Gerard Somers (memyself-eye)
MG Addict Contributing Writer

By the early 1970?s the MGB had been in production for ten years, with production peaking in 1972 at 39,396 cars: of which, roadsters comprised 26,222: GT?s 13,171: and V8?s just 3.

Midget production in that year, at 16,243 was only bettered in 1976 when 16,879 were made.

1972 then, became the high watermark of sports car production at Abingdon on Thames in Oxfordshire - the small car plant set in the middle of the English Countryside - with the previous record of 51,278 (established only two years earlier) being beaten by more than four thousand cars-a creditable 8% increase.

However, in the 1970?s not all was well in MG?s parent company British Leyland, or indeed with British industry generally, with labour relations across large swathes of England in an appalling state. Wildcat strikes in shipping, steel and coal production and (not least) the car industry, caused widespread disruption at a time when the economy was in turmoil, inflation was rampant and our European neighbours gleefully dubbed Britain ?The sick man of Europe?

Abingdon, had by and large, been free from the strike prone antics of the larger British Leyland factories at Longbridge (Birmingham) and Cowley (Oxford).

Abingdon?s cars still had the ability to distance themselves from the parent company?s offerings- people still bought ?MG?s, not ?Leyland sports cars?- even a corporate instruction to the Factory?s switchboard to greet callers with

?Good morning, British Leyland Abingdon?
instead of the usual:
?Hello, MG cars?
did not materially damage the goodwill built up over half a century.

However, impending US emissions legislation and increasing competition from smaller and faster saloon cars was starting to impact on the (by then) outdated ?B?s and Midgets.

Several facelifts in the 1970?s, culminating in the rubber bumper cars introduced in 1975 (nicknamed Mae West?s) could not hide the need for a replacement.

British Leyland did have an answer, but it did not carry the sacred octagon badge.

Triumph cars and MG -both owned by BL - were competing against each other in the world mass market sports car market and BL managers, (staffed mainly by men with a background in Triumph cars) chose a Triumph design, the TR7, which was released firstly onto the American market in January 1975.

To ensure its? success, the MGBGT ? a direct competitor to the hard top TR7 -was immediately withdrawn from sale in the USA!

By 1977, contrary to expectations, MGB roadsters were still outselling the TR7 despite the sticker price of the TR7 being substantially reduced and that of the ?B? increased. Indeed Triumph sales were falling, those of the B, rising.

In fact, at this time, MG outsold ALL other British Leyland marques (Triumph, Jaguar, and Austin) combined!

The guns were out for Abingdon however, as BL desperately tried to improve sales of the TR7. Dealers in the US who ordered 20 B?s would get ten, plus ten TR7?s that they didn?t want, but had to sell.

Non the less Sales of the MGB stubbornly refused to die.

To add insult to injury, the TR7 was built at a newly built ?70million factory in Liverpool (a city with no motor making history) and its? poor quality became legendary with production eventually moved to Coventry.

Abingdon meanwhile, had not received any substantial investment for decades, with the cars still being wheeled round the factory on dollies- small-wheeled carts pushed around by hand.
The car components arrived from other factories in the BL empire in a seemingly random manner that seems incredulous today.

The roadster body for example, was stamped out at Pressed Steel Fisher in Swindon then taken to Morris bodies in Coventry for welding up and painting and finally delivered, by road to Abingdon, for final assembly.

The GT on the other hand was painted at Cowley before delivery to Abingdon.

The main mechanical and suspension components came from the Birmingham factories of Longbridge and Ward End (where my father worked). All the other components were sourced from suppliers based in the English Midlands.

The inevitable conclusion from all this to-ing and fro-ing was that a more rational and cost effective manufacturing process had to be possible. Abingdon being the smallest (and least politically damaging) candidate, was an obvious target.

In 1979 A new conservative government together with British Leyland?s increasing financial plight, and a soaring Pound/Dollar exchange rate provided that rationale, with unsold cars piled up abroad and MG production halving to 380 cars per week.

The end came on Monday September 10th 1979 - one week after the 50th anniversary of MG - the closure of Abingdon was announced.

A huge outcry in England and across the world failed to dent the economic reality of the situation and the last Midget went down the line on December 7th of that year, destined for - of all places - Japan!

A year later the last Roadster and GT came off the line and by 24 October 1980 the workers collected their final pay packet.

Abingdon closed and the contents auctioned. I visited the site soon after it closed and took a couple of pictures while the MG signs were still on the gates- they are framed in my lounge. The site was sold in 1981(for ?5million), to make way for an industrial park. Now, very little of the original remains.

The last two MGB?s are now on permanent display at the British Motor Heritage Museum at Gaydon, Warwickshire.