Most of the the pre-war MGs which came to America were personally imported by devoted enthusiasts. The M type above is Edsel Ford's car and he used it regularly in the early 1930s
These early cars are now a very rare sight on American roads and most of the ones that do
exist have been immaculately restored
The classic L1 above took more than five years to
restore and usually wins prizes at every show it attends
This 1933 J1 was initially exported to North Africa before being imported to California. It is one of the
best remaining examples of its kind in the the US
The real interest in MGs in America began after
World War 2 with the MG TC proving particularly
popular amongst racing enthusiasts
Immediately after World War 2, the British government encouraged exports of new cars and America was targetted as being potentially a very lucrative market
From the end of the 1940s, many new road races were established and there was often more MGs in competition than any other car
The town of Watkins Glen in upstate New York rapidly became one of the best known race circuits in America
Denver Cornett from Louisville, Kentucky, raced his MG TC at the first Watkins Glen Grand Prix in 1948 where he rolled his car at a bridge but survived unhurt
He subsequently returned many times afterwards and by the late 1990s, he was still racing his original 1948 MG TC at Watkins Glen as part of he vintage racing program
In the early 1950s, large numbers of MG owners would take their cars to local race events every weekend
From the end of the 1940s, the next new car available in the showroon was the MG TD. Initially in America it could be purchased as either a left hand or right hand drive
In the car's peak of sales in the early 1950s, the
MG TD became the best selling sports car in America
In 1951, 60 year old Major Goldie Gardner, (right) went to the Bonneville Salt Flats to try and set new land speed records in a specially built supercharged MG car
His EX-135 subsequently set six international and 10
American national speed records which helped to introduce the MG name to many new American car owners
Another heavily modified MG of the early 1950s was Ken Miles's streamlined "Flying Shingle" which was featured on the front cover of Road and Track magazine
After many years of hard racing, the car was subsequently fully restored and then became a
prized exhibit at a private museum in Seattle
Increased advertising in the the main US car
magazines in the early 1950s helped sales significantly
Throughout the early 1950s, dealerships rapidly opened across the country, even as far away as Hawaii
In 1955, the MGA was launched with
America again seen as a crucial market
The MGA was the company's first truly modern sports car and was more streamlined than anything built before
The factory brought two new MGAs to the 1956 Sebring Grand Prix of Endurance to help promote the car
Afterwards, the MGA enjoyed lasting
success on race tracks across the country
The MGA was Britain's first sports car which passed
100,000 sales and to commemorate the event a gold
coloured car was produced for the 1962 New York Auto Show
The special car was luxuriously presented inside and out, including white leather upholstery and a unique lambswool carpet
In 1957, MG brought another modified car to Bonneville, known as the "Roaring Raindrop". This ultra-streamlined
car set a new class F world land speed record
The driver was British racing legend Stirling Moss
who was at the peak of his success at the time
The next milestone was the launch of the MG Midget
in 1961. Above, screen actress Betty Davis is seen
with a Midget she purchased for her son
The Midget was MG's budget sports car which was
aimed directly at college students and other youngsters
In 1962, the MGB was launched. This was the most modern MG to date and included many advances on previous models
Both the saloon and hatchback versions proved hugely popular and America again became the biggest market
In the late 1960s, the US government required all new
cars to adhere to much stricter safety regulations. One
change was the introduction of large rubber bumperettes
Another change was that the rear indicator lights
had to be in a different position to those fitted in
standard UK spec cars
Many modified MGBs were produced. One
example is this electric MGB in Massachussetts.
Although it was cheaper on gas than standard
cars, the car could only travel less than 100 miles
before neeeding to be recharged
Another heavily modified MGB was this "stretched"
car in Chicago
Another headturner was this MGB trailer
In the UK, many MG saloon cars were built,
but only a small number were sold in America
Today, many of the saloon cars in the US have been personally imported
In the late 1970s, with sales of MGs declining and the company struggling, a concept MG-Triumph car was
produced in the US, but a production car never materialised
The car looked more like a rebadged
Triumph TR7 with various superficial changes
With so many sales of MG cars in America,
there was huge interest in the larger MG shows
For some of the biggest shows, enthusiasts would
literally travel acrosss the country in their cars to attend
The bigger shows are also an opportunity for many people
to see some of the oldest and rarest MGs in the country
One of the biggest shows of the late 20th Century
was INDY96 when hundreds of enthusiasts drove
their beloved car around the Indianapolis racetrack
From the late 1970s, the late Gerry Goguen started building the world's largest private MG museum -located in a mock tudor building on the Vermont/Nnew Hampshire border
Inside, he housed a huge collection of cars which
spanned the entire lifetime of the MG company
All the cars were runners and amongst some of his
rarest models was this Lester MG from the late 1950s
Another of his rare cars was this four seater sports car
built by the Inskip company in New York in the early 1950s
By the 1990s, an increasing number of owners were competing in the growing number of vintage sports
car events across the country
The annual Collier Cup race at Watkins Glen
race track is an event exclusively for MGs
In the mid 1990s, the MGF was the latest
MG sports car to be launched in the UK
In 1997, another modified MG was taken to the Bonneville
Salt Flats where it also set new land speed records
In 2003, an MG ZT-T set a new world land speed record
for estate cars at Bonneville passing more than 225 mph
While the car was never actually sold in America, one
car was brought over for marketing and testing purposes
Most of the cars which remain have been heavily
restored and their value has increased significantly
During the 1960s and 70s, MGBs proved
particularly popular on US racetracks
By now, sports car racing had become a serious professional sport with the leading drivers getting well paid
Racing in these days was still largely an amateur event and drivers would get to the track in any way they could
It may now be many years since a new MG car was available for sale in an American showroom, but for a large part of the second half of the 20th Century, each new MG model which was launched proved extremely popular on roads, racetracks and college campuses all across the US.
In fact, between 1950 and 1980, more MG sports cars were sold in America than the rest of the world put together and many of these much-loved classics remain in existence today.
Pre-war
The MG company developed in the UK during the middle years of the 1920s, and initially, the MG car was nothing more than a souped-up version of the popular Morris cars which were being built.
For the first few years, almost all the cars produced remained in the UK and they were largely unknown to all but the most knowledgeable of American motoring enthusiasts.
However, Henry Ford's son Edsel, who was involved in building Ford’s huge new car factory at Dagenham, outside London, at the end of the 1920s, took a particular liking to the new small M type during one of his UK trips and had a car shipped across the Atlantic so he could enjoy it back home. He then used it regularly for several years around his Dearborn estate, before it was subsequently retired to Ford’s own museum.
A small number of other cars were also personally imported into the US, and the Collier brothers, famed for their racing exploits along the East coast, did establish a small-scale distributorship in the early 1930s. They also had an MG on show at the 1935 New York Auto Show. But most of the very few Americans who did own an MG car in the pre-war era bought them as a fun, racing car for the summer, rather than as a serious form of regular transportation.
In Europe, by contrast, the growing reputation of MG cars saw new models -sports cars as well as saloons- being introduced on a regular basis and sales grew consistently, year after year.
The company’s success and subsequent development continued throughout the 1930s, but when war broke out in 1939, production of MG cars at Abingdon ceased as the factory was redeployed for war purposes.
After the war it was a different story. Exports were regarded as essential to help the country’s finances and as many young American men had returned to the US having been stationed in Europe, the MG name and the capabilities of this sleek little English sports car became much better known.
Post-war
The first main car of the post-war era was the MG TC and once a dealer network was established and the car was featured more in the main US car magazines, as well as seen more on US racetracks, it didn’t take long before sales started to increase significantly.
Encouraged by this growing interest, there was greater expectation for the next car which came off the production line, the MG TD. This was launched in 1949 and was a key exhibit at the first British car show in New York City a year later.
The TD also received extensive positive publicity in the popular car magazine, Road and Track, and this helped sales considerably. More dealerships were opened and within a few years, the MG TD had become the best selling imported car in America.
Eventually, of the 29,600 MG TD cars which were built, more than 20,000 were exported to the US. Production ended in 1953 and while the similarly styled replacement, the MG TF, didn’t prove quite as popular, this was mainly a stopgap car before the supremely modern MGA was launched in 1955.
The factory brought two of these extremely aerodynamic cars to the 1956 Sebring 12 Hour of Endurance event and milked the publicity as much as they could. Within months, demand for the cars was rising rapidly and it increased further when British racing ace, Stirling Moss, set a new class F world land speed record in a modified MGA on the Bonneville Salt Flats the following year. Meanwhile, more standard MGAs were enjoying their own success on US racetracks -thereby helping the marketing effort even more.
Sales went from strength to strength and by the time production of the MGA finally ended in 1962, more than 90% of the 101,000 cars which had been built had crossed the Atlantic.
MGB
By now, MG was a very popular name in America and there was great expectation again when the next MG sports car was launched. This was the extremely attractive MGB, which, like the MGA, was also highly aerodynamic, but was more technologically
advanced. It too proved immensely successful
and by the time production ended after 18 years, it had become the most popular British sports car ever produced, with more than 70% (around 250,000) of all the cars which were made being sold in the US.
The MG Midget, launched in 1961, also proved popular. This car was cheaper and smaller than the MGB and enjoyed great success among America’s young, fun-loving, college students of the era.
However, fortunes in the British motor industry took a significant downturn at the end of the 1970s, mainly due to industrial unrest and management failings, and a decision was taken to end MG production and close the factory.
Many Americans were amazed that a car which had become a household name would simply disappear from the showroom, and despite many US dealers making protests to senior executives in the UK to try and get the decision reversed, nothing happened.
In later years, the MG name was revised, and when the MGF was brought out in 1995, it too proved popular, but it was never sold in America.
These days, most of the MG cars on American roads belong to serious enthusiasts who remain determined to keep alive this special part of Britain’s rich motoring heritage. Many still make pilgrimages to Abingdon to see where the cars were built and share their own MG stories at the many MG shows that take place across the US each year.
Some even dream of the day when a brand new MG sports car will again be sold in American dealership. It's an idea which may seem a pipedream today, but with Land Rovers and the Mini returning to US showrooms after years away -just maybe it's dream which could one day become true. Only time will tell.
Returning servicemen helped promote the profile of the MG in the US in the late 1940s
The MG TC was the first sports car which was sold in America in significant numbers
Many American cars had different specs to British ones. Triple windscreen wipers was one
Some US cars have been heavily modified. Above, a "home-made" Bonneville speed car
Many rare classics can still be found at the bigger MG shows
Fun, personalised license plates
have always been particularly popular
In the early 1980s, American dealers did
all they could to help keep the company alive
The record breaking 500,000th
MGB was sold in America
Racing played a key role in the development
of MGs in America from the very beginning
Cinema newsreel of MGs racing
against other sports cars of the era
at Bridgehampton, New York, in 1951
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