MG.Who buys this crap?

[J4CKO]

MitchT said:

Sure, but they'd be doing fine without Mini too. Didn't stop them seeing the potential and acting on it. Just surprised they didn't do the same with MG.

They did have a go to be fair, it didnt really go that well for them

I think Mini covers a lot of bases for them.

[coppice]

WJNB said:

Putting MG badges on motoring porridge such as Morris Oxfords & Austin 1100's started the silliness & only the dumb & blinkered were fooled.
After all MG stands for Morris Garages, how pedestrian suburban & working class is that & hardly the stuff of romance & motoring dreams..
Some people are so daft I reckon if you put a blue & white propeller badge on a Dacia sales would rocket.

A tad unfair ; yes it did stand for Morris Garages but staid nomenclature isn't a reliable indicator of lack of quality. (I give you the Double Four Valve DFV and the Lotus Seven ) . MGs were fine pre war,with K Type having good racing record ; post war the T series were sporty , if dated, but the MGA was excellent and the MGB GT would have a serious price tag now if they hadn't made so many . Both B and C successful in racing, and Midget too.

But badge engineering MG 1100 and the rest of the badge engineered horrors diluted the brand , with only the MGF and (of course) Metro 6R4 being noteworthy. The ZT series was a bit more of the same, and hardly real MG any more but the bonkers 260V8 ZT was a hoot

[RobM77]

WJNB said:

Putting MG badges on motoring porridge such as Morris Oxfords & Austin 1100's started the silliness & only the dumb & blinkered were fooled.
After all MG stands for Morris Garages, how pedestrian suburban & working class is that & hardly the stuff of romance & motoring dreams..
Some people are so daft I reckon if you put a blue & white propeller badge on a Dacia sales would rocket.

Surely that's how many sports car manufacturers started? For example Ferrari, Lotus and Porsche all started life by modifying existing cars from other manufacturers and went on to build their own. The fact that MG stayed affordable and everyday isn't necessarily a bad thing is it? Sports cars shouldn't be the preserve of the rich.

[mmm-five]

loskie said:

there was an MG Maestro(it may have had a Honda engine) competing last weekend in the Solway Coast Rally. I hadn't seen one for ages.
But I do remember it being on my shortlist of cars in 1989 at the wise old age of 19!

this one:
http://maestro.org.uk/forums/forum/technical-forum...

I remember almost writing off a modified MG Maestro turbo (claimed over 300bhp), when the engine let go and left oil all over the entrance to the Bobbies chicane at Castle Combe.

Wouldn't have been a problem if he'd had the blow-up on his own on an empty track, but I was in the car behind lining up to overtake after the exit and only narrowly avoided going straight into the back of him when he dropped it all and went straight on at the chicane. I just about managed to put enough steering in to get some grip off the oil and across the grass - rather than down the escape road where the Maestro had rolled to a halt.

[s m]

The MGB GT V8 guy that frequents Combe a lot is pretty quick
Entertaining to watch/follow as well