Is the MG6 truly an MG?

[Phil MGFPM]

Hot on the heels of 'what will become of the MGFs', I'd be interested to know what makes an MG an MG? With the new-to-arrive MG6 and may be its smaller cousin soon is the design and engineering British or Chinese? We all love the MGFs and TFs because we know they are built a British thorougbred, but can we say the same of the MG6? if I were to buy an MG6, should I (can I) still be proud of a British heritage. I'd be interested to know if the new MG Design Centre in Longbridge means that the British version of the MG6 will be truly British so I can be proud of the new MGs with roots in Britain. What do people think? Would I be buying a 'better' car that the Ibiza, Civic and Astra, or am I just buying the badge but getting something dreamt up on foreign shores, or may be the MG6 will be as reliable as my Toyota (sorry I'll wash my mouth out)

[colintf]

I am sure that Ian Pogson said it was a British designed car.

[Green Squirrel]

More to the point -What is truly an MG? A car produced in Oxford at Morris Garage! Or any car that has the MG badge on it from the factory!

[Rob Bell]

It seems like a tradition that any new MG should provoke a discussion along the lines of "is this a real MG"!

Where it comes to the MG6, the question is whether it has enough of the core MG DNA palpable. From a looks perspective - the only thing the majority of us can judge right now given that we've not driven it - I'd say it doesn't LOOK like an MG. (How should an MG look? Well, there's a tricky one, but another conversation I think)

Let's see how the car drives before passing any further judgement - but magazine reports so far have been promising.

[colintf]

It seems like a tradition that any new MG should provoke a discussion along the lines of "is this a real MG"!

Where it comes to the MG6, the question is whether it has enough of the core MG DNA palpable. From a looks perspective - the only thing the majority of us can judge right now given that we've not driven it - I'd say it doesn't LOOK like an MG. (How should an MG look? Well, there's a tricky one, but another conversation I think)

Let's see how the car drives before passing any further judgement - but magazine reports so far have been promising.

very ture! Proof is in the driving

[Andrew Regens]

MG 1100/1300, Sprite to a Midget, never mind what BL did to the Farina range. Going back to the first Morris cars that became MG's.
Anything that is registered from new as an MG is an MG maybe not the most desirable MG but still an MG....

[Mark L]

Hot on the heels of 'what will become of the MGFs', I'd be interested to know what makes an MG an MG? With the new-to-arrive MG6 and may be its smaller cousin soon is the design and engineering British or Chinese? We all love the MGFs and TFs because we know they are built a British thorougbred, but can we say the same of the MG6? if I were to buy an MG6, should I (can I) still be proud of a British heritage. I'd be interested to know if the new MG Design Centre in Longbridge means that the British version of the MG6 will be truly British so I can be proud of the new MGs with roots in Britain. What do people think? Would I be buying a 'better' car that the Ibiza, Civic and Astra, or am I just buying the badge but getting something dreamt up on foreign shores, or may be the MG6 will be as reliable as my Toyota (sorry I'll wash my mouth out)

Your Classic 1998 'British' Morris Garages Model-F was built by a German owned company using left over parts from a time when the company was tied with Honda... anything else they were short of to make the car they got from China!.

Most new cars are now a Multi-National effort, doubtless in the near future every new car no matter what the country of the badges origin will be based on the Golf platform anyway....... sadly.

[Mr Teddy Bear]

MG to the Morris Motor Co was the twenties equvilent of BMW's M Division?, in just the sameway that a 60/70/80's Rover sat slap bang in BMW's target market?????? nuf said there.
Was a Honda clone Rover a Rover or a Honda??? public bought them and the group retained a viable UK market share, I liked mine kept her for 12 years.
For the majority of British buyers it needs to be competively priced [cheap like Skoda] reliable well supported by a dealer network that cares and be a drivers car. The DNA [ grill, body shape?] should be seen in a new sports car.

[mattlewismotorsport]

Hot on the heels of 'what will become of the MGFs', I'd be interested to know what makes an MG an MG? With the new-to-arrive MG6 and may be its smaller cousin soon is the design and engineering British or Chinese? We all love the MGFs and TFs because we know they are built a British thorougbred, but can we say the same of the MG6? if I were to buy an MG6, should I (can I) still be proud of a British heritage. I'd be interested to know if the new MG Design Centre in Longbridge means that the British version of the MG6 will be truly British so I can be proud of the new MGs with roots in Britain. What do people think? Would I be buying a 'better' car that the Ibiza, Civic and Astra, or am I just buying the badge but getting something dreamt up on foreign shores, or may be the MG6 will be as reliable as my Toyota (sorry I'll wash my mouth out)

Your Classic 1998 'British' Morris Garages Model-F was built by a German owned company using left over parts from a time when the company was tied with Honda... anything else they were short of to make the car they got from China!.

Most new cars are now a Multi-National effort, doubtless in the near future every new car no matter what the country of the badges origin will be based on the Golf platform anyway....... sadly.

MGF was a fantastic bit of improvised British engineering,built on a shoestring design budget. But lets get a few things straight..We may have had a recipricol agreement with Honda(which worked well) But the car was designed,built and parts sourced in the UK. 99% of parts were made within a 50 mile radius of Longbridge(cannot remember anything Chinese in my 11 year stint at Longbridge..)As such it will go down as the last hereditary MG..Some people who worked in design,build and production of the MGF worked on the MG RV8 and even the Midget and MGB. Thats heritage and tradition.THATS the link to the past... The"new" MG is a chinese kit car which will do nothing but detract from MG's tradition and heritage. Looking more like a bland 1990's Mazda than a MG,it may or may not drive like a dream ,but it certainly is no MG. I don't think Mr Morris would want one of these in his garage..!! Who the hell would want one when you can get a Focus or Golf for the same money? Even a naieve patriot like myself,wouldn't buy one purely for the badge..

[Rob Bell]

Matt's quite right - MGF was indeed a parts bin special - and cleverly done too. Honda carry over parts were the indicator stalks, the heater control fascia, the Multifunction Unit and the instruments which were probably derived from a joint venture vehicle. No Honda technology in the car. Almost everything on it is UK sourced - except the EPAS power steering column, which is a Mitsubishi unit. BMW had been consulted on the design and stengthening of the windscreen frame. No technical input.

We all know that the MGF/TF is a pretty special car - but it is perhaps a little more special than many of us realise...

[Glenn Neilson]

I may be wrong here (not fully aware of MG history) but when an MG badge was put on a Montego, Maestros and Metro, MG purists were up in arms and saying they were not proper MG's.

The same happened when an MG badge was put on a Rover 25, 45 and 75 but all of these cars are now accepted as an 'MG'

I think the public will see the MG6 and new subsequent cars as an MG, but those with an interest in MG's will have a different view, however as time goes on, they'll be accepted just like all of the above.

[MartinW]

MG lost all control when Lord Nuffield brought the business under the Morris umbrella in the 1930s and it has no longer stood on it's own as a separate, privately owned company, if I am not mistaken, apart from the brief interlude in 2001-2005.

Every enthusiast has his or her set date when the brand stopped being the brand, be it when BMC took control and that ugly MGA came out, or 1962 when, God forbid, wind up windows and heaters were available on the MGB, never mind the badge engineered Magnettes going from bad to worse with the Farina designed saloon and the completely naff FWD MG1100 in the 1960s. Things just about settled down until rubber bumpers came along and the pandemonium as the Abingdon plant closed followed two years later by a real kick in the teeth with the 3Ms. And then to make matters worse the Metro is dragged kicking and screaming and mutated into the MGF, followed by the re-badged Rovers under about the only genuine level of private ownership since the whole lot crashed into a nationalised nightmare and floundered out under stewardship of a less than caring aerospace company! And then there are those enthusiasts who enjoy most models for what they are - a reflection of the times. I love the pre-war cars, I love the MGA and the ZA/ZB, I have owned a 1968 MG1300, a 1965 MGB, a 1980 MGB GT, a 2002 MG ZT and now a 2010 MG TF. All of the cars I have owned might only share a badge but to me they each embody some aspect of the brand and teh original core value of Safety Fast. That's purely my opinion and others will differ. As yet we have not seen the interior of the UK spec models, and those of us that have driven the cars will know that these are also not UK spec. But I hope that the design centre in Longbridge will still manage to embody the MG spirit, and I am sure they will with some being ex-MGR.

What I love about the Chinese owning the badge is that at least they want it for what it is, an iconic marque that will help them sell motor cars. Cynical? Sure. But if it generates money, maybe we will see a TF replacement designed in the UK with MG DNA? In this country it seems the marque has struggled to please even some of the people just some of the time and it seems that unless the badge is attached to some two-seater soft-top it isn't an MG. Morgan might still be building a few specials at prices few of us can afford, but to be able to build affordable sports cars you have to have the income from mainstream production models. Until SAIC start seeing the return on their investments here, there isn't going to be another sports car. So the new mainstream models have to sell well, and not just to enthusiasts, either. Most non-petrolhead motorists buy a car for a multitude of reasons, let's hope the MG6 is inoffensive enough to generate good sales volumes.

Am I really lusting for an MG6? Hell, no, give me another ZT 190 any day, even a 160 KV6 would be good enough. But hey, with a budget under £20k, and a whole fleet of look-alikes out there from which to choose, why not an MG6? I'd rather put my money into a foreign owned company whose DNA and business model includes employing a team of some ex-MGR design engineers in Birmingham along with a team of some ex-MGR people assembling the cars, rather than spend it on German cars made in South Africa and cynically sold on the German-is-good-ja school of thinking. If you can afford the expensive Golfs and 3 Series etc, go for it, but as a car for those with less money, the MG6 is good enough for me. And add in the fact that MG are really looking after me since buying the LE500 in April and I can't wait to get shot of the 18mth old Mazda on the drive with its various problems and expensive running costs and Mazda's can't-care-less attitude.

[Art]

What has gone has gone we should be looking to the future, the MG6 to the best of my knowledge was designed by SAIC British staff first at Leamington then at Longbridge so the core or if you like the DNA of the car originated from here. You will recall that all the cars MG Rover produced that contained the magical DNA did not sell well which resulted in the company closing !
We seem to be back to the good old British ways of ' knocking ' something very few people have seen never mind driven, It may be a small start but the new owners should be thanked for retaining a manufacturing facility here, I know of no car company that arrived on the market fully formed, most were small companies who by expansion,mergers, take overs etc evolved into the size they are now, do you think German VW drivers spend time agonizing about the supposed ' DNA ' of their non home produced Golf's etc. ?
I have been over this ground before but if the new MG6 is built to the standard of my TF I personally feel that people should have no concerns about the quality of the car, please just give MG a chance, when you have driven one then by all means return here and express your opinions.

[dwkmgf]

I'm with Art on this one. Having seen the MG6 twice in the flesh - the second time being on the move at goodwood I would have to say that it looks a well proportioned, modern and well appointed sports hatch - that has every right to wear the MG badge in that it has as it's base a run of the mill car that has had a little bit of magic sprinkled over it.

On the matter of when is an MG not an MG, I would like to repeat a comment given to me at Silverstone when I asked an MGA owner if he would like to sign my F as part of our RNLI fundraiser. His comment was - I would if it was a proper MG!!! I took this to mean that there had not been a 'proper MG' since the MGA and momentarily considered walking down to the MGA parking area and putting a quick signature on said owners car along with some comment like ..from one proper MG owner to another Fortunately i was sidetracked by the lovely young lady who was part of the stunt driving display who wanted to sign the car.

[adrianclifford]

Like Dave, I've heard that so many times "It's not a proper MG, it wasn't built at Abingdon". Unfortunately, these values still seem to appear in the mindset of many.

[Canalsman]

I was parked in a pub car park recently, and an elderly husband and wife walked behind my car.

The husband stopped, looked at the rear of my car, and said to his wife: "That's a famous badge - it goes back a long way".

He didn't question the heritage of my particular model of MG.

He was evidently proud of the MG badge and the marque it represents.

It doesn't really matter what car wears the badge, or where it was made. It's the marque that's important ...

[redbeard57]

I am still getting numerous comments along the lines of "how have you got a "59 plate on that then, its not like they are making them anymore......"

[MurrayG]

MartinW

And add in the fact that MG are really looking after me since buying the LE500 in April .....

I have an LE500 and can't get MG to answer an email. Lucky you!