Want a brand new MG sportscar?
07-12-2006, 08:02 PM
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Want a brand new MG sportscar?
You can get one, just so long as it's made in the U.S. by a Chinese company.
Can the mystique of a British sports car be recreated by a Chinese company in America's heartland?
That is the bet by Nanjing Automobile Group, which plans to resurrect the fabled MG marque in a demonstration of how truly global the automotive industry has become.
Nanjing, which purchased the assets of the bankrupt MG Rover Group last year, is aiming to be the first Chinese carmaker to open a factory in the United States. At a news conference on Wednesday in Oklahoma, the company announced plans to build a newly designed MG TF Coupe there starting in 2008. It said that the coupe would compete with cars like the Mazda Miata, which sells for between $20,000 and $25,000.
That is the bet by Nanjing Automobile Group, which plans to resurrect the fabled MG marque in a demonstration of how truly global the automotive industry has become.
Nanjing, which purchased the assets of the bankrupt MG Rover Group last year, is aiming to be the first Chinese carmaker to open a factory in the United States. At a news conference on Wednesday in Oklahoma, the company announced plans to build a newly designed MG TF Coupe there starting in 2008. It said that the coupe would compete with cars like the Mazda Miata, which sells for between $20,000 and $25,000.
07-12-2006, 09:44 PM
#3
ha.
They better do a better job that the other cars from china.
The last one I saw had crash test ratings that showed people in the car would have serious injury or death at 35 mph crashes. They took plans from a US company (GM? I forget which) and made modifications to lower the price of the car. Things like much thinner metal structure in the car.
Anyway, they must have also replaced air bags with sharp knives to get the ratings they did..
They better do a better job that the other cars from china.
The last one I saw had crash test ratings that showed people in the car would have serious injury or death at 35 mph crashes. They took plans from a US company (GM? I forget which) and made modifications to lower the price of the car. Things like much thinner metal structure in the car.
Anyway, they must have also replaced air bags with sharp knives to get the ratings they did..
07-13-2006, 02:24 PM
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Originally Posted by mysql101
ha.
They better do a better job that the other cars from china.
The last one I saw had crash test ratings that showed people in the car would have serious injury or death at 35 mph crashes. They took plans from a US company (GM? I forget which) and made modifications to lower the price of the car. Things like much thinner metal structure in the car.
Anyway, they must have also replaced air bags with sharp knives to get the ratings they did..
They better do a better job that the other cars from china.
The last one I saw had crash test ratings that showed people in the car would have serious injury or death at 35 mph crashes. They took plans from a US company (GM? I forget which) and made modifications to lower the price of the car. Things like much thinner metal structure in the car.
Anyway, they must have also replaced air bags with sharp knives to get the ratings they did..
If they do make this car, I bet it has a decent first year driven by the novelty/retro factor. When that wears off, second-year sales plummet as people actually look at what quality of car they're getting compared with others.
07-13-2006, 02:49 PM
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Originally Posted by Paul_in_DC
I'd be interested to see what they come up with. If it's a cheap, fun 2-seater, I'm all ears.
The 2-seater will not be priced less than $50K.....why? The people that love these cars are all old farts now with plenty of money. MG is not going to resonate with Gen-Y'ers or Gen X'ers....so why try and compete in an already competitive class of under $40K 2-seater sports cars. I say milk that MG name for all it's worth with the babyboomer gen.
07-13-2006, 03:09 PM
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Originally Posted by longfury
Gen X here...would love a modern MG. Small, Light, Nimble. Sounds like a familiar combination. Oh yeah...the Miata. 
http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/?p=1804
07-13-2006, 04:10 PM
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Imagine that - a 30-year-old car is a piece of crap. 
MG and Triumph were terrific cars in their heyday. That's why you used to see so many on the track. Does the MG of yesteryear have the features and reliablility of today's cars? Would you expect it to? Of course not. A more accurate comparison would be an MG to an old Dodge Dart or Ford Falcon. How many of those have you seen lately? How many articles have you seen from people who actually miss them?
If someone was to build a modernized MGB, MGC, Spitfire, TR-6 (etc.), gave it relatively modern improvements, and made it affordable enough to compete with the MX-5, they might have a fighting chance.
I owned a Triumph Spitfire years ago. It was absolutely the funnest car I ever had... until the RX-8 came along.
MG and Triumph were terrific cars in their heyday. That's why you used to see so many on the track. Does the MG of yesteryear have the features and reliablility of today's cars? Would you expect it to? Of course not. A more accurate comparison would be an MG to an old Dodge Dart or Ford Falcon. How many of those have you seen lately? How many articles have you seen from people who actually miss them?
If someone was to build a modernized MGB, MGC, Spitfire, TR-6 (etc.), gave it relatively modern improvements, and made it affordable enough to compete with the MX-5, they might have a fighting chance.
I owned a Triumph Spitfire years ago. It was absolutely the funnest car I ever had... until the RX-8 came along.
07-16-2006, 12:32 AM
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The MGs over here look pretty nice. I haven't heard anything as to whether or not they are reliable, but I guess it wouldn't matter if somebody else was going to build them...
Haha I think I saw the video of the crash test of that car Mysql. I remember seeing the wheel go into the persons legs, and the whole dashboard going into it's chest. I had a good laugh.
Haha I think I saw the video of the crash test of that car Mysql. I remember seeing the wheel go into the persons legs, and the whole dashboard going into it's chest. I had a good laugh.
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