A walk thru MG’s rich automotive history

MG’s rich automotive heritage dates back some 90 years ago in 1924. One of the classic car world’s most famous initials stands for Morris Garages, a nod to William Morris the owner of Morris Garages.

The iconic octagonal logo and initials were the brainchild of Cecil Kimber, the founder of MG and general manager for Morris.

Its octagonal logo is a British automotive marque registered by Kimber on May 1, 1924 as a trademark.

On Sept. 1 of the same year, the MG 14/28 Super Sports model went on sale. This marked the beginning of the British brand foray into making affordable performance and sports cars.

The MG business unit remained under Morris’ private ownership until MG was sold to his holdings company, Morris Motors Limited in July 1, 1935 as Kinber restructured his holdings before making his company public in 1936.

Subsequently, MG underwent several ownership transitions starting with the merger with another British automaker Austin in the British Motor Corporation (BMC) in 1952.

MG became the MG division in BMC in 1967 and by the year 2000, MG had a new owner and became part of the MG Rover Group.

In 2005, assets of MG including the brand ownership were purchased by the Nanjing Automobile Group of China.

When the Nanjing group was acquired by SAIC in 2008, the MG brand was revitalized with the first all-new model MG 6 launched in June 26, 2011.

Here’s a list of milestones for MG from 2012 to 2015:

1924 – Cecil Kimber, Morris Garages General Manager, established the MG brand and found a niche market for modified Morris cars and its MG cars became known for its affordable performance cars.

May 1, 1924 – the octagonal logo was registered as an MG trademark.

September 1, 1924 – MG’s 14/28 Super Sports model first went on sale.

Trivia : The telephone number Abingdon 251 provided the starting point for most MG’s chassis VINs (Vehicle Identification Numbers).

1933 – MG’s made a name in the 1930s and its success was marked by a class win with the K3 at the 1933 Mille Miglia road race and became the first non-Italian team had won in the famous road race.

1947 – The most famous MG TC customer was the Duke of Edinburgh, who bought an MG in August 1947.

1952 – MG began the manufacturing of its A and B-Series engines. These would provide the power behind the famous MG Midget and Z Series Magnette, MGA and MGB.

May 16, 156 – The 100,000th MG was produced. It was a LHD MGA 1500.

1969 – Another most famous MG customer was HRH Prince Charles, who took delivery of his GT in 1969 (SGY 766F). He later passed this down to Prince William.

1975 – The 1,000,000th MG car was built in October, 1975. It was a LHD MGB roadster finished in Brooklands Green, with Jubilee GT livery and wheels.

May 9, 2000 – MG Rover Group is formed following Rover’s separation from the BMW Group. It was also the commencement of the production of the new TF.

April 16, 2002 – The 1,500,000th MG, a Golden Jubliee celebration special TF 160 was produced as a commemorative model.

April 8, 2005 – The MG Rover Group enters administration and the brand is purchased by Nanjing Automotive Group, China’s oldest carmaker.

December 26, 2007 – Nanjing group merges with SAIC, China’s largest car maker.

September 4, 2008, the first of the new Limited Edition MGTF LE 500 leaves its Birmingham factory.

May 2011 – the MG6 GT, the first all-new MG in 16 years was launched in the UK.

June 2011 – MG launches the MG6 Magnette (saloon version of the MG6).

In November 2012, following MG’s success at the British Touring Car Championships with race car driver Jason Plato, MG produced an MG6 GT BTCC Special Edition.

A new 1.9 DTi-tech diesel engine was released for the MG6 range in January 2013.

The UK MG3 was revealed at the Shanghai Auto Show together with the new MG CS Concept car in 2013.

In June 2014, MG celebrated its 90th year at Silverstone, and unveiled the MG3 and MG6 90th Limited Edition models.

In October 2014, MG won the BTCC Manufacturer Championship.

The new MG6 was launched in April 2015 with three new trim levels.

In July 2015, the MG Piccadilly, MG’s new flagship showroom in the heart of London, opens.

In November 2015, the MG3 model gets a facelift, featuring a new stop-start EU6 engine.