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MG Exhibition (In association with the M.G. Car Club and the M.G. Owners’ Club)
The Museum is now
closed until Spring 2012
Please see
The New Museum page
for the latest update
The MG Came Home!!!
Thursday 1st December - crowds gathered in the Market Place to witness Abingdon's last MGB Roadster produced in the town, return home. The car was dramatically lifted high into the air, much to the delight of the spectators below ..... and much to the nervousness of the engineers and staff involved! It was finally winched in through one of the narrow ornate windows with millimetres to spare, followed by a round of applause!
British Motor Heritage Limited of Witney generously sponsored this task. The car had to be stripped down to the body shell and supported on a special cradle which turned onto its side before being raised up to the window on a 30 tonne lifting platform. The car and cradle were gently rolled in through the window opening before being re-erected in the Gallery.
This actual car, one of a small number painted bronze, rolled off the line at the Abingdon MG factory on the 23rd October 1980, and became part of the British Motor Industry Heritage Trust collection at the Heritage Motor Centre at Gaydon. It's return will see it take it's pride of place within the County Hall Museum, ready for when the building reopens in Spring 2012.
MG’s were made in Abingdon for fifty years
The
founder of MG was Cecil Kimber, the General Manager of Morris
Garages (from which the car takes its acronym). Kimber’s notion
was to modify some of the Morris cars to make them more fun and
exciting to drive. The idea was a success and production of the
cars soon outgrew the company’s Oxford premises.
In 1929 a
disused factory in Abingdon was chosen to take over production
and the name MG was coined. In 1930 the MG Car Company severed
its links with Morris.
Visit the
MG Website
