5 posts tagged “longbridge”

This was a nice surprise as I came up the escalator at the (former) BNZ Centre: a near-new Lotus Elise, very rare in these parts. As you can see, Nissan Cefiros (sold as the Maxima here) and Opel Astra Gs (Holden here) are on our streets and are more commonplace.

   And as New Zealand does not salt its roads in the winter, there are some surprising survivors, such as this reminder that Britain once had a great, indigenous motor industry:

   I remember my father had a colleague, Colin MacKintosh, who owned a blue Wolseley 1300. On a trip to Palmerston North I threw up in it. Ah, childhood memories. This ADO16 is a mere 1100. I was six at the time and that was the story about how I got my yellow tracksuit … in another city, needing new clothes that didn’t smell of vomit.
   It was the usual carsickness, but I feel sure that the smell of heated British vinyl had a part to play in triggering it. Despite these cars’ popularity, I don’t think I ever sat in the back of an ADO16 ever since!

I’ve inputted some information into Autocade over the last half-hour about the Rover 75*, a model that saw the end of volume British-owned car manufacturing—and which might mean the beginning of two marques in Red China. Here I chart the history of this tragic car, beset by publicity gaffes from BMW and a British press with its claws out, only for it to begin making good produced in Shanghai and Nanjing. Even in Italy it won an award for the most beautiful car when it launched, but the Brits never warmed to the 75. Summary: fairly timeless look, but I still wouldn’t buy one due to quality concerns.

* It took many times longer to copy and paste this into Vox (hours!) than writing and researching all of the below, due to the site crashing my browser due to a script error constantly!

Rover 75 Mk I

Rover 75. 1998–2004 (prod. 169,250, 1998–2003). 4-door saloon, 4-door LWB saloon, 5-door estate. F/F, 1794 cm³ (4 cyl. DOHC), 1997, 2497 cm³ (V6 DOHC), 1951 cm³ diesel (4 cyl. DOHC). Retro-themed and too-English Rover styled by Richard Woolley, with lavish use of chrome. Soft ride to distinguish it from BMW cars. Very robust, refined car but never appealed to enthusiasts; suffered from BMW’s indecision on and changes to marketing from launch day onwards, as well as British media apathy. Related MG ZT from 2001, after production shifted to Longbridge for all models following BMW sale of Rover. LWB saloon brought back Vanden Plas tag temporarily.

MG ZT Mk I

MG ZT. 2001–4 (prod. 27,149 all models, incl. Mk II). 4-door saloon, 5-door estate. F/F, 1794 cm³ petrol, 1951 cm³ diesel (4 cyl. DOHC), 2497 cm³ (V6 DOHC). Sporting versions of Rover 75, finally with firmer suspension and better handling. Helped keep MG Rover numbers up for a short time, though package began looking more dated toward the end of the run. V8 model introduced 2003, covered separately.


MG ZT 260

MG ZT 260. 2003–5 (prod. 883 incl. Rover 75 V8). 4-door saloon, 5-door estate. F/R 4601 cm³ (V8 SOHC). MG Rover, on a shoestring budget, sourced a new V8 engine from Ford and, in order to get it working, changed the standard 75 platform to rear-wheel drive. Prodrive did the initial work; MG Rover brought it in-house. Hairy, raw car, in line with MG image, and with few visual cues to signify the larger engine other than badging and four exhausts. Facelift one year in, in 2004; automatics introduced toward end of run (bound to be rarest of all), but production came to an end in 2005, with no Chinese equivalent.

Rover 75 Mk II

Rover 75. 2004–5 (prod. unknown). 4-door saloon, 4-door LWB saloon, 5-door estate. F/F, 1794 cm³ (4 cyl. DOHC), 1997, 2497 cm³ (V6 DOHC), 1951 cm³ diesel (4 cyl. DOHC). Essentially carryover technology from Mk I with cosmetic facelift, while Project Drive eliminated certain parts deemed unnecessary to cut costs, which meant less refinement on some models. Never had its full run as MG Rover collapsed and the 75 found its rights sold to SAIC of China. V8 model introduced in 2004, covered separately. LWB model simply called Limousine, rather than Vanden Plas, for these final years.

MG ZT Mk II

MG ZT. 2004–5 (prod. 27,149 all models, incl. Mk I). 4-door saloon, 5-door estate. F/F, 1794 cm³ petrol, 1951 cm³ diesel (4 cyl. DOHC), 2497 cm³ (V6 DOHC). Facelifted ZT with minor changes, but no real mechanical changes—and no real improvement to sales. Production shifted to Nanjing, China after collapse of MG Rover in UK, restarted in 2007.

Rover 75 V8

Rover 75 V8. 2004–5 (prod. 883 incl. MG ZT 260). 4-door saloon, 4-door LWB saloon. F/R, 4601 cm³ (V8 SOHC). Short-lived Ford V8-powered version of 75, with platform re-engineered by Prodrive and Rover to rear-wheel drive. Front grille, supposedly inspired by Rover P5B, controversial at the time, accused of copying Audi, and designer’s name not released by MG Rover. No direct predecessor—last hairy Rover V8 was SD1 Vitesse in 1980s. Good performance but car seemed heavy; interior and insulation kept English club-lounge feel. Fuel economy in the high 10s, low 20s (mpg).

Roewe 750

Roewe 750. 2006 to date (prod. unknown). F/F, 1794 cm³ (4 cyl. DOHC), 2497 cm³ (V6 DOHC). Rebodied Rover 75. SAIC acquired the rights to the model in 2005 and proceeded to make its own version on the long-wheelbase platform. British consultants Ricardo did restyle and update. However, SAIC was forced to create a new marque, Roewe, after Ford bought the Rover brand that they wanted; hence, Roewe logo has the same shape as old Rover Viking longship one. Two noses: small grille for lower-spec; large grille (à la last Rover 75 V8) for higher-spec. Not as well built as old 75 according to early reports, with less safety equipment than western markets expect.

MG 7

MG 7. 2007 to date (prod. 13,000 approx.). 4-door sedan, 4-door LWB sedan. F/F, 1794 cm³ (4 cyl. DOHC), 2497 cm³ (V6 DOHC). Chinese edition of MG ZT, offered with both Mk I and II grilles contemporaneously. Engines upgraded to comply with latest Euro IV legislation, and quality said to be better than those of the cars coming off Longbridge in 2005 thanks to new factory at Nanjing. Improved specification. No estate announced. Played heavily on MG’s heritage when launched.

We should have some confidence in the MG TF under Nanjing—principally because its competition is worried. The closest rival, the Mazda MX-5 Mk III, in pretty much every respect the better car, has spawned a limited edition in the UK to coincide with the relaunch of the TF at Longbridge last week.
   Limited editions and the British go together like Morecambe and Wise, but this quotation in Motortorque was telling:

“Since the demise of the MG TF and Toyota MR2, there is no longer a defined ‘roadster’ segment within the non-premium sports car market,” commented Mazda UK´s Managing Director Rob Lindley.

   Mazda gently reminded people that the previous MG had died and there were dangers about buying the resurrected car. It’s very subtle, but I am sure that the MD’s statement was geared to do that.
   However, it just shows that Mazda is concerned that a relaunched TF will snap sales up, and there’ll be Brits holding off buying an MX-5 because of the developments at Longbridge.
   I think NAC MG has been very kind to Mazda given that it could bring up the war … oops, did I just write that? Whatever you do, don’t mention the war.
   I mentioned it just then, but I think I got away with it.
   ‘You started it. You invaded Manchuria.’
   Speculation in the British media is about the MG TF’s price, which by most accounts needs to be lower than it was when MG Rover collapsed in 2005.
   Meanwhile, Paul Stowe, NAC MG’s own blogger and the company’s quality boss, is rightly upset about the negative tone some in the British media have taken. He points out two alternatives in his blog, in some way reinforcing my own points that NAC didn’t have to reopen Longbridge, and that its boss, Yu Jiang Wei, should be applauded for pushing through its restart last week.

PS.: To those who do not know me, I should point out that no malice is intended toward the people of Japan in this post. Most of my Japanese friends know my sense of humour and how I use World War II as part of my humour.—JY

It’s interesting to get the Communist Party’s official news on the NAC MG Longbridge ceremony in the People’s Daily, which includes claims of NAC’s popularity in Europe (false; it is MG’s) and the highest honour being given to the MG 7 (née MG ZT) at Auto Shanghai, the Shanghai Motor Show (probably true, but so far I have not seen this reported in western media). The criticisms have been removed (e.g. whether 130 was too small a workforce and union demands for an increase, and the age of the MG TF design shown). On the whole, however, I believe the Longbridge ceremony to be good news, so this article doesn’t really rub me too badly.

[Cross-posted] For those concerned about the quality of Chinese MGs, this quotation from the Murdoch Press should be a relief:

The [Longbridge] factory start-up was scheduled for next month, but preproduction models have not met the standard NAC has set. Now the best estimate is for the TF assembly line to be in full operation in the autumn, with the first cars available to customers at the turn of the year.

   What I take from this is: the new MGs will be of better quality than what was coming off the lines at Longbridge before the old MG Rover collapsed. Which is a relief, as according to my regular mechanic who gets his share of English cars, what was being built was rather below par.