 MG Magnette ZB 1959-1961 MG Magnette Mk. III 1961-1968 MG Magnette Mk. IV 1983-1991 MG Maestro 1985-1991 MG Montego 2001-2005 MG ZR 2001-2005 MG ZS Full-size car 1936-1939 MG SA 1938-1939 MG WA 2001-2005 MG ZT Supercar 2002-2005 MG XPower SV

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