| Ray's Ramblings! | Obituary | Is The End Nigh? |
Hello from Cambridge
Spent some time recently checking my MG Midget before taking it to the local garage for it's M.O.T. test, at the same time cleaned and polished everything in sight. Everything was in order ready for 8 am the next day, the wettest April on record the news said and my wettest Mot yet! even the mechanic apologised for the rain, glad I did not go to Silverstone, apparently that was water-logged too.
At our club photo competition we had a good turnout. We had to try to decide what the varoius photos of objects were. Many thanks to Sarah & Jeremy for shaking up our brain cells yet again and well done to Robin & Germain who's brain cells were in tip-top order.
On Easter Sunday our club went on a mystery run starting from our home pub. I think we woke up the landlord and his wife with the noisy excited crowd, but not to harbour a grudge opened up the toilet facilities for us before we departed. Not a drop of rain all day and 11 MG's were counted out and counted back at Castle Ashby where we joined up with the Northampton MGOC who were waiting for us at the end of our run. By the way the clues were well thought out and the route was enjoyable as was the weather.
Thanks Jacqui & John for your efforts and guess who won? Yes you've got it, Robin & Joyce closely followed by Peter & Jane. (We are not going to let them know when our next competition is!)
Webmasters note: Hopefully someone will let me have the photos as promised, so I can publish a report next month!
Our club's second news letter ( in colour ) has been received by all members and is filled with information about club activities photo's and articles. The editor would prefer to turn items away so get your items in each month so he runs out of paper ! We have yet to give the news letter a name but we will in due course
Coming up May 14th Regency Run May 14th Cambs Classic Car Run May 15th Boules knockout at The Green Man May 21st MGF event at Sudeley Castle June 5th Natter & driver exchange at the Green Man June 19th Pitch & Putt at Melbourn June 24 /25th MG 2000 - Billing Aquadrome July 2nd Haverhill Show, an invitation to show our MG's July 3rd Club Concours July 17th Treasure Hunt July 21 /23rd Surrey 2000 Aug 7th Natter & Raffle Aug 12th Harrogate 2000 Aug 21st Punting on the River CamIf you own an MG or are about to buy one, come and make yourself known and speak to the experts at one of our club evenings or runs we will be pleased to see you.
|
|
The future of Rover Cars and and MG once more looks now to be in the balance! After BMW announced that they wanted to offload the loss making Rover Company a buyer was found in the form of 'Alchemy'. The plans of Alchemy certainly shook the workforce of the big car plant in the Midlands (Longbridge). Thousands faced the prospect of redundancy, with car poduction reduced to a bare minimum. What Alchemy did 'promise' was that the name of MG would live on, and that small scale production of a sportscar was the way to go. Little comfort fot the workforce, but a sigh of relief from MG fans. There even was talk of new MG models and the cars being exported to the USA!
At the 11th hour though Alchemy pulled out of the deal, and BMW annouce unless another buyer is found, Rover and the Longbridge plant will close within the month.
Longbridge is of course where the MGF is built!
Now its seems that a former Rover Excective has put together a consortium to try and buy Rover from BMW. The Phoenix consortiums bid had been rejected originally by BMW, but it now looks like to be the only hope. Phoenix still plan some job losses, but not on the same scale as Alchemy. The Unions, along with the workforce, see the Phoenix bid as the lesser of two evils, and are hopeful Rover can now be saved!
The saga is by no means over yet, the British Govt, may have to put its hand in it's pocket to support Phoenix, its not clear at this time if they will do that. The knock-on effect of Rover closing will mean the loss of many many jobs, certainly 20,000 in the midlands area. More jobs will go all over the UK as Rover car dealers may be forced into liquidation.
Consumer confidence in the Rover brand is not good, people are now not buying the cars, worried about warranties, serviceing and the provision of spare parts!
So what of the future now? The situation continues to change on a daily basis, I have been following the changing fortunes of Rover over the last few weeks via the BBC News
Kelvin Fagan
For those of you that have not attended any of the meetings at the Green Man recently will be saddened to hear that one of our members, Bob Thompson passed away recently. We were all quite shocked of course and our thoughts went out immediately to Myriam and the children he leaves behind. A condolence card was signed by many of the members, which was passed on to Myriam.
Bob was very much liked by all of our members and he was a good friend to many. He travelled from Bury St. Edmunds, with Myriam, on many a Monday evening (winter and summer) to join us at our natters. He, Myriam and Kelly also joined us on many runs, including Longbridge and our trip to Holland. Although Bob sold his MGC about three years ago and bought a Lancia, he still used to meet up with MG owners/friends all over the UK. Bob will be particuarly remembered for his willingness to offer technical advice to members both new and old, relating to MGs.
Our sincere condolences and best wishes go to Myriam once again this time from all who knew him and them.
Have you read last months Newsletter?
This site is maintained on behalf of the Cambridge &
District MGOC
by Kelvin Fagan
mg.maestro@mgcars.org.uk
Try out our Search Engine page
The
Cambridge and District MGOC is affiliated to the MG Owners' Club.
The information presented on this web site is not in
anyway connected with or authorised by Rover Group Ltd.