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Re: was MGF Availability, now is the MGF a real MG

To: mgs@autox.team.net
Subject: Re: was MGF Availability, now is the MGF a real MG
From: Alan Tong <alan@picotech.co.uk>
Date: Mon, 11 Nov 1996 16:06:05 +0000
If I have the time I would write a long flame to this, but I dont so 
here goes....

I have had an MGF for about 14 months and have covered over 30,000 
miles.  I have had Midgets and B's for several years and have covered 
nearly 500,000 miles in them.  I hope this qualifies me to say 
whether the MGF is a real MG as opposed to someone who has not 
driven or even seen one.  A MG is a cheap, fun, safe, sportscar.  The 
MGF is all of these, in fact to drive it is in someways similar to a 
Midget, you almost feel you are 'wearing' the car around you.  The 
handling, mostly due to the mid engined configuration is better than 
any other car I have driven on the road.  It is streets ahead of the 
miata (MX5) and BMW Z3, in fact the only other car to rival it below 
100K USD is the Lotus Elise which uses the same engine in the same 
mid engined configuration.

The MGF is the first of a new generation of MGs, the project name for 
the car was Phoenix Rising to show that it is the re-birth of MG. It 
was designed before BMW got involved so is a proper british sports 
car.  In the UK the MGF has been a great success story, my car is 
now worth 2000 UKP more secondhand than when I bought it new!  

I still have a Midget and dont have any intention of getting rid of 
it, but before I bought an MGF I was doing 30,000 miles a year in the 
Midget.  Since I bought the MGF I have done 2,500 miles.  Out of 
choice I drive the MGF most of the time simply before it is more fun.

Regards
Alan Tong

1996 MGF  (7th car made)
1977 Midget (130mph top in 4th overdrive!)

> At 12:36 AM 11/8/96 -0500, you wrote:
> >OK, let the flames begin...How can the MGF even be called an MG when it did
> >not roll off the assembly line in Abingdon?  Now you are going to say that,
> >well, MG's were made in Oxford before Abingdon.  But there is a big
> >difference.  Mr. Kimber started M.G.'s (might as well write it correctly) in
> >Oxford and his team of talent went over with him to Abingdon to continue the
> >production of what became the most popular sports car in the world.   I'll
> >bet not a single Abingdon alumnus had any part in designing or producing the
> >MGF.  Rover just owns the name and can (and did) stick it on any piece of
> >crap they desire.  Their recent action of hassling the keepers of the flame
> >that use the logo means to me that they don't have a clue of what the logo
> >means to most of us!  As far as I'm concerned they can keep the MGF in
> >England and Japan, sure its a British designed/produced sports car (or
> >another modern jelly bean) and probably a pretty good one, but IMHO it is no
> >M.G.  There can never be another real M.G.  M.G. ceased to exist in 1980.
> > They made it so.  It is a badged engineered world now.  You will probably
> >soon see a MG motorcycle with horizontally opposed cylinders!
> 
> Couldn't agree more! It's like wishing the name Duesenburg would start  up
> again. Let's enjoy the old MGs and  stop worrying about a German company
> capitalizing on an old Brit car name.
> 
> Needed a project for 97 - bought a very straight late 48 EXU TC with a
> garage full of spares. Why do I keep doing this?
> 
> Bill Harkins
> 
> 
> 

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