FAQ Archives: MG History & Trivia

October 16, 2022 | UM staff |

Dear Mr. Twist,

Over the last few weeks I have been trying to research into the history of the MG Sports Car, but have not been successful in answering these strange questions.
I was wondering if you could spare a few minutes to help me find answers.

 1) What was MG’s famous slogan?

2) What was the first turbocharged MG?

3) Which town was home to MG from 1929-80?

4) Who were George Eyston’s Dancing Daughters?

5) Which company planned to buy MG after the 1980 Abingdon factory closure?

6) What was the MGSSV?

 Thank you for reading my e-mail and any help would be very appreciated.

John Twist’s Response:

You ask some very unusual questions for someone searching for a history of the quintessential British sportscar.

You must know that Cecil Kimber, with his first wife, developed the slogan “Safety Fast!” This was used in all advertising until the introduction of the MGF, at which time the slogan was modernised to the now familiar “Fast Forward.” The prize, however, should be awarded to the MG Car Club (whose monthly publication is “Safety Fast”) for its slogan “The Marque of Friendship.”

While any number of MGs were supercharged (that is, the air compressor was driven by belts or from the crankshaft directly), I believe that the Metro (the fastest MG built (0-60mph)) was the first turbocharged production car. But, please remember that I am writing from the west side of the Atlantic — and trying to understand vehicles I have rarely seen and have never serviced.

Abingdon (formerly Berks, now Oxon) was the home of the MG assembly plant the years 1929-80. In 1999, the main plant was demolished to make way for a police headquarters. Yet, Abingdon has re-discovered tourism, and many MG related sites are available to the traveler from the MGCC offices to the Magic Midget Pub.

George Eyeston’s “Dancing Daughters” was an all-women team entry in the 1935 Le Mans 24 hour race. Six drivers – Doreen Evans, Barbara Skinner, Margaret Allan, Colleen Eaton, Joan Richmond, and Barbara Simpson – drove three MG PA chassis vehicles built at Abingdon. The female drivers finished respectably in 24th, 25th and 26th place.

Following a week-long celebration in October, 1979, to which many American MG dealers were invited to Abingdon (and for which the “Old Speckled Hen” was first brewed by Morland), was “Black Monday” when Margaret Thatcher’s hatchet-man, Michael Edwardes, announced the end of MG. Despite great scrambling by individuals and companies, most notably, Aston-Martin / Lagonda, the company was not revived but was reduced to “badge-engineered” vehicles for the next 15 years.

Whether to show the insanity of the USA’s Federal safety specifications, or whether to show that, no matter what, MG could compete, the MG “Safety Systems Vehicle” was created in 1972. It was a far cry from a “real” MG, yet, as Paris designers realize in the world of high fashion, it was a harbinger of some of the safety systems eventually incorporated into many cars.

While this answers your very specific questions, I believe you would have a more interesting history if you worked with the economic impact on the city of Abingdon, or if you used MG as an example of the decline of the British motor industry. You know, in 1950 the British had about 99% of the import market in the USA. By 2000 they had 0%. They never knew why they sold vehicles in the USA — and they have yet to figure out why they lost the market. Here we are, flush with cash, just waiting for a new MG model for decades, but England has nothing to offer. It’s a sad, sad story.

Articles

Categories