95 anos

MG M-Type Midget 1928

The MG M Type Midget was undoubtedly the first of a long line of MGs that were to make the sports car so popular throughout the world and it is almost impossible to overestimate the importance of the little car in this respect. The introduction of the Morris Minor in 1928 by William Morris obviously got Cecil Kimber thinking, especially as another rival; Herbert Austin had his Austin Seven well established in the market place. The Seven was introduced in 1923 and was doing well in racing events. The Morris Minor appeared five years after and was seen to be a worthy competitor with an overhead camshaft engine based on a design originally introduced on Wolseleys, whereas the Austin simply had a sidevalve engine.

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95 anos

MG 1880 Tourer 1928

The MG Six as it was first known was introduced at the 1928 Motor Show and accompanied the 14/40 that was now in its fourth year of production. It was becoming apparent that if public interest was to be maintained in the new MG marque that a new model was needed, hence the launch of the 18/80 model. The significance of the 18/80 was that it was the first 'real' MG because the earlier flat radiator and bull nosed cars held such close ties with the Morris equivalents and Cecil Kimber MGs General Maanger had up till then been charged with upgrading the Morris's to give them wider appeal. 

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90 anos

MG L1 Magna 1933

In the early thirties there was a definite gap in the MG range with the 8 horsepower Midgets selling well and at the other end of the scale the 18/ 80 range which appealed to the more wealthy MG fraternity. With the demise of the old side valve cars, Cecil Kimber had to produce something midway between the Midgets and the 18/ 80s. The Wolseley Hornet was introduced in 1930 and was powered by a delightfully smooth 12 horsepower engine. 

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90 anos

MG K3 Magnette 1933

In 1932 the MG model range was already quite varied when at the Motor Show that year, several more models were introduced. The already suc-eessful Magna range was complimented by the addition of what was to be known as the K series Magnettes. The cars followed on in logical sequence from the very popular J types and the K1 and K2 utilised the now familiar and well established conventional MG chassis layout. 

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85 anos

MG WA Saloon 1938

Following on from the success of the SA and VA saloons, the WA, announced in 1938 at the Motor Show, was to be the largest saloon yet produced by Abingdon. The car was similar in shape to the SA with quite stunning coachwork, however the interior was much more luxuriously appointed and there was more power available from the modified SA power unit. To understand the reasons for the introduction of this beautiful limousine we must go back to early 1935 and the revolution that swept through Abingdon.

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70 anos

MG ZA Magnette 1953

Launched in 1953 at the London Motor show alongside the TF Midget, the MG ZA Magnette was greeted with mixed feelings both by enthusiasts and the motoring press alike. BMC, newly formed in 1952 after the merger with Nuffield and Austin Motors, had also misjudged the TF, as this model too was originally greeted with disdain. Leonard Lord who became chairman and managing director of the new corporation, initially favoured the killing off of the famous Nuffield marques, namely Morris, Wolseley, Riley and MG in favour of Austin.

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70 anos

MG ZB Varitone 1953

In 1952 the Nuffield Organisation and the Austin Motor Company merged to form the British Motor Corporation, however this was seen more as a takeover by Austin. Lord Nuffield was retained in an honourary position as president of BMC until his death in 1963, but it was Leonard Lord, Austin's chairman and managing director who was in total charge of the corporation from the outset. It was well known that he would personally have liked to have killed off all the Nuffield marques of Morris, Wolseley, Riley and MG in favour of Austin.

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70 anos

MG TF 1500 1953

Often referred to as 'the last of the square riggers' the Rover TF gained this title due to its very strong resemblance to the pre-war Midgets. Originally launched at the 1953 Motor Show the TF was greeted with mixed reactions from enthusiasts and journalists alike. It was no secret that the TF was a stop gap measure due to a delay in putting the long awaited MGA into production. 

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65 anos

MGA Twin Cam 1958

The MGA Twin Cam was announced in 1958 and was the product of a lengthy and involved development but disappointingly it returned one of the shortest production runs that Abingdon had ever seen. This certainly makes the car somewhat a rarity with only 2111 cars being produced between early 1958 and early 1960. The twin cam was to utilise an engine that was never fitted to any other car and was developed from the B series unit, prior to this the PB was the last MG to use an overhead cam engine in 1936. 

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55 anos

MG 1300 Saloon 1968

In 1962 a quite revolutionary new saloon was launched by BMC at the same time as the brand new MGB. Initially wearing the Morris badge, ADO16 was hot from the drawing boards of Alec Issigonis and Pininfarina. The Morris 1100 saloon was bristling with new technology and although the Mini had been launched very successfully in 1959, the 1100 was seen as offering quite a lot more for the money. 

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50 anos

MGB GT V8 1973

The MGB GT V8 was one of those perfect matches of components it really was surprising it took a private entrepreneur, Ken Costello, to bring it to the market place. He saw the opportunity for the MGB engine bay to accommodate a bigger engine. After all, it was designed to accommodate a V4 engine that never got to production. The Rover V8, nee Buick/Oldsmobile/Pontiac 215, was first fitted to a Rover P5B in 1967. The engine transformed the rather staid Rover and in the following years, several other Rover cars benefited with this engine. 

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40 anos

MG Metro Turbo 1983

The MG Metro was introduced in October 1982 some 6 months after the launch of the MG Metro 1300 and 2 years after the pain of closure of the MG factory at Abingdon. This tainted many MG enthusiasts reception for this car in a negative way as it was somewhat different to the traditional sports car market, although at this time the then new ‘hot hatch’ era heralded by the Golf GTi was in full swing, and as far as manufacturers and most car buyers were concerned open top two seat sports cars were something from the past.

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40 anos

MG Maestro 1600 1983

In March 1983 the long awaited five-door hatchback range of cars from British Leyland, codenamed LM10 arrived on the scene. Originally designated ADO99 and intended as a direct replacement for the Austin Allegro, the project merged with LM11 (Montego Saloon) and became LM10. Development costs were quite astronomical and they were to be the first generation of cars from BL born of the CAD CAM age and it demonstrated their commitment to this exciting new technology.

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35 anos

MG Maestro Trubo 1988

The MG Maestro Turbo was a high performance reaction to the growing band of 16 valve hot hatch cars of the post 1986 period. In fact, a Maestro Turbo was part of the production plan back in 1984, but the development cars were said to be ‘too fast’ and only the Montego Turbo appeared during that period. Events though, saw the model resurface, this time though with a beneficial and very individual body kit.

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20 anos

MG ZT & ZT-T 260 2003

The MG ZT 260 may appear to be just another subordinate model in the MG ZT range, but this is a car that has undergone very substantial development to arrive at this production level. Hitherto it has been a transverse engine, front wheel drive range, but the 260 was re-engineered to a longitudinally mounted, in line, V8 with rear wheel drive. In this form, the engine displaces 4.6 litres and delivers a lazy but extremely effective 260bhp allied to a stump pulling 410Nm of torque.

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15 anos

MG Motor UK 2008

The collapse of MG Rover on 8th April 2005 was a major event and had very wide implications. At this time MG Rover were in the final stages of a collaborative deal with Shanghai Automobile Industrial Corporation (SAIC) of China, and shortly prior to the collapse SAIC had bought the rights to most of the MG Rover cars and K series engines. In July 2005 Nanjing Automobile Corporation (NAC) of China bought the bulk of the remaining assets of MG Rover from the Administrators.

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10 anos

MG3 2013

The all-new, exciting and slightly cheeky MG3 offers more fun and value for money than any other car in the highly competitive supermini sector of the market. Prices have already amazed many with the news that even the top model in the four car line up costs less than £10,000. The ultra low insurance rating of Group 4E – less than half that of many competitors - is just as surprising, and particularly good news for young drivers who usually find the cost of car insurance prohibitively high.

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