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From: Graeme Bishko <phy5gb@irc.leeds.ac.uk>
Date: Tue, 12 Nov 1996 12:43:26 GMT
To: mgf-owners <mgf-owners%irc@mailer.leeds.ac.uk>
CC: mgs@autox.team.net
Subject: Re: (Fwd) Re: was MGF Availability, now is the MGF a real MG
Reply-to: Graeme Bishko <phygbb@leeds.ac.uk>
> At 12:36 AM 11/8/96 -0500, you wrote: (I can't properly attribute
>this next bit as I don't have the original and I don't subscribe to
>the MGS list)
>> production of what became the most popular sports car in the world. I'll
>> bet not a single Abingdon alumnus had any part in designing or producing the
>> MGF. Rover just owns the name and can (and did) stick it on any piece of
>> crap they desire. Their recent action of hassling the keepers of the flame
The first thing to note is that Gerry McGovern (designer of the MGF)
is very keen to point out how the MGF derives from the MG line of
sports cars. There should be a book coming out soon, co-written by
Gerry, that will hopefully go into the issue in greater depth than I
can.
In essence what Gerry has said at a number of talks I've attended is
that Rover did not want to perform another piece of badge
engineering. It was widely felt that the saloon car derivatives of the
80's were an unmitigated disaster for the marque: they diluted its
identity and nearly killed it off. The car Rover wanted to call an MG
had to be a sports car first and foremost. It had to be a two seater
and it had to have some link with the MG's of old. But, it also had to
be modern, as practical as possible, and produced at a reasonable
price. The MX5 had shown everyone that a car like this still had a
market but the MX5 had not moved design forward: it had done as little
as possible to be different from what came before.
It was important to give the MGF a link to the look of previous MG
roadsters. There were a number of different routes that could have
been picked and fortunately the retro path wasn't chosen. The main
link is the design of the "face" of the MGF and this links to the MGB
more than any other MG. This was for practical reasons: the MGB was
the marque's best seller and (excluding the MGC and the saloons) the
most recent MG. In the UK, certainly, it is the MG most closely
associated with the name MG. The rest of the design is so novel it is
hard to compare it to any other car, let alone an MG. A mid engined
convertible was a bold and, as you'll know once you've driven the car
on a British country road, fantastic choice.
>> that use the logo means to me that they don't have a clue of what the logo
>> means to most of us! As far as I'm concerned they can keep the MGF in
>> England and Japan, sure its a British designed/produced sports car (or
>> another modern jelly bean) and probably a pretty good one, but IMHO it is no
>> M.G. There can never be another real M.G. M.G. ceased to exist in 1980.
>> They made it so. It is a badged engineered world now. You will probably
>> soon see a MG motorcycle with horizontally opposed cylinders!
There is an essential truth to what you say, only if you refuse to
accept the future. Where do you draw the line? Was Cecil Kimber
responsible for the design of the MGB? Do we count post WW2 MGs as
real MGs? My belief is that if a car has visual links to a predecessor
*and* embodies a recognisable design philosophy then it has a right to
fall within a marque. The MGF passes both these tests. I take Jean
Kimber (Cecil Kimber's daughter) seriously when she says
"My dad would have loved the F. If he were here now I am sure
that he would be impressed by the performance and the
roadholding. The roadholding was always very important for an
MG. I think he would want to jump into it and drive it to the
Isle of Skye on the roughest roads to find out what it is really
like."
(http://www.mgcars.org.uk/MGF/mgf02.html)
Bill Harkins <bharkins@tfb.com> wrote:
> Couldn't agree more! It's like wishing the name Duesenburg would start up
> again. Let's enjoy the old MGs and stop worrying about a German company
> capitalizing on an old Brit car name.
The MGF was "signed off" before BMW bought Rover. BMW had no hand in
capitalising on this particular product though it is interesting to
note that it is a run away success within Rover which can't be
upsetting the Germans too much.
I don't feel I need approval from the owners of old MGs to think of my
car as an MG. MGF's are certainly gaining acceptance in the UK from
other MG drivers and I'm sure that will continue. The general feeling
from other road users is almost universally friendly. Kids in the
rougher parts of Leeds shout things like "Nice car" instead of insults
and the courtesy shown in terms of being allowed out of side streets
has truly amazed me. The general public in the UK think of MG as
British and like that. I'm sure Z3 and Porsche Boxster drivers won't
experience courtesy like this when they start appearing here next
year. (Don't mention the war....)
graeme
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