that’s 90 years of glory and dreams, of speed and passion, of inheritance and innovation. it was born for speed, born for dreams. and now, 90 years on, no matter how the times change or how technologies moves forward, mg has remained the dream car of every younger generation. and, yes, it is a legend!
so, some of the older and younger generations of mg models got together in beijing, on april 20, as a salute to the name and to celebrate its 90th, at the 2014 beijing international automotive exhibition, where some legendary versions of the mg took this classic car back to its roots. and, the fantastic 90th anniversary limited edition of the car, with a unique uk design, was the most dazzling star of the show, accompanied of course by the dynamic mg spirit, and its personality, charisma and creativity for you and me.
a world classicnine decades later, mg people have made it possible for the british brand to continue to bring glory to driving, from 1924 to today, from birth to maturity and rebirth. that first mg sports car, “old no.1” was a joint effort of william morris and cecil kimber and the world’s first sports car equipped with four-wheel disc brakes. k3 magnette once beat ferrari. the legendary mgb set an mg sales record and the british queen has an mf tf. every mg is a brilliant star in the hall of famous automobiles. mgs have also endowed the race track with passion since they were born with a sports gene, and carry the dreams of many legendary race car drivers, making history at places such as the british touring car championship.
and, 90 years on, the brand not only continues the glamour of its classic tradition, in china, but has even been reborn here, thanks to saic motor’s strong support, and in a short eight years, has introduced many popular models such as mg6, mg5 and mg3. it has returned to center stage in the world of motoring and does indeed belong to the world. and, 90-years have made it possible for mg to be the most widely-spread brand with the highest loyalty in the world, with a dynamic, unique fan club and culture. the mg car club, founded in 1930, is the world’s largest single-brand car club, with more than 1,000 branches. they can gather at an annual mg live! celebration at britain’s silverstone race track to admire the unique uk design with personality, a sports gene, and race track culture, which lives on with ceaseless creativity, reflecting the owners’ attitude toward the motoring life, one that’s full of passion and taste.
brand innovation mixed with tradition
at the beijing auto show, the older and younger model cars came together across time and space to celebrate the legend with a 90-year history and create a motoring world with british flavor. there were three mg series from saic motors on display – the “british boutique” mg3, “sports hatchback pioneer” mg5, and “british crossover hatchback” mg6 —along with nine 90th anniversary editions. and there was an mgc gt, the vintage car, making its debut in beijing, to give mg fans a sense of the history of this classic car. this car from 1967, has a top speed of 193 km/h and goes from 0 to 100 km/h in just 10 seconds. it was one of the world’s fastest cars of the 1960s and, in 1969, prince charles bought an mgc gt 3.0l which turned out to be one of his favorite cars.
mg sticks to a manufacturing concept of “making the dream car for every younger generation” and keeps a close eye on the psyche of the younger generation while constantly innovating. the dynamic contour and power that started with the original has been immensely attractive to generations of young people. the three current series of saic motor mgs have an engine displacement ranging from 1.3l to 1.8l, while the improved 2013 mg5 1.5t 6at and 2014 mg6 1.8t tst have greater performance.
saic motors also paraded its all-new power- train at the beijing show, the “cube-tech”, with an mge and sge series of direct injection engines, its tst 6-speed and 7-speed dual-clutch transmissions, and its new start-stop system. the power-train is the result of saic motor’s r&d efforts and cooperation with global automotive giants. cars equipped with the new power-train are set to reach a goal of 20-percent reduction in carbon emissions, from 2015 to 2020, as well as a 20-percent increase in power performance and in fuel economy. the mgs will be the first to get the new power-train so that, in five years, all mgs will give their owners the joy of world-class performance and green motoring thanks to improved fuel economy and ecological performance.
tracing mg’s roots to the uk
the mg owners club (china) announced their “90 years of true love and fun driving” event at the beijing show, to raise the curtain on the 90th anniversary celebrations. this is a major event which involves a trip to britain to trace the car’s history and bring a new attitude toward motoring, all in the name of “true love”. it will use the three chinese mg series and china’s mg pioneers to represent the dreams and passion of 100,000 mg owners, traveling across eight time zones, 10,000-km on the eurasian landmass, to the car’s home, in britain, where they will explore the car’s roots and experience classic british motoring traditions. at silverstone, in june, they will meet other mg fans to share their confidence and passion for the brand.
this “90 years of true love and fun driving” trip to the uk is the first activity of its kind for chinese mg owners and will fill a gap in chinese motoring culture and let the participants will share their experiences with car owners back in china via micro blogs and wechat messages and videos, or through traditional postcards.
it’s true that “a single spark can start a prairie fire” and, in the same way, mg owners pass their love for the car to one another, from generation to generation, setting a spark or lighting a fire in every car lover’s heart around the world. as this new generation of mg owners visits its birthplace, they take the relay baton and carry on the mg spirit while adding luster and brand value, with personality, charisma and creativity.
