MG History
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MG Cars got its name from Morris Garages, which began
producing its own customised versions to the designs of Cecil
Kimber who had joined the company as its Sales Manager in
1921 and was promoted to General
Manager in 1922.
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There is some question as to when MG
began. Some state it to be 1924,
although the first cars bore both Morris
and MG badges and a reference to MG
with the octagon badge appeared in an
Oxford newspaper in November 1923.
Others believe that MG only properly
began trading in 1925.
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The first cars, which were rebodied
Morris models, used coachwork from
Carbodies of Coventry and were built in
Alfred Lane, Oxford.
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In 1928 the company had become large
enough to separate from the original
Morris Garages and the MG Car
Company Limited was established.
•
Space again ran out and a new home
was established in part of an old leather
factory in Abingdon, Oxfordshire in 1929,
gradually taking over more space until
production ended there in 1980.
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MG was absorbed into the British Motor
Corporation. BMC merged with Jaguar
Cars in 1966 to form British Motor
Holdings, which in turn merged with the
Leyland Motor Corporation in 1968 to
form the British Leyland Motor
Corporation.
•
Following partial nationalisation in 1975
BLMC became British Leyland. The
Abingdon factory was shut down as part
of the programme of cutbacks necessary
to turn BL around after the difficult times
of the 1970s. Though many plants were
closed, none created such an uproar
among workers, dealers, clubs and
customers as this closure did.
•
After BL became the Rover Group in
1986, ownership of the MG marque
passed to British Aerospace in 1988 and
then in 1994 to BMW. BMW sold the
business in 2000 and the MG marque
passed to the MG Rover Group based in
Longbridge, Birmingham. The Group
went into receivership in 2005 and car
production was suspended on 7 April
2005.
•
In July 2005, the Nanjing Automobile
Group purchased the rights to the MG
brand and the assets of the MG Rover
Group for £53 million creating a new
company NAC MG UK Limited. Nanjing
restarted production of the MG TF and
ZT ranges in early 2007. The TF and the
ZT (renamed the MG 7) are assembled
in Pukou, Jiangsu Province in China. The
MG 3, a rebadged Rover Streetwise,
also entered production at Pukou.
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In 2006 Nanjing announced the
development of a TF sports coupé.
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In 2007, merged with Shanghai
Automotive Industry Corporation.
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The MG range was relaunched in the
United Kingdom during 2008, with an
updated limited edition of the TF built at
Longbridge by NAC MG UK, called the
TF LE500. Production of the TF at
Longbridge was suspended again in
October 2009.
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In January 2009, NAC MG UK was
renamed MG Motor UK Limited.
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The MG 6 hatchback variant of the
Roewe 550 was announced in April
2009. It is expected that this model will
be assembled both in China, starting in
2010, and at Longbridge, in 2011.
Car models
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The earliest model, the 1924 MG 14/28
consisted of a new sporting body on a
Morris Oxford chassis. The first car
which can be described as a new MG,
rather than a modified Morris was the
MG 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 1928 Morris Minor chassis.
Beginning before and continuing after
World War II, MG produced a line of cars
known as the T-Series Midgets. These
included the MG TC, MG TD, and MG
TF, all of which were based on the pre-
war MG TB.
•
MG departed from its earlier line of Y-
Type saloons and pre-war designs and
released the MGA in 1955.
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The MGB was released in 1962 to satisfy
demand for a more modern and
comfortable sports car and continued in
production until 1980.
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In 1965 this was followed by the MGB
GT.
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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 six-cylinder engine.
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MG began producing the MG Midget in
1961. The Midget was a re-badged and
slightly restyled second-generation
Austin-Healey Sprite.
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The 1974 MGB was the last model made
with chrome bumpers due to new United
States safety regulations and now had
thick black rubber bumpers.
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As with the MGB, the Midget design was
frequently modified until 1980 when the
last of the range was made.
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The MG badge lived on after 1980 under
BL, being used on a number of Austin
saloons including the Metro, Maestro,
and Montego.
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The Rover Group revived the two-seater
with the MG RV8 in 1992.
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The all-new MGF went on sale in 1995,
becoming the first mass-produced "real"
MG sports car since the MGB ceased
production in 1980.
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The MG range was expanded in the
summer of 2001 with the introduction of
three Rover-based sports models. The
MG ZR was based on the Rover 25, the
MG ZS on the Rover 45, and the MG
ZT/ZT-T on the Rover 75.
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In 2011 MG launched the MG6 and MG6
Magnette.
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In 2013 MG launched the MG3
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Concept cars include the MG5 and the
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