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Cecil Kimber: the man who started it all. In circa 1924, Cecil started a company called 'Morris Garages,' or MG. This fledgling company specialised, at least initially, in making family saloons a little more sporty. The company then progressed to making two seater sports and racing cars- the vehicles that were to make MG a world renowned brand. | |
Now, we fast forward over 70 years to 1999/2000... |
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 (Take away the glasses, and he looks surprisingly similar to Cecil don't you think? ;o) |
Jon Moulton, head of the venture capital company, Alchemy Partners. Not obviously an MG hero- as Jon never actually had anything to do with any MG badged car. However, he nonetheless was to have a profound influence upon the development of the present day MG-Rover car company. During 1999, Mr Moulton and his associates approached the then owner of Rover Group, BMW, regarding the potential sale of the company to his venture capitalist team, based upon a tip-off he received regarding the apparent stock-piling of Rover cars. Probably as much to his surprise as it was to all MG and industry followers, BMW bit the bait. From this point on, a series of events were triggered that lead to the break up of Rover group, the sale of LandRover to Ford and the eventual disposal of what had become known in the European press as the 'English Patient' from BMW's books. Unfortunately for Jon Moulton, negotiations were to prove ultimately unsuccessful, scotching the attractive idea of a specialised MG sports car company (conceptually similar to the contemporary Lotus car company)- but it paved the way for the take over of the company by the Phoenix consortium which is currently attempting to revive the ailing MG and Rover companies from the ashes... | |
 Famous (NOT) quote: "Ten quid, and I'll take it! Hey, hang on, I was only joking!" |
John Towers, Managing Director, MG-Rover, and
'star' of the ill-fated BBC documentary, 'When BMW met Rover.' John resigned from Rover
group not long after the making of this documentary in the late 90's over disputes with
BMW management over the direction of that the company was taking. However, John (in
conjunction with engineering director, Nick Stepthensen) had already laid the foundations
for the rebirth of the MG brand. In 1995 we saw the launch of the MGF at the March Geneva
show. The launch represented the rebirth of MG as a sports car maker, and also pioneered
ingenious and novel methods of financing and engineering new cars by creating new
relationships with outside suppliers to shoulder part of the cost and engineering of the
car (in this case, the body manufacturer, Mayflower). Jon Moulton's interest in the MG brand galvanised John and his 'Phoenix' team (poignant name in MG circles- as it was the same name given to the MGF project!) to put in what was to be the successful bid to rescue MG and Rover from oblivion. This was greeted with jubilation by the Rover workforce who feared the massive job losses proposed by the Alchemy Partners' plans for the company. One year on, MG have launched a series of saloon cars based on contemporary Rovers- with much critical acclaim- and engineered and conceived with the same ingenuity that saw the engineering and productionisation invested in the car that started the re-birth of the company- the MGF. |
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Nick Stephenson, Deputy Chairman, MG Rover, and a
director of Lola cars. Founder member of the 'Phoenix consortium', and enthusiastic
Corvette drag-car racer! :o). With John Towers, Nick is a pivotal character in the
evolution of the current MG-Rover car company. Nick was also a key player in the
development of the MGF, developing the manufacturing liaisons with other companies
essential for that car's productionisation. This flexible approach, being both lean in
terms of investment and time of development gives the modern day MG-Rover car company more
speed to react to market conditions and bring products to the market rapidly, on time and
on budget- essential for the company's proposed future as a 'multiple niche player'. Nick's association with Lola Cars (which commenced soon after his resignation from the then BMW owned Rover group in April 1999) should not be underestimated either- in 2001 it brought us the Le Mans competitor, the EX257 that fought valiantly (qualified 1st and 2nd in/ LMP675 class, and in the race itself, ran as high as 3rd overall) before the torrential rain flood electrical systems forcing retirement of both cars. Whilst not a winning result it nonetheless drew broad critical acclaim and adoration- not to mention priceless airtime on TVs throughout the world, announcing proudly- "MG is back!" |
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Kevin Howe, Chief Executive, MG Rover. Brought in following the creation of the new MG Rover car company to head up a new management team, Kevin undoubtably has a tough job on his hands- to turn around what the tabloid press termed an 'ailing' car company. But Mr Howe has a tough man reputation and has set out to achieve. A former Rover executive coaxed back from Rolls Royce (Aero-engine division), his reputation of uncompromised management style initially had the unions worried according the the News Papers, but no problems appear to have arisen since appointment. Indeed, Kevin's appointment is sure to prove a shrewd one, as the recent purchase of Power Train (the part of the company that manufactures MG Rover's engines) from BMW proves. I suspect we'll be hearing more about Kevin's role in MG Rover in the future. | |
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Rob Oldaker, Product development Director, MG Rover.
Coaxed back to MG Rover by Nick Stephenson following the momentous purchase of Rover
group, Rob has been charged with the development of the new MG product line. Absolutely a
car nut, as is everyone in positions of responsibility at MG Rover, Rob has been closely
involved with the development of the greatly acclaimed MG saloon chassis. More focused
than the Rover saloons on which they are based, they nonetheless represent an astonishing
compromise between fantastic handling and reasonable refinement and comfort. Interestingly, Rob has also been involved in the last attempt by Rover to re-enter the USA market with the Sterling. Without doubt, memories of this disappointing attempt to crack the American market have stayed with him- any plans to return to the US with the MG marque will be better resourced, better planned, and will comprise of a more complete model range than a single vehicle- an oft quoted reason for the failure of the Sterling project. Given Rob's successes (awarded the prestigious "Engineer of the Year, 2001" prize by the British Motoring Magazine, Autocar, for his work at MG) and experience, we can expect that the future of MG and Rover will be safe in his hands. |
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Sir Alex Moulton, father of the Moulton Dunlop Hydragas
suspension system.
Whilst it is certainly true that Sir Alex was not directly involved in the development of the MGF, his suspension system was nonetheless a pivotal component of the technologically advanced MGF. The suspension system has numerous advantages over conventional steel-based suspension media - principally in that the interconnection, front to rear, of the Hydragas spheres enables the isolation of pitch from bump and roll suspension excitation modes (more). In English, this means that pitch - the least comfortable aspect of ride reaction to bumps and a bug-bear of short wheel base vehicles - can be dramatically reduced. For this reason, the MGF has an astonishingly good ride for a car of this class - and rivals in comfort much larger and more expensive saloon cars, despite having excellent handling characteristics. The MGF compromises on Sir Alex's original vision of a damperless suspension system - so perhaps he wouldn't be impressed with the MGF? Not a bit of it: Sir Alex was ethusive and full of praise for the car at his 80th birthday bash in Sept 2000 (an event that Nick Stephenson respectfully attended). I wonder how Alex Moulton would have evolved the Hydragas system had he had the chance? I am sure that he'd be disappointed to know that the TF has reverted to an inferior suspension system... |
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Gerry McGovern, Stylist of the MGF. I am not sure
whether I'll remember Gerry more for his permed mullet than for his triumphantly
successful MGF design. I'll pass that over for now, but there is no doubt that the MGF has
been a fantastic success- and is already considered a classic in some quarters. Certainly,
if classic status is measured by sales, then the MGF fits the bill- in the UK it has been
the number one seller in its class since 1995... Incredibly, as the design is due for its
first major face lift in 2002- the original design still does not look old. At launch it
was designed to hark at once back to its MG forebears and look forward into the future.
This contrasting brief was made all the harder when one considers that the last completely
new MG sports car, the MGB, had been launched some 30 years before. Has it succeeded? Oh
yeah, and some. Sadly, Gerry has departed the MG fold- and is now designing cars for
Lincoln. Hopefully he'll approve of Peter Steven's work in updating his design for the
21st century. My favourite anecdote was how Gerry reacted when he first saw Mike Satur's F1 body kit... unfortunately it is mostly unprintable- but apparently, he wasn't a fan. But the greatest quality of the MGF is that it represented a blank canvass for enthusiastic owners to modify to their own tastes. Sometimes, those tastes weren't always in line with Gerry's... |
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Peter Stevens, Director of design, MG Rover. Should we know Peter as a guy who loves Fiat 500s or the man who designed the McLaren F1? I am not sure, but one thing I am sure of: this man is a car guy through and through. That MG are immensely lucky to have Peter on board as the design chief need not be emphasised; his curriculum vitae is one of the strongest in the industry. So far his work at MG Rover has been impressive. The remarkable transformation of the sometimes dowdy Rover saloons into enthusiast sports saloons is impressive, as has the morphing of the Qvale Mangusta into the X80 concept previewed at Geneva, 2001. His next work on an existing car will be the Mk3 MGF, due to be launched in January 2002. But we'll have to wait a little longer before seeing what Peter is truly capable of by turning his hand to creating a clean-sheet MG. In my opinion, the future is bright; the future is octagonal! |
