At 11:39 PM 1/28/99 +0930, you wrote:
<SNIP>
>*************
>So I guess a management decision to go for the TR 7 did spell the end for
>MG.
>In this book is a cartoon drawn by Tim Holder of a 'suite' hovering over a
>Leyland logo, holding a TR with a 'Seal of Approval' rosette in front of
>it's windscreen and kicking backwards with one foot an MGB with a banner
>attached to it saying 'Golden Anniversary 50 Glorious Years'. In the
>background are the MG factory workers with plenty of MG flags, all looking
>despondent.
>
>My apologies for raving on, this is a bit long, but interesting all the
>same. I'd suggest the author is a tad biased. Eh?
>
Scotty et al,
While I agree that it was BL management that was responsible for the demise
of both marques I still hold a degree of resentment against the Triumph
crowd. Consider the long, slow neglect by BL that killed MG. Compare the
R&D and product development expended on the Triumph line during the life of
the MGB. From `62 to `80 the MG flagship was the B (and its short lived
derivitives; the C and GT-V8) which, almost from birth, deteriorated in
performance yet continued to sell well. The only other offerings were the
Midget and the 1100 saloon with their own minor changes, the 1100 was (I
think) mostly just badge engineered. Meanwhile Triumph, the weak sister in
sales , introduced I don't know how many models. The TR4 (and 4A), TR5,
TR250, TR6, TR7, (and 8), Spitfire, GT-6, Dolomite, Herald, Vitesse and
maybe others during the same period.
My point being that if a little more attention had been paid to the
prospective MG buyers and current owners`round the world once BL took over
from BMC instead of a myopic focus on Triumph as the entry level sports car,
the two marques could have supported one another through periods of
development. Instead, when a truly inferior product was foisted on the Brit
car buying public, meaning the early TR7's, and sales were slow and press
response was luke warm at best, the MGB was an underpowered anachronism.
Through sheer neglect it's market share had dwindled to the point where the
combined sales of both marques weren't enough to keep either viable.
BTW, I did my part. I bought one of them "underpowered anachronisms", brand
new. The day I picked it up it was parked next to weird looking wedge thingy
on the dealer's lot.
JMHO.
Cheers,eh!
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