MG AT CENTRE OF ALCHEMY PLANS
By David Barrett, PA News
Alchemy intends to call the new business the MG Car Company and develop a new
range "worthy of the sporting heritage of the MG name".
Whenever enthusiasts the world over think of the definitive British sports
car, they think of MG's classic octagon badge.
The marque dates back to 1922 when Morris Garages began customising
four-seater Morris Cowley saloons into nifty two-seaters.
Offered in pastel colours it made a lively alternative to the "any colour you
want so long as it's black" attitude of the time.
By the 1930s MG had won itself a reputation in sporting circles.
Typified by its long bonnet, two-seater style, the company really scored a
hit with its MG TC - first sports car launched in the post-war market.
The agile machine won instant appeal with its wire wheels, chrome radiator
and slab petrol tank, particularly with American GIs. Ten thousand were sold
in four years - a remarkable achievement for the time.
In 1955 there was the distinctive MGA, and the Sixties produced the sluggish
but cute MG Midget.
But the MGB, in 1962, really set the marque apart for its must-have design.
It seems that anyone who's anyone has owned an MGB at one time, from Sting to
Angela Rippon, and more than half a million were built at the company's
Abingdon plant.
One of the Prince of Wales' first cars was an MGC GT, and it earned him a
parking ticket three months after he took ownership in 1968.
Merged into British Leyland, MG executives and 100 American car dealers
gathered at a special dinner in 1980 to mark the company's anniversary only
to hear the brand was being killed off.
The name remained, but in an emasculated form. With no respect for MG's
racing heritage, its badge was attached to souped-up special editions of the
Metro and Montego.
Then the marque was properly revived under BMW's ownership in 1995 with the
launch of the MGF.
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It could be worse, or better, they could have called it Triu,ph!
Regards
Léon
Triumph Sports Six Club
International Liaison Secretary
1963 Triumph Vitesse 2-Litre Convertible
Wimbledon, London, England.
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