BRIAN MOYLAN
Features
Includes many pics taken by employees and kept in private collections.
Reveals the many facets of factory life
Illustrates the willingness of the employees to adapt to change
The little known work carried out during the war.
Illustrates the way that the factory governed the mens working and leisure lives.
Captions reveal an intimate knowledge of the pictures subjects.
Will in times to come to be accepted as an important record of MG history.
Reveals MGs initiative in designing testing facilties to conform to EU & USA regulations
It tells stories of the generations of families working together in the factory.
It would prove to many people that Abingdon could have still been in the forefront of sport car manufacture
Description
This book is a pictorial study of men and women drawn from all parts of the country to this little known rural town to take part in the building of a motor car . These workers were a mixture of skilled people from the depressed areas of England and Wales together with the few MG car workers who made the journey with the MG from Oxford to the rural town of Abingdon and its largely
farming community. This mixture coalesced to become a work force that built a legend- The MG. With 160 photos of factory life both car building and during the war effort this is a fascinating story.
Synopsis
The MG, from being a Morris car modified in the corner of a backstreet workshop, evolved into a sports car in its own right. The demand for this fiery little car caused the production to move to four different and progressively larger sites in and around Oxford, finally moving out of the city ten miles away to Abingdon and a factory that might have been custom built for it . This factory was on the site of a tannery that had inflated to over twice its size catering for the 1914-18 wartime demand for its leather products. The coming of peace caused it to deflate back to its previous level of production, leaving empty the rows of large hangars that had housed the wartime production effort. It was to this factory that Cecil Kimber, who had resigned his position as Managing Director of Morris Garages, brought his brain-child that he called the MG.
Twin rows of eighteen inch (45cm) high raised tracks were built. The chassis was brought from the workshop where it been made and, after the assembling of its suspension, it was mounted on to the track to start its journey from one stage to the next, finally emerging as a complete motor car. The car would then be tested on the factorys own test track before being deemed fit for its eagerly awaiting new owner.
The men who took part in the assembling of the car were but a part of the organisation that went toward the finished article. Managers, Office staff, Storemen , Inspectors, Painters, Test drivers, Labourers and cleaners were all members of the great team, all had their part to play.
As they worked together so did they play together, ground was obtained for a football pitch, room was found in the town for a snooker club and a place where the men could join for a well earned drink This later developed into a modern Sports Club with football, hockey and cricket pitches.
The risk of fire in the factory was always present and to cope with this the factory had its own fiire engine and a full time fireman augmented when needed by a volunteer crew of factory workers, who trained in their spare time.
MG Abingdons famous racing reputation gained in the 1930s made it the obvious place to site BMCs Competition Department with its maiden venture the 1955 Le Mans 24 hour race.
The 160, many never seen before, pictures in this book chronicle every aspect of the factory from its opening amidst great euphoria in 1930 to its closing amidst great recriminations in 1980.
Independent Reviews
Review from Octane magazine, July 2007
UK magazine
Besides the expected shots of MGs coming down the production lines over the decades, this breezy little softback is packed with fascinating shots detailing Abingdon life 'behind the scenes' including the bones discovered during excavations in 1974 ...
