I have always liked this version of the story, because it is so
nutty that it rings of truth. "Morris Garage" has just seemed too
"pat".
Kelvin.
TATERRY@aol.com wrote:
>
> From: scotty@dove.net.au (Scotty)
>
> >>>>>>>>>>original follows<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
> >What does MG stand for - this is a question that has annoyed me for quite
> >awhile!!!?
> >
> >>>>>>>>>>end of original<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
>
> G`Day Gillian,
> you have asked a controversial question! which has been asked
> many times before, people either choose to believe that MG "stands" for, or
> was "derived" from Morris Garages. In the early 80`s I took a look at this
> subject and discovered the following.
> In an article in "Veteran and Vintage" October 1975 titled "The Cars
> That Kimber Built" F Wilson McCombe wrote that it was either Lisa Kimber or
> her sister Jean who told him that nothing so annoyed their father more than
> the glib statement that M.G. means "Morris Garages" IT DOES NOT! he would
> thunder,
> M.G. means M.G.! In Thoruoghbred and Classics Car Magazine, March 1982
> Johnathon Wood looked into the M.G. Insignia and told this story. Ted Lee
> was Kimbers accountant and tells that he was in his office one day and using
> a ruler he had bought from school, drew out this badge which he took into
> Kimber who said "Thats just the thing" the new badge was shown to William
> Morris and Ted remembers him saying "It was the best thing to come into the
> company and that it would never go out of it" Ted was asked if he had chosen
> the Octagon for any special reason and he said, no it was a typical 20s
> motif, an example of what we now call Art Deco. The badge first appeared in
> an advertisament in The Morris Owner, May 1924, for a two seater Raworth
> bodied car with Kimbers wife Rene at the wheel. Ted took the initials of the
> first busness owned by William Morris and enclosed the initials in an
> octagon to make the M.G. badge.
> Now, having shared this with you all, IMHO, M.G. "stands alone" as
> the name of the company and the cars, M.G. was derived from the name of the
> first business owned by William Morris but does not stand for anything other
> than M.G. The full stops in the name M.G. were put there by Kimber himself,
> because he thought it looked better on the company letter head, with full
> stops, [Dick Knudson wrote a detailed article on this subject some years
> ago, I believe]
> FWIW if any of the above is not correct I will gladly stand
> corrected in the quest for historical accuracy, I look forward to
> constructive comments and any corrections that can be substantiated as fact.
>
> Cheers,
>
> John[Scotty]Scott.
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