Brief History of MG Cars

The initials MG, as used in the MG brand name, actually stand for Morris Garages, which in the early 1920’s was the name of the Oxford based distributor of Morris cars. By strange coincidence the business was owned by a Mr. William Morris, who later became Lord Nuffield.

Cecil Kimber was appointed as the General Manager of the company in 1922, and benefitting from his flair and creativity, the company began to specialise in marketing customised Morris Cowley’s. These cars had lowered suspension and were fitted with bespoke sports car bodies.

Old Number One – The First MG Car

The first MG sports car, now known as Old Number One, was quite a crudely built vehicle that lacked power and was reported to have been fitted with appalling brakes. This had been designed and built by Cecil Kimber and had a top speed of around 70mph, and was said to be great fun to drive.

Old Number One still exists today and is probably worth an absolute fortune. It was built on a bespoke chassis and fitted with an overhead valve Hotchkiss 1.5–litre four–cylinder engine, producing around 38bhp. Morris axles and brakes were used, special springs were made, and Hartford friction dampers were fitted at the rear.

Carbodies of Coventry built the two–seater bodywork and with its skimpy mudguards. The car had very poor lighting with two small lamps mounted above the twin spare wheels (one on each side of the body) and a single glow-worm lamp at the back.

The cut down bodywork gave the old car a racy appearance. When driven there was a rasp from the exhaust under acceleration and a series of backfires when lifting off the throttle. This was a car built by Cecil Kimber for hill climb trials, and although not particularly powerful, it did provide the driver with total car involvement.

A Split Braking System, But Not For Safety Reasons

What is said to be fascinating about Old Number One is the car had a split braking system. This was not the same as modern vehicles where dual circuits are installed for safety reasons, but with a foot brake operating on the front wheels and a hand operated lever applying brakes to the rear wheels.

In the 1920–s, a good driver was constantly alert to the needs of the machine. Old Number One has silver–faced Smiths dials to monitor fuel and oil pressure, engine revs, road speed and the condition of the electrical system. The water temperature gauge was a glorified thermometer, as in a Boyce Motometer set on the radiator cap. Other controls in the cabin include a fuel pressure pump, a lever for ignition advance and retard, and a fuel mixture dial, this being vital for starting the engine in cold weather.

Cecil Kimber Competes at The Lands End Trial

In 1925, Cecil Kimber helped to bring the MG name to the attention of the motoring public with a faultless performance in the Lands End Trial. This was a sporting event of some importance organised by the Motor Cycling Club and a test of both performance and durability of both car and driver. The event started at Slough and finished at Land's End, and Cecil Kimber produced the car specifically for the event.

After Cecil Kimber had finished with Old Number One he sold it to a friend in Lancashire. However, it returned home to Oxford in the early 1930’s after allegedly being found on a scrap heap in Manchester.

The First Car to Wear The MG Badge

By 1924, Morris Garages were advertising an MG Special four–seater sports model and this was the first car to display the now famous octagonal MG badge. Old Number One may have been the first MG sports car, but the MG badge first appeared on the 48th body, built for Morris Garages by Carbodies of Coventry.

In 1929 Morris Garages relocated to Abingdon in Oxfordshire, this being the third premises they had occupied in eight years. By this time the company had been renamed as the MG Car Company. During the early 1930’s,the MG Car Company made its name as a producer of sports cars and promoted its road cars according to the motor racing success of their competition cars. However, in 1935, William Morris sold his private companies, including MG, to Morris Motors.

MG is Part of British Motor Corporation (BMC)

In 1952 an amalgamation of Austin, Morris (owners of MG), Wolesley and Riley took place to form the British Motor Corporation (BMC). William Morris, who became Lord Nuffield, was the first chairman of this corporate giant that was producing 39% of Britain’s car manufacturing output. However, in August of that same year, Lord Nuffield’s position was taken over by Leonard Lord.

Prior to the formation of the new company, Leonard Lord had been chairman of Austin, and once chairman of BMC he gathered around him many members of his Austin management team. This caused ill feeling within the company as it seemed the other car names within the group were always disadvantaged by comparison.

The purists will argue that from that point onwards MG cars were never the same again. There was less variety in the products, racing activities became limited, and the MG badge began to appear on BMC saloons. These included an MG version of the Morris Oxford, a car with a reputation for being a steady family saloon.

BMC Becomes BMH, and Then BLMC

In 1961, Leonard Lord retired from office, handing over to his second in command, George Harriman. Then, in 1966, BMC merged with Jaguar cars and Pressed Steel, a car body pressing company with contracts with many car manufacturers. The amalgamation formed British Motor Holdings Limited (BMH).

In 1968, and whilst BMH was very close to economic collapse,the company was taken over by the Leyland truck and bus company, that brought with it the names of Rover and Triumph. This new conglomeration was named as British Leyland Motor Corporation (BLMC), or British Leyland for short.

Despite the changes in ownership MG cars were still produced and sold in large numbers alongside MG badged saloons. As affordable sports cars they were extremely popular, holding up well in market competition against competitors. The main market rival of MG in the BMC and BMH years was that of Triumph, but once British Leyland was formed, the two badges became owned by the same company.

The management of British Leyland during the 1970’s was both inadequate and appalling, a situation that resulted in the destruction of many good names in car building. The company was blighted with a belligerent workforce that seemed to be embroiled in one industrial dispute after another, all of which lost the company (and the British Government) millions of pounds.

The MG Factory at Abingdon is Closed

In 1980, as part of the company scaling down initiative, and with much public demonstration and protest, the MG works at Abingdon closed its gates for the last time. However, that was not to be the end.

From 1982 the MG name was applied to re–badged and slightly tuned Austin Maestro’s, Montego’s and Metro’s, much in the same manner as during those early BMC years when MG versions of the Morris Oxford were produced. However, in 1990, this ended and again it seemed as though the MG badge would be destined for the archives.

MG enthusiasts were given a ray of hope when their beloved marque was revived in 1992 and when the MGB styled MG RV8 appeared. This was a hand built car produced in low volume (12 cars a week) and powered by the Rover 3.9-litre V8 engine. But it didn’t last. In 1995, and after 1,983 cars had been built, this model too fell by the wayside.

The Formation of The MG Rover Group

In 1995, the MG F appeared. This was a mid–engine two–seater mass produced sports car built by the Rover Group. The car sold in large sold in large volumes, but in the Year 2000 the Rover Group became the property of German car maker, BMW, which promptly broke the company up.

What BMW was after out of the deal was Land Rover and once that had been obtained, the rest was sold off to the so called Phoenix Consortium that named their new company the MG Rover Group.

In the summer of 2001, the new MG Rover Group launched a range of products by introducing three Rover–based MG sports saloon models. These were the MG ZR, based on the Rover 25, the MG ZS, based on the Rover 45, and the MG ZT/ZT–T, based on the Rover 75.

The MG F was re–launched in 2002 when it became known as the MG TF. However, in early 2005, all production ceased as MG Rover Group went into administration.

MG Now Becomes Chinese

The Assets of MG Rover Group were bought by Chinese consortium, Nanjing Automobile in July 2005 for a sum that was reported to be £53 million. Nanjing Automobile created a new company name, NAC MG UK Limited, and with it the rights to the MG brand (NAC stands for Nanjing Automobile Corporation).

In July 2006 there was an announcement by NAC MG UK Limited that a car production plant would be built in the US, and with MG cars to go on sale in there in the summer of 2008. However, it wasn’t long before this fell through. In 2007, production of the MG TF roadster and MG7 started in China. The MG7 was a large sports saloon derived from the old Rover 75 based MG ZT.

Later in 2007, Nanjing announced they were involved in a Chinese Government supported merger with Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation (SAIC), a process that was finalised on 26th December that year.

In August 2008, the MG TF for the European market was exported from China to Longbridge, England, in kit form where the cars were assembled for sale by NAC MG UK.

The MG cars were launched in Britain during 2008 by NAC MG UK in the form of an updated and limited edition of the MG TF. The car was called the MG TF LE500 and was assembled at Longbridge. The return of MG in the UK got off to a false start, as in October 2009, production of the MG TF was again suspended.

In January 2009, NAC MG UK was renamed MG Motor UK Limited and in April the same year the company announced their intention to build a hatchback car, to be called the MG 6. However, and to date, no such car has emerged.

You Are Here » Home » Classic Cars Section » Brief History of MG Cars

This page was last updated
Thursday, 27-Jan-2011

Brief History of MG Sports Cars