North America's oldest, largest and best club for all MGBs, MGB-GTs and Midgets!!  Established in 1975.

  

  Subscribe Message Board

 Subscribe Blog

  Subscribe Photo Gallery

WELCOME TO THE AMERICAN MGB ASSOCIATION
for all year MGBs, MGB-GTs and Midgets
Established in 1975


P.O. Box 11401
Chicago, Illinois 60611
Ph.: 773-878-5055
Fax: 773-769-3240
email:
info@mgclub.org

 

MG Midget

 
Home  Officers  Events  Articles  Tech Tips  Membership Benefits  Ads / Links  Join / Renew - APPLICATION  Membership Items  Email  Classifieds   Car Photos   News / Editor  Regalia / Club Store  Message Board / Blog  Ad Rates  SECURED - Joining / Ordering  Members Only

 


What We Offer
Join AMGBA!

Home
Events Calendar
Past Shows/Photos
Classified Ads
Member Stories
Photos/Videos
Technical Section
Editor & News!

Club Regalia/Store
Message Board
Club Blog
Membership Items
Secured Orders
Members Only

Links/Sponsors
Ad Rates & Info
Officers
Networks/Groups
Meet Info
Contact Us
 

 

  FROM THE EDITOR'S DESK  | IN THE NEWS! | NEW PRODUCTS AND SERVICES 

Club Blog located at
blog.amgba.com

American MGB Association Blog

FROM THE EDITOR'S DESK

by Frank Ochal

'70 B of Jeff Wergeles Welcome to the new members that have joined since the last issue.

We would like to thank Chuck Methven, Jeff Wergeles and all of the other contributors to this issue of the Octagon. Also thanks to Art Isaacs for his continued work in answering members' technical questions and answers. Be sure to send in photos and stories so we can include them in future issues of the Octagon.

We have updated our payment form on our website to directly take credit card and PayPal payments. Your credit card is now checked for accuracy and verified and your order is placed into a shopping cart of items awaiting checkout. This type of program should be very familiar to people who pay for items on other Internet websites and is available at the PayPal/Credit Card website button. The old form will also remain for members that are comfortable with it. 5 year recurring membership is now also available so that you can renew automatically every year for 5 years.

Also by the time you receive this issue we should have received our shipment of member grille badges and key fobs. This is in response to many member requests. Check with the club for availability before placing an order.

Technical Sections Volume III is now available which continues the great tradition of practical tech advice started with Volumes I and II. In keeping with the times this one is available only on CD for PC or Mac. Another new item in the store is a complete copy of the past ten years of the Octagon available on CD only for PC or Mac.

Members now receive monthly publications. The Octagon is published in February, April, June, August, October and December and the eOctagon is published in January, March, May, July, September and November.

We now offer a 3 year membership or renewal rate which includes a free t-shirt or tech volume III CD. The rate is $95 or $125 for members outside the USA. And in response to many members we now have a 3 year eMembership for $65 which also includes a free t-shirt or tech volume III CD. Save money and get a t-shirt or tech CD!

The club now has a Message Board at http://board.amgba.com , a blog located at http://blog.amgba.com . The sites are available to all but American MGB Association members are able to place ads and access more technical information.

The new American MGB Association Photo Gallery is located at http://photos.amgba.com  . The same login is used for the Gallery as the Message Board. Members can downloads their car photos directly at this location.

Send us your email address so that we can send you the eOctagon. The eOctagon is sent via bulk email so if you are blocking this type of email you will not get it.

Please send in you stories and photos to be used in the Octagon. You will receive a credit toward renewal or regalia.

Send in your list of spare parts that you have for sale as we send out all lists we have received during the year to members that request lists of spare parts available. These lists are also now appear on our web page in the "members only" section!

You need an ID and password to access the "members only" section of our web site at www.mgclub.org. You will find the ID and password on page 3 of the OCTAGON. These change with each issue so be sure to use only the ones listed in the latest issue.

Also now you can to create your own id and password for the members only section. Submit the form on the members only page to do this.

Have a great end of the driving season and have a great holiday season!


NEWS

MG TF LE500: The Return of MG

MG is back in business with the TF LE500, a revised version of what used to be Britain's most popular sports car. But can it and the now Chinese-owned brand succeed in the modern world? Peter Hall reports

Do you recall the story of Rip Van Winkle? Lovable but lazy bloke falls into dubious company, gets drunk and sleeps for several years. Returns to find the world much changed, his friends long gone. Resumes a life of idleness and eventually dies of old age.

MG TF We can only hope that the fate of Britain's most popular sports car is more inspirational. Thirteen years have passed since the car you see here made its debut as the MGF, the first genuinely new model from the venerable MG marque since the demise of the MGB GT in 1980, although it was another seven years before the MGF was transformed into a sports car worthy of the brand's sporting heritage. Sadly the revised TF lived only three years before the collapse of MG Rover, the rump of a once-great industry abused by British governments, trade unions and management, picked up and discarded by BMW and preyed upon by vulture capitalists before the bones were thrown to the Nanjing Automobile Company (NAC) and the Shanghai Automobile Industry Corporation (SAIC).

Now, after a hiatus of three years, the MGTF is back in production. But the world has changed a great deal in that time. What hope can there be for what is basically a 13-year old car (albeit revised) from an 84-year old marque that once epitomised a British tradition and is now owned by the Chinese?

As a nation we might now be more cynical than complacent, but let's not rush to judgement before we've covered a few miles on what the revitalized MG concern describes hopefully as "a new journey".

First, the corporate status of the marque needs some explanation. MG and MG Rover's Longbridge factory were originally acquired by NAC, which among its other activities can claim to be China's oldest car maker. In a recent deal brokered by the Chinese government (signed off on April 8), NAC's automotive sector (including Longbridge) was acquired by SAIC, China's biggest vehicle manufacturer and the owner of Rover (or Roewe as it is called there); in addition SAIC owns a 51 per cent stake in SsangYong and is involved in joint ventures with General Motors and Volkswagen. It has worked with Shoreham-based Ricardo to develop new cars, and established the Shanghai Motor Technical Centre (SMTC UK) at Leamington Spa (plus a design studio at Coventry) to provide engineering and design skills for both MG and Roewe; the "new" MGTF was re-engineered here and chief designer Tony Williams (who previously worked under Peter Stevens) and his colleagues are now working on a range of forthcoming MG and Roewe models, pending their move later this year to a new facility at Longbridge, which will also be the headquarters for R&D, marketing, sales, distribution and training. A UK network of enthusiastic independent dealerships is being established, with almost 50 already signed up and more to come.

No fewer than four new SMTC UK-designed MGs are expected within the next five years. An upper-medium- (Mondeo) sized car based on the existing Roewe 550 platform will roll off the old Rover 75 line at Longbridge in 2010, followed by a mid- (Focus) sized model, a supermini and an all-new replacement for the TF.

MG is SAIC's flagship brand for Europe and all the above will be assembled in the West Midlands in order to satisfy European quality expectations, although they will also be manufactured in China (where the bodyshells are made) and go on sale first in that fast-expanding, right-hand-drive market; for the next five years at least there are no plans to import finished cars from China to the West. After the UK, MG has its sights set on Germany, France, Italy and Spain; it has US ambitions only for the first of the brand-new models.

Will all this come to pass? Notwithstanding NAC's £50 million investment at Longbridge, the development of a mass-market car usually costs something like £5 billion, against which SAIC's UK investment of tens of millions on a project-by-project basis seems minuscule. SAIC's investment in China is much greater, of course, and the British operation can probably survive and prosper for as long as its design and engineering skills are still seen as crucial by the Anglophiliac Chinese. Even when amalgamated at Longbridge, the MG workforce will number a few hundreds rather than thousands - small comfort to the 6,000 MG Rover workers who lost their jobs three years ago and remain understandably bitter about their fate, but surely better than nothing.

Much depends on satisfying the customer. MG retains an enviable heritage and reputation among its devotees worldwide, but it's important that the new cars live up to expectations. With the revitalized TF, the omens are generally good. The first 500 are being sold in LE500 limited-edition form, equipped as standard with what were previously optional extras - leather upholstery, piano-black trim, sports seats, detachable hardtop, MP3 audio, air-conditioning, parking sensors and so on, plus a numbered plaque and certificate - but all TFs feature a number of significant revisions.

NEW PRODUCTS AND SERVICES

American MGB Association Grille Badge

Finally, an American MGB Association grille badge, 3 color with chrome background, with mounting brackets. $35 plus $5 S&H.


American MGB Association Key Ring with Logo

AMGBA key ring with logo. $5 includes shipping


Technical Sections Volume 3

A complete copy of all the Technical Sections, topics, questions and answers published in the OCTAGON from 1997 to 2007. Available on CD-ROM only for PC or Mac. It is indexed by category such as electrical, suspension, etc. for easy reference and accessibility and contains over 300 pages.

Available from the AMGBA by ordering on the website at http://orders.amgba.com or on the order form contained in each issue of the Octagon.

$20 plus $5 S&H. It can be purchased as part of a 3 volume combo that contains Tech Sections Volume I, II & III for $70 plus $10 S&H.

Technical Sections Volume I and Technical Sections Volume II are also available from the AMGBA. See the Club Regalia/Store area of Each volume is indexed by subject for easy reference and each contains over 300 pages and over 600 articles, topics, questions and answers.


Octagon Issues on CD

You can have the last 10 years of the Octagon easily accessible on your computer. Indexed by issue. These publications, which are no longer in print contain numerous and diverse articles and photos. Enjoy all the entertaining and informative stories that you can no longer get anywhere else and at a reasonable price.

Available from the AMGBA by ordering on the website http://orders.amgba.com or by using the order form contained in each issue of the Octagon. $15 plus $5 S& H.

 


[Copyright/Credits] [Home] [Information] [Feedback]

This site is hosted by Information Providers Limited, Tel: +44 (0) 1689 860000, Fax: +44 (0) 1689 860330 Email: webmaster@ipl.co.uk

Members Only
Services:
Members Login
On-Line Octagons
On-Line eOctagons
Local Chapters
Parts Exchange
Technical Staff
Technical Services

Renew
Member Updates
Submit Classifed

Message Board
Club Blog
Photo Gallery

member
recommended:
Repair Shops
Body Shops
Parts Suppliers

 

 

 


Home  Officers  Events  Articles  Tech Tips  Membership Benefits  Ads / Links  Join / Renew - APPLICATION  Membership Items  Email  Classifieds   Car Photos   News / Editor  Regalia / Club Store  Message Board / Blog  Ad Rates  SECURED - Joining / Ordering  Members Only
 

AMGBA Privacy Policy | AMGBA Website Terms of Use

© 1997-2008 All Rights Reserved - American MGB Association.