ANCIENT AND MODERN
Eyebrows were undoubtedly raised in some circles when the MGF was replaced by the TF in 2002. A very different car with the same name launched almost 50 years earlier had long been established as an iconic British classic. Whether Rover was playing the nostalgia card or just being provocative is uncertain. One theory is that they just didn’t want a model forever referred to as the Emm Gee-Gee! We may never know the truth, because the company was at death’s door when the TF appeared, and production came to an abrupt end when the Phoenix Consortium collapsed in April 2005.
Now, 15 years on and after the MG rebirth in Chinese hands, the mid-engined F and TF are already generally accepted as classics, proving that cars don’t have to be old to qualify. However, the story of the original TF goes all the way back to 1935, when Cecil Kimber, founder of the MG Car Company then based in Abingdon, Berkshire (later border changes put the town in Oxfordshire), found himself in a somewhat embarrassing position. Having been the master of all he surveyed, he was now effectively a subordinate of new MD, Leonard Lord, thanks to the sudden reorganisation of the struggling Nuffield empire.
As boss of a business famed for its sportiness, Lord did have one apparent shortcoming in that he professed not to like sports cars... Luckily, Kimber still had enough influence to persuade him not to stop production of Midgets and Magnettes, as was the first plan, but Lord did immediately close down the racing department. Never mind that it was half way through the season, it would happen. Now! This set the tone for Lord’s ruthless management style, which might not have won him friends but did turn an unprofitable company into a successful one.
The T-series Midgets introduced in 1936 played a major part in the transformation. MG’s racing and record-breaking exploits had established the marque as a technical innovator, but resulted in unnecessarily complicated road cars. Under orders of the new high command, future MGs would be rationalised, sharing most mechanical parts with the Morris and Wolseley
