MG Car Club
Encyclopedia
The MG Car Club is an international club founded in 1930 for owners and enthusiasts of MG cars. The club headquarters are based in Abingdon, Oxfordshire
and are located adjacent to the now defunct MG factory site where cars were produced between 1930 - 1980. The MG Car Club currently has 35,000 affiliated members Worldwide and in 2010 the organisation celebrated its 80th anniversary.
The MGCC is a not-for-profit organisation.
, with over thirty MG cars and their owners coming together. F.L.M. Harris was General Secretary of the M.G. Car Club and editor of The Sports Car, which suspended publication at the outbreak of World War II
. Earlier he was editor of the The Light Car : "Mine was the decision that caused a letter to be published in "The Light Car" suggesting the formation of an M.G. Car Club, and its inaugural meeting at the "Roebuck," Broadwater, was held within a couple of miles of my house." The suggestion came from a Roy Marsh, of Highbury
, London
.
as guest speaker; Kimber pledged to donate 50 guineas to club funds. In 1932 the club held the "First Show-Time Dinner-Dance at the Café Royal." Among the guests were Sir William Morris
, Earl Howe
, Sir Henry Birkin, Mr. G.E.T. Eyston
, and Mr. Cecil Kimber.
As MG production increased, the Club continued to grow and the structure of Regional Centres came into being, extending membership of the club across the UK. A Northern Centre was formed by March 1933, and a Scottish Centre shortly after. By April 1933, the membership had topped 500 and both a Trials team and a Relay Race team had been formed, the latter taking part in the BRDC
500 Miles Race at Brooklands
in September 1933, finishing in second place. A bi-monthly magazine, called M.G. Magazine, made an appearance in May, 1933, edited by Alan C. Hess, Secretary of the M.G. Car Club and former editor of Motor Sport
.
In October 1942 Motor Sport announced: "F.L.M. Harris has had to resign his hon. secretaryship of the M.G. Car Club, a position he has fulfilled so extremely successfully for the past eight years, on account of increasingly heavy R.A.F. commitments." In 1945, the club was taken in-house by the MG Car Co. at Abingdon. Petrol was strictly rationed, so club motorsport was more or less non-existent. August 1951 saw the first Silverstone
‘all-Centre’ meeting, an event which still continues today. Membership continued to grow and the first overseas Centres were formed. The club was greatly strengthened by the initiation of a magazine circulated to all members, Safety Fast, compiled by F. Wilson McComb.
During the period 1960-1967 the South East Centre organised competitive events at the Firle Hill Climb
in Sussex
.
In the 1960s, there was a growth in Overseas membership. In 1966 The Motor reported: "The MG Car Club recently enrolled its 5,000th home member. Which, with some 4,000 overseas members, gives the club a total strength of more than 9,000 souls." As the decade drew to a close though, the relationship with the parent company—first BMC and then British Leyland—lost the closeness which had previously existed with MG. The club faced an uncertain future but Gordon Cobban, then Chairman of the South East Centre, and others worked hard to not only plan a safe financial basis for continuing but to licence the club name (and that of Safety Fast) from BL. Support from UK and Overseas Centres for the new structure was vital, so in October 1969 a fully independent MG Car Club was formed, providing a basis for the club which continues today. Initially the club moved into rented offices in Abingdon
but quickly became somewhat nomadic being based in Boston, Studley and Radley.
In 1979 The Guardian reported: "The MG Car Club has nine centres in the UK, and another 30 in America. The Danish club centre has just celebrated its 25th birthday, and the German centre was able to turn out 300 MGs for an event at Hausach
.
The goal of the club was always to return the headquarters to Abingdon, the home of MG. In April 1988 a Building Appeal Fund was set up in order to raise money for the acquisition of a home for the club. By mid-1989, this resulted, thanks to the generosity of many club members and other benefactors, in the purchase of 11 & 12 Cemetery Road, a detached property right next to the original gate of the MG factory. Many donations in cash and in kind were vital to the renovation of the premises as suitable offices for the club, completed in 1990. The premises are now held for the use of the club by the Douglas Mickel Trust, named after Douglas Mickel OBE, the largest of the benefactors involved. The office is known as Kimber House in tribute to Cecil Kimber
, the founder of the MG Car Company.
In 1995, the MGF was launched at the Geneva Motor Show, and a convoy of historic MG cars from the MG Car Club drove from Abingdon to Geneva to mark the occasion. The car quickly became the fastest selling sports car on the UK market. Thanks to a close link to the MG/Rover division of BMW through a director of the club, the club gained a whole new group of members as the MGF Register was formed. As part of this closer relationship with the manufacturer once more, the club also took on the running of the Abingdon Trophy, a speed and race championship for MGF Trophy specification cars which proved to be very popular, introducing a whole new racing car to club racing in the UK. In 2001 this relationship strengthened as the Club picked up the high-profile MGF Cup race Championship, later again adding a fleet of MG ZRs built by MG Sport & Racing.
Abingdon, Oxfordshire
Abingdon or archaically Abingdon-on-Thames is a market town and civil parish in Oxfordshire, England. It is the seat of the Vale of White Horse district. Previously the county town of Berkshire, Abingdon is one of several places that claim to be Britain's oldest continuously occupied town, with...
and are located adjacent to the now defunct MG factory site where cars were produced between 1930 - 1980. The MG Car Club currently has 35,000 affiliated members Worldwide and in 2010 the organisation celebrated its 80th anniversary.
The MGCC is a not-for-profit organisation.
Founding
The first club meeting took place on 12 October 1930, at the Roebuck Hotel near StevenageStevenage
Stevenage is a town and borough in Hertfordshire, England. It is situated to the east of junctions 7 and 8 of the A1, and is between Letchworth Garden City to the north, and Welwyn Garden City to the south....
, with over thirty MG cars and their owners coming together. F.L.M. Harris was General Secretary of the M.G. Car Club and editor of The Sports Car, which suspended publication at the outbreak of World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. Earlier he was editor of the The Light Car : "Mine was the decision that caused a letter to be published in "The Light Car" suggesting the formation of an M.G. Car Club, and its inaugural meeting at the "Roebuck," Broadwater, was held within a couple of miles of my house." The suggestion came from a Roy Marsh, of Highbury
Highbury
- Early Highbury :The area now known as Islington was part of the larger manor of Tolentone, which is mentioned in the Domesday Book. Tolentone was owned by Ranulf brother of Ilger and included all the areas north and east of Canonbury and Holloway Road. The manor house was situated by what is now...
, London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
.
The company (MG) had adopted a new sales slogan, 'Safety Fast!' late in the 1930s, and two words it seemed to embody the marque's appeal. About the same time a group of enthusiastic owners had formed the M.G Car Club.
F. Wilson McComb - MG
History
The first MG Car Club sporting event took place in 1930, the Chilterns Trial. In January 1931, the first club dinner was held with Cecil KimberCecil Kimber
Cecil Kimber was an automobile engineer, most famous for his role in being the driving force behind the MG car company.-Biography:He was born in London on 12 April 1888 to Henry Kimber, a printing engineer and his wife Fanny...
as guest speaker; Kimber pledged to donate 50 guineas to club funds. In 1932 the club held the "First Show-Time Dinner-Dance at the Café Royal." Among the guests were Sir William Morris
William Morris, 1st Viscount Nuffield
William Richard Morris, 1st Viscount Nuffield GBE, CH , known as Sir William Morris, Bt, between 1929 and 1934 and as The Lord Nuffield between 1934 and 1938, was a British motor manufacturer and philanthropist...
, Earl Howe
Francis Curzon, 5th Earl Howe
Francis Richard Henry Penn Curzon, 5th Earl Howe, CBE, PC, VD was a British naval officer, Member of Parliament, motor racing driver and promotor. In the 1918 UK General Election he won the Battersea South seat as the candidate of the Conservative Party, which he held until 1929...
, Sir Henry Birkin, Mr. G.E.T. Eyston
George Eyston
- References :*...
, and Mr. Cecil Kimber.
As MG production increased, the Club continued to grow and the structure of Regional Centres came into being, extending membership of the club across the UK. A Northern Centre was formed by March 1933, and a Scottish Centre shortly after. By April 1933, the membership had topped 500 and both a Trials team and a Relay Race team had been formed, the latter taking part in the BRDC
British Racing Drivers' Club
The British Racing Drivers' Club is a membership body which represents the interests of professional racing drivers from the United Kingdom.-Early days:...
500 Miles Race at Brooklands
Brooklands
Brooklands was a motor racing circuit and aerodrome built near Weybridge in Surrey, England. It opened in 1907, and was the world's first purpose-built motorsport venue, as well as one of Britain's first airfields...
in September 1933, finishing in second place. A bi-monthly magazine, called M.G. Magazine, made an appearance in May, 1933, edited by Alan C. Hess, Secretary of the M.G. Car Club and former editor of Motor Sport
Motor Sport (magazine)
Motor Sport was founded in the UK in 1924 as the Brooklands Gazette, the first edition appearing in July of that year. In August 1925 the title was changed to the all-encompassing "Motor Sport". For most of its history , the editor of the magazine was Bill Boddy.The monthly magazine underwent a...
.
In October 1942 Motor Sport announced: "F.L.M. Harris has had to resign his hon. secretaryship of the M.G. Car Club, a position he has fulfilled so extremely successfully for the past eight years, on account of increasingly heavy R.A.F. commitments." In 1945, the club was taken in-house by the MG Car Co. at Abingdon. Petrol was strictly rationed, so club motorsport was more or less non-existent. August 1951 saw the first Silverstone
Silverstone Circuit
Silverstone Circuit is an English motor racing circuit next to the Northamptonshire villages of Silverstone and Whittlebury. The circuit straddles the Northamptonshire and Buckinghamshire border, with the current main circuit entry on the Buckinghamshire side...
‘all-Centre’ meeting, an event which still continues today. Membership continued to grow and the first overseas Centres were formed. The club was greatly strengthened by the initiation of a magazine circulated to all members, Safety Fast, compiled by F. Wilson McComb.
During the period 1960-1967 the South East Centre organised competitive events at the Firle Hill Climb
Firle Hill Climb
Firle Hill Climb is a defunct hillclimbing course near Lewes, East Sussex, England, sometimes referred to as Bo Peep Hill Climb."The event will consist of a timed climb of the metalled roadknown as Bo-Peep Hill, situated near the village of Selmeston, on...
in Sussex
Sussex
Sussex , from the Old English Sūþsēaxe , is an historic county in South East England corresponding roughly in area to the ancient Kingdom of Sussex. It is bounded on the north by Surrey, east by Kent, south by the English Channel, and west by Hampshire, and is divided for local government into West...
.
In the 1960s, there was a growth in Overseas membership. In 1966 The Motor reported: "The MG Car Club recently enrolled its 5,000th home member. Which, with some 4,000 overseas members, gives the club a total strength of more than 9,000 souls." As the decade drew to a close though, the relationship with the parent company—first BMC and then British Leyland—lost the closeness which had previously existed with MG. The club faced an uncertain future but Gordon Cobban, then Chairman of the South East Centre, and others worked hard to not only plan a safe financial basis for continuing but to licence the club name (and that of Safety Fast) from BL. Support from UK and Overseas Centres for the new structure was vital, so in October 1969 a fully independent MG Car Club was formed, providing a basis for the club which continues today. Initially the club moved into rented offices in Abingdon
Abingdon
Abingdon may refer to the following places:In Australia :* Abingdon, Queensland, a place in Northern QueenslandIn Britain:*Abingdon, Oxfordshire**Abingdon School**Abingdon Abbey**Abingdon Lock**Abingdon Bridge**Abingdon Air & Country Show...
but quickly became somewhat nomadic being based in Boston, Studley and Radley.
In 1979 The Guardian reported: "The MG Car Club has nine centres in the UK, and another 30 in America. The Danish club centre has just celebrated its 25th birthday, and the German centre was able to turn out 300 MGs for an event at Hausach
Hausach
Hausach is a town in the Ortenaukreis, in western Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is situated in the Black Forest, on the river Kinzig, 25 km southeast of Offenburg.-External links:...
.
The goal of the club was always to return the headquarters to Abingdon, the home of MG. In April 1988 a Building Appeal Fund was set up in order to raise money for the acquisition of a home for the club. By mid-1989, this resulted, thanks to the generosity of many club members and other benefactors, in the purchase of 11 & 12 Cemetery Road, a detached property right next to the original gate of the MG factory. Many donations in cash and in kind were vital to the renovation of the premises as suitable offices for the club, completed in 1990. The premises are now held for the use of the club by the Douglas Mickel Trust, named after Douglas Mickel OBE, the largest of the benefactors involved. The office is known as Kimber House in tribute to Cecil Kimber
Cecil Kimber
Cecil Kimber was an automobile engineer, most famous for his role in being the driving force behind the MG car company.-Biography:He was born in London on 12 April 1888 to Henry Kimber, a printing engineer and his wife Fanny...
, the founder of the MG Car Company.
In 1995, the MGF was launched at the Geneva Motor Show, and a convoy of historic MG cars from the MG Car Club drove from Abingdon to Geneva to mark the occasion. The car quickly became the fastest selling sports car on the UK market. Thanks to a close link to the MG/Rover division of BMW through a director of the club, the club gained a whole new group of members as the MGF Register was formed. As part of this closer relationship with the manufacturer once more, the club also took on the running of the Abingdon Trophy, a speed and race championship for MGF Trophy specification cars which proved to be very popular, introducing a whole new racing car to club racing in the UK. In 2001 this relationship strengthened as the Club picked up the high-profile MGF Cup race Championship, later again adding a fleet of MG ZRs built by MG Sport & Racing.