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MG: Present Day

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S

Seik

Freshman Member
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TOP GEAR MG SV

I was watching that video and saw that the car was an MG. I thought that MG as a company died in the early 80's.

Can someone explain to me what is the present day MG? Is the company still alive? Or is it just the name MG the same way BMW bought the MINI name. Are there going to be new MG's made?

Just curious. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused.gif
 
MG went teets up early last year. MG Rover was purchased by a group of British business men in the mid to late 90's and revitalized to an extent. They had several cars in their line up but the company went bankrupt last year and the marque has been sold off to a Chinese company that claims to retain some of the production in the UK. However, many are sceptical about the Chinese company's intentions of keeping that word. Reportedly MG's most popular car was the modern MG F and MG tF roadsters. Definitely an attractive mid engine rear drive roadster, but far less powerful than the MG XPower SV.

So, in a nut shell the modern MG company will be argued by many as not being MG anymore, and it's current status is in a state of flux. A large portion of the MG factory workers have already been retrained, re-employed else where, or currently under retraining.

On a side note, the Chinese company also picked up the Austin Healey marque, AFAIK. And the previous MG Rover owners have recieved financial backing from annoymous investors in the US and possibly other countries to try and bring back Austin Healey, and maybe even MG. Although, they must now "lease" the name from the Chinese company in order to do so.

It's a sticky mud pit of corperate mish mash that is today's automotive world where everybody is owned my somebody else and no one really owns themself anymore.
 
well.. since nobody has touched it for an hour... what the heck.

MG stopped exporting cars to the US in 80 or 81. A couple of years later they started re-badging some other British Leyland econo-boxen and called it the MG Metro. After that they made some other models and started making ragtops again but they were never exported here.

As of about 6 months ago the latest version of MG/Rover finally went belly up and was bought by some outfit in China. The car you saw on Top Gear was made during the MG/Rover years.

There has been speculation on and off about them starting production again in the UK but as of yet nothing has materialized.

Hows that for a light-on-facts brief history of the end of MG ???

Many feel that the "real" MG died when the last MGB rolled off the line in Abingdon and nothing since was anything other than a name. But then again if someone gave me a "new" MGTF that was still being made last year I'd take gladly drive it.

Same thing happened to Triumph at the same time and for a while in the mid-80's there was a Honda Accord with a Triumph badge on it that only sold in Europe.
 
well... I guess i was just a smidgeon quicker on the reply... but I think we both covered most of the MG Rover ending, and the sentiments of many people in the US.
 
My prejudice tasks me to say: The *last* real MG left Abingdon in mid '74... and THAT was only a parody of the "real thing."

...but I'm HIGHLY opinionated. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/devilgrin.gif
 
/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/nonono.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/nonono.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/nonono.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/nonono.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/nonono.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/nonono.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/spam.gif
 
That's ok, REAL MGB's don't have webber carbs either!
 
You picked up a copy of the "Special Tuning" book lately? Somewheres around stage four, IIRC. No clue as to copyright date... yeah, RIGHT.

/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif
 
why for did thee plaster the spam guy in here, Ken?

any of you watch that video yet? it's great! The commentary on the MG X Power SV is *hilarious*! But they also mention how much fun it is to drive. I didn't know the engine came from a Mustang.

I think I'm gonna go on a quest to find that video in downloadable format.... i'd like to see it in higher resolution. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smirk.gif
 
WHack!!.../ubbthreads/images/graemlins/lol.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/lol.gif
that was pretty funny...



mark
 
heheh... just love how they caught that in different angles, and his co-host obviously enjoyed watching the clip a *LOT*... /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif
 
[ QUOTE ]

On a side note, the Chinese company also picked up the Austin Healey marque, AFAIK.

[/ QUOTE ]

AFAIK ??
 
[ QUOTE ]
why for did thee plaster the spam guy in here, Ken?

[/ QUOTE ]

I like the guy, and nobody ever uses him. Plus I like spam...

I'll have the spam spam spam spam spam eggs bacon and spam... could I get some spam with that? /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/spam.gif
 
I just finished MGB The Complete Story by Brian Laban. Very informative, but he might just take a bit of offence at a rumpfer weighing in on the end of MG. As a matter of fact, if there have been incidents of Triumph vandalism in his home town, he would have to be quite the suspect. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/eek.gif
 
I wonder with the demise of MG what is happening to the market value of one of those babies today...what is 75,000 pounds become worth now?

I guess I will have to stop at the next MG dealer I see and check it out! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/driving.gif

Bruce /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cheers.gif
 
You could also argue that the last "real" M.G. was built before WWII, and it was designed by Cecil Kimber.

Or, you could say the last one was the TC before they went to those silly little modern wheels.

Or, perhaps the TF before they put a trendy streamlined body on a TD chassis to make the MGA prototype.

Or, in 1967 just before they did away with tradition and put foam padding on the dash and smog equipment in the engine.

There are a million ways to look at it, but my feeling is that the essence of the real (early) MG sports cars died with the introduction of (excluding saloon cars) the MGB. MGA was certainly a departure from the usual pure-bred sports car but it was still a basic open roadster so I give it some credit. The MGB was far over the line between pure sports car and daily driver and while it is a great car offering good performance, it was not designed with the same ideals as the company's early high performance offerings. The later MGBs were even farther from this, becomming more of a "sporty car" than sports car.

With the original M.G. Car Company going out of business in 1980, thus ended the era of the "real" MGs altogether. Anything made after that is not a product of the original M.G., but instead a product of a different company that paid for the use of the classic MG badge. Yes, they are MGs because whoever legally owns the name is MG, but they are not the same MG as the company that started the marque.

If you really want to get down to it, the last of the pure M.G. cars was probably the TC. It was the end of an era and anything after is typically considered a "modern" M.G.

Now before I get flamed, I own and love an MGA and two MGBs so my comments are not meant to be derogatory. The MGB is a fantastic car! It is just not as pure a sports car as the models built 40 years earlier. And the MGA offers a driving experience unlike any other - one I would not trade for anything.
 
[ QUOTE ]
And the MGA offers a driving experience unlike any other - one I would not trade for anything.

[/ QUOTE ]

The experience of everyone passing you on the freeway ??? /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

...sorry...

I couldn't resist.
 
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