MG Preparing an Array of New Models to Conquer Europe

SAIC Motor Corporation, the owner of MG Motors, plans to develop several new models for the British brand in order to boost sales outside its home market in China. The Chinese owner of MG Motors has already spent £1 billion ($1.64 billion) to re-launch the MG and Roewe brands (former Rover) and intends to invest another £2.2 billion ($3.6 billion) to achieve annual sales of 700,000 by 2015.

In 2010, the two brands sold 160,397 cars, most of which were delivered in China, with only 2,000 units exported to other markets. This past April, MG launched its new mid-size MG6 in the UK, the first new car to be assembled at the British firm’s Longbridge plant in 16 years. The company said that when it completes the development of a diesel version, it will offer the car to rest of Europe. "We will not go into mainland Europe without a diesel," UK managing director, William Wong, told Autonews.

Read more »

Canadian Man Throws a V12 into a 1967 MGB GT

If you are a car guy like Mark Sawatsky of Winnipeg, Canada, and you happen to have a Jaguar 5.3-liter V12 and an old 1967 MGB GT lying around in your garage, it doesn’t take too long to come up with an impressive project. For Mark it was the creation of racecar to compete in the modified class of the SCCA (Sports Car Club of America). Read more »

MG6 to Start Production at Birmingham site on April 13, Prices Start from £15,495

The fastback version of the all-new MG6 will soon become MG Motor’s first all-new model to pass through the gates of the firm’s Longbridge factory in 16 years. The last time MG showed a brand new model was in 1995 with the MG F, a mid-engined, rear-wheel drive roadster. According to the British automaker, the first series production model will roll off the assembly line on April 13, 2011 at precisely 11:00 am.

MG Motors, which now belongs under the umbrella of China’s Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation (SAIC) group, will follow up with a sedan version of the MG6 this summer. Both the four-door saloon and the five-door fastback will be offered with a 1.8-litre turbocharged four-cylinder gasoline engine that’s good enough for 160 ponies and 215Nm of peak torque at 1750-4500 rpm.

Read more »

New MG6 Saloon First Photos, Goes on Sale in the UK this Summer

Having been delayed for a couple of months due to some negative consumer feedback, the MG6 four-door Saloon model has now taken over the social media scene. The first photos of the ₤17.000 Focus rivaling MG have been posted on the British firm's facebook page. The MG6 Saloon is scheduled to land in UK showrooms this summer, a few months after the first batch of MG6 fastback's reach their owners.

Read more »

MG to Build First All-New Model in 15 Years at its UK Plant

MG Rover's old Longbridge car plant is set to comeback in a big way when SAIC / MG begins building its first all new car in 15 years at the end of the year. The plant will start producing the MG6 mid-size model from knocked-down kits imported from China, preceding the UK relaunch of MG as a "value brand" in 2011.

The all new car will be available initially as a five-door fastback, with a four-door saloon to follow later on. The automaker optimistically told the Financial Times that customer clinics have compared the MG6 with the likes of the Ford Mondeo, Skoda Octavia and even with small BMWs. Prices in the UK are said to range between £16,000 to £20,000 (US$25,425 to US$31,780).

Read more »

Rover 55 Sedan: A Proposal for a British-Flavored Chrysler 300 Than Never Was

Once upon a time, back in the days when the MG Rover Group was alive and fairly hopeful for the future [...] in the hands of BMW, the Bavarian carmaker was dreaming up a new lineup for the British company. Among the plans was one for the development of a replacement for the outdated, fifth-generation Honda Civic-based, 200/400 series, later called the 25/45, positioned under the 75 in Rover's car lineup.

We remember many proposals and concept sketches for the car from the period, but the folks from "Aronline" managed to secure some exclusive photos of a full size clay model that we've never seen before. Named the R55, it's a design proposal for a compact sedan slightly larger than the BMW 3-Series said to have been completed back in the Spring of 1997.

Read more »

Last-Known MGB Works Rally Car Going Under Auction

An extremely rare 1964 MGB which is said to be the last known genuine MG works rally car is being offered for auction, 35 years after bidding farewell to the world of motorsports.

One of two only official MGB rally cars built in 1964, the specific example made its racing debut in the Spa-Sofia-Liege rally in August 1964. It then went on to race another five times as a works entry, at the Tulip Rally, The Acropolis Rally, Geneva Rally, the Castrol Danube Rally and the RAC Rally, all in 1965.

Read more »

MG XPower to be Well-Represented at UK's Historics Auction

Set to hit the block at the UK's Historics at Brooklands event are these two MG XPower SVs.

The carbon fiber-bodied MG XPower Sport Veloce, based on the less aggressive X80 concept, was designed by Peter Stevens (responsible, among others, for the McLaren F1 and Jaguar XJR-15) and is underpinned by a platform from Qvale's Mangusta.

Powered by Ford's 4.6 liter 4-valve Cobra V8, the standard SV made 320 horsepower with an advertised top speed of 165 mph when new.

Roughly 82 of the rear-wheel drive MG coupes were built and sold to consumers before a lack of sales forced MG to stop production. At around £75,000 when new, it's easy to see how that could happen.

Read more »

Beijing Show: MG Zero Supermini Concept

This year's edition of the Beijing Motor Show saw China-owned MG unveiling the 'ZERO', a thinly disguised concept of an upcoming production model in the supermini segment -most likely called MG3- that could go on sale in China first and then in Europe as early as next year.

The company emphasized the fact that the 4m long supermini was developed in the UK by MG Global Design team, led by British MG Design Director Anthony (Tony) Williams-Kenny, based in Birmingham.

Read more »

Holy Rover! 1980's Metro Ad Featuring Batman and Robin

The Rover, MG Rover, Austin and whatever other brand the Metro was sold under, was a forgettable mini that wasn't taken very seriously, even by the company that made it. This may explain this late 1980s-early 1990s advertisement spoofing the 1966 Adam West-era Batman and Robin TV series.

The one-minute long commercial shows the dynamic duo swapping their funky 1960s Batmobile for the British mini because "it's rush hour in Gotham city and the Batmobile is big"...

The ad ends with the message, "When you got to.... pick up a penguin, Metro gets you going." Holy priceless collection of Etruscan snoods.... Enjoy the video after the break.