"SPORTS MODELS ONLY"

” SP RTS MODELS ONLY”

THE history of most pioneer manufacturing concerns, both in England and abroad, is much the same. From small beginnings they have grOwn to gigantic concerns, from tiny obscure workshops their premises have expanded out of all recognition. All can boast of a reputation and experience extending over many years. With the M.G. Car Company, it is somewhat different. It is not an old firm. ‘there were no M.G. cars before 1925. Yet it can be truly described as a pioneer concern in that it was one of the first to specialise in the production of sports models only. At a time when other makers were concentrating

on the cheap, mass-produced utility vehicle, M.G.’s were using their resources for building a roadworthy, fast car for the sportsman. That was in 1925, and they have been doing it ever since. The first M.G. Sports, many of which are still to be seen on the road, were built, first of all, in a small mews in Oxford. They sold very well and their owners liked them; the demand far exceeded the supply, and so in 1926 a speedy removal was made to larger works in North Oxford.

Here cars were produced in considerably larger numbers, but sales increased to such an extent that a £20,000 factory was built at Edmund Road, Cowley, and production on a still larger scale was started in 1927.

It was thought that this would be the home of the M.G. Sports car for a few years at least, but with the introduction of the now well-known M.G. Midget and M.G. Six models, it soon became apparent that the accommodation was far too limited.

Then, by chance, the big five acre factory, known as Pavlova Works, Abingdon-on-Thames, which had been in disuse for some years, was discovered. There the M.G. Company are now producing M.G. Sports cars by a new kind of flow production method in which each car is built with individual care as if it was the only car being manufactured, and their output is such, that they are able to claim to be the largest manufacturers of sports cars in England.