I love MGCs myself - but not everyone else in the world has done in the
past, and sadly not even the people at MG really liked it much when it
was current. And that is not just "subjective blather" but words from
the horses' mouths. This very day I bought myself a 1969 US market MGC
brochure from a literature dealer at the Earls Court Motor Show - I
wouldn't have done that if I didn't have some affection for the car. In
1979, I very nearly bought NOF27F - the former "Autocar" road-test MGC
GT automatic, in Riviera Blue, so must like underdogs.
On the subject of the Acclaim, you are right that Austin Rover produced
a car called the Triumph Acclaim; this was based upon a Japan-only model
called the Honda Domani, which was a parallel model range related to
(but not the same as!) the Civic. BL made an agreement with Honda to
produce the Honda Domani in the UK as the Triumph Acclaim. The
engineering drawings for the Acclaim had to be translated from Japanese
to English, and this was largely done by the enginering team at the MG
plant at Abingdon (they later moved to Cowley, where the car was
eventually built).
In the wake of this deal ("Project Bounty"), BL began looking at other
projects with Honda, one of these being the Rover "XX" (which became the
Rover 800, aka Sterling) and another being the idea - no more than that
- of an MG sports car. However, the MG Midget based upon a Honda Civic
CRX was a bit of scoop journalism that was slightly off beam; Road &
Track built such a car, but that was as far as it went.
----------
From: Robert Allen
To: David Knowles
Cc: MGs List
Subject: Re: Midget based on Honda Civic? Not actually true....
Date: 15 October 1997 14:38
David Knowles wrote:
> Larry & Janet wrote:
>
> >>>Several years ago there was a new Midget based on the Honda Civic.
> At the time I thought "STUPID" then I thought It's an MG, get the
placard
> in
> the consumers view. As far as I know they never delivered.
> <<<<
>
> As far as Austin Rover (as the company was known at the time) was
> concerned, there never was an MG Midget based upon the Honda Civic.
> Motor magazine ran a story with uncannily accurate sketches in January
> 1985, and said that these were of an MG Midget based on the Civic -
but
> they weren't; the actual prototype (featured in my book) was a styling
> model, based upon the packaging of a proposed new Metro (Austin
Rover's
> small hatchback) and developed in the Austin Rover Advanced Concept
> Studio. It was not a runner and was really just an ideas car - car
> companies build these all the time.
I don't what to get into a trivia contest with Mr. Knowles, especially
after all the subjective blather he's contributed on my beloved 'C', but
I
think it was a Honda Civic, sold as a Triumph, and called an Aclaim.
But this is from the dark recesses of my brain where the 8 inch floppies
are archived.
--
Bob Allen, Kansas City, '69CGT, '75TR6, '61Elva(?)
"The qualities of team players are most highly regarded by incompetent
coaches."
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