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The Abingdon County Hall Museum
relaunched on 7 July 2012.
See
MG at Abingdon Museum, a BBC news report,
MGB returns to Abingdon,
a video by
British Motor Heritage
(both on YouTube), and
The
New Museum
page for earlier reports.
The MG Came Home!!!
Thursday 1st December 2011 - 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. Its return sees it take its pride of place within the County Hall Museum.
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
