Party time for a brand born 100 years ago this year (or maybe not) has brought out some grand oldies …. but isn’t at expense of new-era, new owner fare.

ALLOWING at least 18 months to celebrate a special year and acknowledging the car famously known as ‘old No.1’ wasn’t in fact the first.

These are among accepted quirks good-humouredly associated with current centenary celebration of MG.

 But one matter is taken seriously. Namely, that this commemoration is not just about saluting the past. The present gets a genuine look-in, too. Many of those bringing yester-year fare out for the party also have modern-era MGs, from the new ownership, as daily drivers and increasingly new club members are joining on strength of having a new-era car.

So that a just-ended North Island rally to champion the old English marque’s 100th year of existence mainly involved vehicles from the period before the octagonal badge was bought, and revived, by Chinese concerns, shouldn’t be interpreted as a signal of Sinophobia.

MG is informally known as the ‘Marque of Friendship’ and inclusivity is encouraged, a club scene high-up has assured.

“We’re a club for all MGs. We’ve got a lot of existing members who have bought MG3s, MG ZS and now MG4s as their normal day-to-day car,” Dr Andrew Walbran of Auckland explains. 

“We are also welcoming as members people for whom their first MG is a new one.”

By and large, there’s acceptance that MGs from the time of a revival revolution - which kicked in first with Nanjing Automobile then became part of its current owner, Shanghai Automotive (SAIC) - are as worthy as those built when MG located in the English midlands. 

By going to ZS and MG4, they’re of course also taking a leap into a future Englishman Cecil Kimber likely never imagined probable when he founded the marque.

A world in which fossil fuels go the way of the dinosaur, in favour of electric.

Given that he is an engineer who used to work for MG in the last days at original home Longbridge, it’s no surprise that Walbran is a self-avowed MG tragic. 

“I'm a life-long MG man, and - with my wife - have a small collection of MGs from every decade since the 1950s except the 2010s, most are modified in one way or another in the quest for more speed.”

He’s also fascinated by electrics as the future of motoring; back when he was with the make, that was just a dream, but one whose potential was being discussed. He’s so pleased MG made it there and looks set to run confidently into the new age.

As president of the Auckland MG Car Club, the largest of four regional groups knowns as ‘centres’ - the others being in Wellington, Christchurch and Otago - that together comprise the National MG Club, Walbran has been deeply involved in the centenary party planning.

When the rally visited Taupo’s international motorsport park the other day for a thrash, he enjoyed stretching the legs of the 1974 MG Midget he regularly races on the truncated club layout.

At same token, though, there was disappointment from learning the venue has a no-electrics rule in respect to speed sessions.

Accordingly, while his 50-year-old race car set fastest lap time, an even more potent choice by far sat silently in the pits.

Walbran was one of the the first here to buy an MG4 Power, the  make’s recently released battery-fed rocket ship. 

“I was quite keen to line the two up and see which was quicker around the track. Unfortunately we weren’t allowed.”

The newbie is seriously muscled - 324kW (yes, that’s 435bhp in ‘old talk’) and 600Nm of torque, 0-100kmh in 3.8 seconds alone would give it good chance of blasting the past. Plus it’s all-wheel-drive. But it also runs road tyres and the brakes and suspension are only modestly beefed up over the standard rear-drive types, so …

Walbran reckons his Midget could have been a Goliath: “ … it would beat the XPower around the track pretty comfortably I reckon, it's 264bhp (196kW) and 770 kg - XPower is definitely faster off the line but the Midget beats it everywhere else.

“But we won't be able to find out for a while yet.”

What fuelled frustration of not being able to hoof around the track named in honour of Bruce McLaren (who started his racing with a ‘close but no cigar’ brand, Austin) was that an XPower was used as a safety car at another track honouring another great, if also seemingly an MG agnostic, Chris Amon, that usually applies the same no-EV rule.

That happened at last November’s MG Classic, run annually at Manawatu’s Manfeild by the Wellington club and often the country’s largest gathering of old racing fare.

That occasion was special; the car itself had only just launched so it was a first-time look for those who had attended.

On top of that, the organising club was also touting the 2023 race weekend as … a celebration the brand’s 100th year.

Did Wellington jump the gun? Outwardly, it would seem the case, given that MG’s national distributor also very steadfastly sticks to the comnpany line about 2024 being the 100th year. (So will this year’s Manfeild meeting also be a 100th celebration?)

In reality, no-one is in the wrong, Walbran explains.

The 2023 or 2024 saga reflects debate within fan circles about when a make that originally built off Morris product - hence why its Morris Garages - truly became its own entity. That argument also proposes 2025 as another option.

“It's quite a source of debate,” says Walbran, who goes on to explain that the two big questions within the movement are: When exactly was the MG made at Longbridge? And, when was the first produced?

“The most common date, and the date that's been taken by the factory since the 1970s has been 1924 when the 1428 (a tourer) was produced, which was really the first MG that was a car of their own and not just something they bodied from Morris. 

“But some people take 1923 because that's when they started doing special bodies.” 

The pitch for 2025? “That's when old No.1 was out, even though that wasn't the first MG.”

Old No.1? It’s the Holy Grail car, still in existence, kept at the British Motor Museum at another famous Austin-Rover-MG production site, Gaydon. 

History relates it didn’t get that name from being the first MG car. A saloon based on the Bullnose Morris chassis had been advertised under the famous initials early in 1924 and several more 'MG sports Morris' cars followed before the year was out.  However, the Old No.1, an open two-seater, holds special place in history as being the first MG built to race. 

MG’s official history relates that “Old No.1 was first seen at the 1925 Lands End Trial (a high-profile event which it famously won). Cecil Kimber had the car specially built to compete in the trial and this was indeed based on a bullnose Morris Cowley chassis.”

But anyway. Back to the whole ‘which year is right’ thing. Basically, the MG Car Club in the United Kingdom, which is the umbrella club for the whole world, decided not to ruffle feathers, so determined to be flexible.

“They started what was a year of centenary celebrations in June last year,” says Walbran cheerily. “So it’s been carrying on from then through all of this year.”

The big events to date have been a major display in Auckland then the MG100 New Zealand National Rally, an eight day run of the upper North Island in a fleet of almost 100 MGs from across the ages, the oldest being a 1931 M-Type.

The event was recognised as one of the world’s first MG centennial celebrations and was made all the more memorable thanks to participants coming from all around the country as well as overseas, including Australia, the United States, Canada, England and Scotland.

“It was an incredible experience getting so many people together who share our love of this famous brand and helped celebrate this momentous occasion,” says Walbran.

“Our international guests all had cars to borrow from local club members for the duration of the event, for free, which is something Auckland members have experienced ourselves when we've been to overseas MG car club activities.

Participants drove close to 1000km between Auckland, Taupo and Napier, while in excess of 5000 spectators witnessed different displays at various locations.

Lapping Taupo circuit was a highlight for many as “it’s something they wouldn’t usually have the opportunity to do.  

“The motorsport element also tied in nicely with Denny Hulme’s MG TF as part of the MG100.”

MG NZ country manager Arek Zywot was full of praise for all participants and their vehicles.

“I am proud that MG NZ played a key role in one of the world’s first MG centennial celebrations, the level of interest and engagement demonstrates the passion behind the famous badge,” said Zywot.

“It’s important to recognise and celebrate our heritage, equally so it’s exciting to focus our attention on upcoming new models as we start on our next 100 years.

“Believe me, MG is a marque on the move and there are some impressive and groundbreaking new products waiting to be unveiled.”

The next MG celebrations are in Auckland and Wellington, both on February 11.

The Auckland event is tied to the Ellerslie Intermarque Concours.

“We'll have a special display in the centre circle with around 30 cars representing all MG eras from the 1930s-present,” says Walbran.

The Wellington Centre is also doing something similar at the British and European Car Day, at Trentham Memorial Park in Upper Hutt.