Ray Gibbons disputes:
> On Tue, 27 Jun 1995, Denise Thorpe wrote:
>
> > Sometime in '79 or '80, Donald Healy spoke at a brunch for the San Diego MG
> > Club and the Triumph Sports Car Club of San Diego.
>
> He said that:
> >
> > Cecil Kimber, the father of MG, was an octagon freak (probably not his exact
> > words). Everything he owned that could possibly be octagon shaped was;
>tables,
> > plates, clocks, what-have-you. When he died, his only daughter inherited
> > everthing. It turned out that he was a packrat and a doodler and had kept
> > every piece of paper on which he'd ever scribbled. Included in his estate
> > were endless sheets of paper with octagons drawn on them with every possible
> > combination of letters drawn in the octagons. "M" and "G" don't stand for
> > anything, they were just the only letters that fit well inside an octagon.
>
> There was, in fact, a Morris Garages, a subsidiary of Morris managed by
> Cecil Kimber, before there was an MG car. When they began to tart up
> Morrises, I understand the first ones had both the Morris name and MG on
> the cars. Since these were prepared by and sold by Morris Garages, it
> makes sense that that is what MG would stand for. But the thing that
> really makes this seem like a bit of leg pulling is that other letters
> besides MG fit perfectly well within an octagon.
This is an accurate paraphrase of what Donald Healey (forgive me, oh spelling
god, for "Healey" is not in my dictionary and lo I am surrounded by unbelievers
in the righteousness of British cars) said. If anyone is pulling legs, it is
Donald Healey, not me. The following paragraph where I blather on about Morris
loo is my justification for believing what Donald Healey said. Other people
are certainly entitled to their opinions.
>
> > the company Morris *Garage* in honor of Sir William Morris. Why not Morris
>Loo (ML)? He probably had one of those, too. And why the *initials* of
>Morris
>
> Morris Garages was there first--it was a dealership.
>
> > Denise "I know everything and I'm never wrong" Thorpe
>
> Everything? How about how to spell Donald Healey's name. OK, cheap shot.
That wasn't the cheap shot I expected. I thought some one would ask, "If
you know everything, why were you asking about aftermarket radiator fans?
Hmm?" Maybe other people don't keep track of my ramblings like I think they
should.
> What does Rolls Royce call their mascot (no fair looking at references)?
What mascot?
Just in case I didn't argue my case very well, I'll recap. Here are the two
possible sequences of events:
1. The octagon came first, then the letters "M" and "G" that in Cecil Kimber's
and/or Donald Healey's mind(s) fit best in an octagon. The MG Car Company
became a success and dignity required that "MG" stand for something. Morris
Garage was the most closely related entity that had the initials "MG."
2. Wanting to honor Sir William Morris, the powers that were named a car
company after a business owned by someone other than Sir William Morris.
Flying in the face of a British tradition where car companies are named after
a person (e.g., Daimler, Wolesley, Morgan, Fairthorpe (my favorite), Austin/
Jensen Healey, Rolls-Royce, Humber, Hillman, etc. (forget Lotus and TVR)) they
chose to name a car company after a car dealership. This is like naming a
petroleum company after a gas station. And then, to make sure everyone KNEW
that Sir William Morris was being honored, they only used the initials of the
car dealership and then never spelled it em period gee period. Then, to make
it pretty, they put the initials in an octagon. All officially sanctioned
MG books (and videos) have since told this wonderful story of innovation in
the art of naming car companies.
Again, you're entitled to your opinion, but I think option 1 more closely
resembles human nature and option 2 smells like a coverup.
Denise "mostly perfect" Thorpe
thorpe@kegs.saic.com
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