History repeating
Hard-working, loyal workers don't always get what they deserve, and the closure of the Abingdon MG plant was a true case in point. Cruelly announced the day after the marque's 50th anniversary celebrations, it reneged on various assurances and had a massive impact on the local economy. What was the world’s biggest sports car producer at the turn of the 1970s had wound down to nothing in just 10 years – but it wouldn't be the last disappearance for the famous brand.
The octagon would appear on a series of sporting models over the following 23 years, with a strong enthusiast following for each. Here we chart the marque's highs and lows, from the beginnings of the Austin Rover era to the end of MG Rover.
THE M CARS – METRO, MAESTRO, MONTEGO
Despite closing Abingdon, BL decided not to sell the MG name to a consortium led by Aston Martin’s Alan Curtis. It took just 17 months for BL (now renamed Austin Rover Group) to put it back to use, this time on the Longbridge-built MG Metro. More than just a makeover, the bangon-trend MG 1300 was launched in May 1982 and got smart pepper-pot alloy wheels, funky Herringbone trim, red seatbelts, bold graphics and a livelier A-Plus engine tweaked to produce 72bhp.
“It's nice to be back” read the brochure, though not everyone saw it that way. The pain of the Abingdon closure was still too raw for many MG enthusiasts, who wanted a sports car rather than a rebadged hatch. Badge engineering was nothing new for MG of course; Cecil Kimber began the company in the 1920s with tweaked versions of Morris cars, and the sharing would peak in the 1950s and '60s with the Magnette, Midget and MG 1100/1300 cars. Had the
