The development of the MG marque is one of the success stories in automotive history. MG became the sports car that appealed to every man — it was affordable and fun. To this day MG sports cars have a mystic all of their own and it is the duty of those of us who love the marque to see that younger car enthusiasts are introduced to the enjoyment and pleasure of ownership of MG cars that we currently have.

MG stands for Morris Garages — named after William Morris, the founder of Morris Garages, who later became Lord Nuffield.

In 1922 Cecil Kimber, aged 33, joined Morris Garages as sales manager, and was appointed general manager the following year. Kimber had a great interest in body styling and coach building and was also an enthusiastic sports car driver. He was an avid motor sports enthusiast and also credited for introducing the classic radiator style recognisable on so many cars such as the T-Series MG’s. At the time, the Bull-nosed Morris Cowleys and Oxfords were the best-selling cars in Britain, but were undeniably staid. So it became natural for Kimber to turn his skills to fitting Morris chassis with a special bodywork of a more sporting nature. The first cars that can be attributed to Cecil Kimber and Morris Garages were built in 1922.

In 1923, the first special-bodied Morris cars were marketed by Morris Garages, and in March 1924 the first MG car — a four-door with saloon body on a Morris Oxford chassis — was advertised. It was followed immediately by the first examples of the MG four-seater Special Sports, also on the Oxford chassis

The MG logo appeared in 1924 inside the famous octagon shape. The badge was first used on a bull-nosed sports car — now affectionately known as Old Number One. This formed the basis of the MG Car Company, with Lord Nuffield at its head.

In 1925 a range of MG Super Sports models were offered, with two or four seater bodywork, or in ‘salonette’ form. In the same year the first entirely special purpose-built MG sports, "Old No. 1" was made for Cecil Kimber’s own use. Kimber entered the car in the 1925 Land’s End Trial and won a gold medal.

The MG Car Company showed its first two new MG Midgets at the London Motor Show of 1928. Following the Show production of MGs tripled and the MG M type Midget accounted for more than 50% of the company’s production.

In 1930 the company relocated its factory and works to Abingdon, Berkshire, England, and it was during this time that the MG slogan "Safety Fast" was born.

The Nuffield organization owned a number of other marques such as Morris and Riley as well as that of MG and these sometimes competed for the resources needed by MG to become world leaders in the marketplace. Not only were they competing with the likes of Triumph and Austin, but the real battle seemed to go on internally in the Nuffield organization itself. This continued through the merger of Nuffield and Austin in 1952 and resulted in the formation of the British Motor Company (BMC).

MG’s were produced in Abingdon from the early 1930’s until production ceased in 1980. Other cars from the Nuffield organisation were also produced at Abingdon over the years.

The period 1930 to 1935 were the classic MG years, with a great variety of four and six cylinder models being manufactured. Most were sports cars, although a number of pure racing models were also developed and had numerous successes on race tracks and road circuits in Britain and abroad. The name MG became synonymous with sports cars and it was in this period that the foundations were made for the lasting fame of the marquee.

Until 1935 the MG company had been the sole property of Lord Nuffield. However, in that year, he sold the company together with Wolseley and his other interests to Morris Motors Ltd as part of a general rationalisation of the Morris companies, forming the Nuffield Organisation. It was simultaneously announced that MG would withdraw from racing. However, although there were no more MG racing cars, the company entered a new field of achievement with a series of record cars. The first was the EW120, the "Magic Midget" which George Eyston drove at over 100 mph. This was followed by the EX135, the "Magic Magnette" which was rebuilt with streamlined bodywork and in the course of its 15 year career, broke many records in different capacity classes, using five different engines.

In 1952 Nuffield and Austin merged to form British Motor Corporation (BMC). This gave MG a family rival in the form of the Austin Healey sports car. In 1957 Austin-Healey production was transferred to Abingdon.

The post 1960 period saw only six different MG models. The two saloon cars, the Magnette Mark III/IV and the 1100/1300, were relatively tame badge-engineered versions of the mainstream BMC products and were both made in the Cowley factory rather than in Abingdon. The 1100/1300 became the most popular saloon model, with 175,000 made between 1962 and 1971.

During the 1980’s, MG versions of the Metro, Maestro and the Montego were produced. These models were very successful, but were progressively phased out as derivative offerings were rationalised.