Set to celebrate its 90th birthday annivarsary, The MG Car Company was founded in 1924 and got its name from Morris Garages, a dealer of Morris cars in Oxford which began producing its own customised versions to the designs of Cecil Kimber.
The first cars, re-bodied Morris models, used coachwork from Carbodies of Coventry and were built in premises in Alfred Lane, Oxford. On May 1, 1924, the Octagon was registered as an MG trademark. The marque has come a long way since those early days, with the famous octagonal emblem recognised and celebrated around the globe.
After several moves in Oxford, due to a growing demand for more cars to be produced, the MG moved to Abingdon and ever since the town has been the home of the MG.
Arguably Britain’s favourite classic sports car reaches its 90th anniversary this year, and to celebrate the occasion MG will be the featured marque at Simply Classics and Sports Car, at the National Motor Museum, Beaulieu, on Sunday, August 24. MG Clubs and MG owners can book their place in advance by email to: [email protected] or call 01590 614614
To compliment MG’s impressive racing pedigree, the MG Car Club will be taking over Silverstone’s historic Grand Prix circuit for the fifth consecutive year with a packed weekend of motorsport on June 21 and June 22, with MGs of all ages battling it out.
The best celebration for MG though may be the company’s comeback and recent growth. MG celebrates with record growth in 2014 Q1. SMMT figures released recently show MG has the highest growth of any manufacturer in UK in Q1 2014. There were more MGs sold in Q1 2014 than in total in 2013. This success is largely driven by the new MG3 supermini, diesel MG6 and strong finance offers. Sales growth also comes from a major dealer network expansion project.
Although MG’s parent company, SAIC, is Chinese owned, the new range of MGs are designed and engineered in the state of the art European Design and Technical Centre, and assembled in the adjacent factory, both located at the MG site in Longbridge, Birmingham.
For more articles and event information:
- The MG Car Club – http://www.mgcc.co.uk/
- MG Owner’s Club – http://www.mgownersclub.co.uk/
- North American MGB Register – http://www.namgbr.org/
- The American MGB Association – http://www.mgclub.org/index.htm
- Express and Star – Much-Loved MG Celebrating 90 Years
- Herald Series – Revving Up To Toast Iconic MG Sports Car