MG in America -a potted history

It may seem hard to believe that the USA remains MG's biggest historical
export market, even though no new cars have been sold in the country for
nearly a quarter of a century.

Back in the early days, sales of MG cars in America began several years after
the UK, and initially, they only sold in very small numbers. Even up to the
early 1930s, the number of owners could almost be counted on one hand as
the cars had to be imported personally. One of the first owners of any
notoriety was Edsel Ford, son of Henry. He arranged, via the Ford Motor
Company in the UK, to buy an "M" type from the MG dealership in London
in 1930 and once the car reached the US, he then drove it more than 27,000
miles around the streets of Dearborn in Michigan for the next three years,
before the car was subsequently retired to Ford's own motor museum.

Other wealthy individuals, especially along the eastern seaboard, also began
to import their own cars into the country -mostly to race them at many of the
road races taking place at the time. The Collier family, from New York, were
among the most keen MG racing enthusiasts, with father Baron and sons
Sam and Miles entering and winning countless events. They were such
fanatics that in 1934 they established an import company in New York City
called The MG Sales Company, with the sole aim of bringing new MG
sports cars into America and introducing them to other racing enthusiasts.

Sales though were always very small and that was the way it was until after
the end of World War 2. By then, many US servicemen had seen the small
English sports cars during their tour of duty and when the MG TC was
launched in 1945, many of the returning servicemen saw it as the car to own.

To the delight of MG bosses, sales of the TC in the US took off
significantly, with the cars also receiving favourable press attention.
Dealerships which already sold other British or European cars were keen to
add the TC to their inventory and during the four years of the TC's
production, 20% of the 10,000 cars which were produced were shipped to
the US.

The MG TC certainly whetted the American appetite for MG cars to such an
extent that when the subsequent MG TD arrived in the US in early 1950, they
sold like hot cakes. Dealers couldn't get enough of them and even the
mainstream American magazines were telling their readers how much fun they
could have in these small quirky cars. Of the nearly 30,000 cars which were
produced at Abingdon, more than 23,000 came to the US.

The subsequent MG TF was not quite as popular, but again, America was
the biggest market. By this time -the middle of the 1950s- the MG was the
most popular foreign selling car in America, although the big American car
manufacturers (producers of large cars for serious transportation) couldn't
understand what all the fuss was about. And if the "T" series of cars had
proved successful, it was nothing compared to what was to follow.

The next sports car was the MGA which was launched in 1955. This was
much more sleek, attractive and aerodynamic than its predecessors and by
the time the first cars arrived in the US in 1956, dealers already had long
waiting lists. The car became so successful in the US, that of the 101,470
cars which were built at Abingdon until the end of production in the summer
of 1962, nearly 90% had crossed the Atlantic.

There were other factors which were responsible for the success during the
1950s. One of these were the events which happened at Bonneville. In 1951
and 1957, the company had brought ultra-fast experimental models to the
Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah where first Goldie Gardiner and then later
Stirling Moss set a handful of land speed records which the company heavily
promoted.

All this success ensured that when news came in the early 1960s that the
MGA was to be replaced by a more modern sports car, the MGB, optimism
and expectation increased again.

The new car was first shown at the London Motor Show in the Autumn of
1962 and the first models arrived in the US shortly afterwards. The car
received huge praise in the US and its subsequent success is a story which
has already been told many times. During the 18 years of its production,
approximately seventy per cent of all the cars which were built were sold in
the US, making it the most successful British car even sold in America and
the most successful British sports car ever.

Sadly, though, the period following this was a very unhappy time for the
company. It was now in the hands of BL and company boss Michael
Edwardes didn't have the same love and affection for the MG marque as
enthusiasts around the world and he took the controversial decision to pull
the plug on MG production. Bizarrely, this happened at exactly the same
time as many US dealers were visiting Britain to celebrate MG's history and
were expecting to hear optimistic plans for the future, instead of the
opposite, and duly returned to the US very disappointed.

But at least, by this time, there had been nearly half a million MG cars sold in
the US which meant there were many thousands of enthusiasts all across the
country, keen to keep the MG name alive. And it is to their testament, that so
many MG cars still remain on American roads, and, hopefully, will remain
for many years yet.