> "It's my opinion that an MG Midget with a Sprite logo is not a Sprite, An
> Austin Mini with a Morris logo is not a Morris and a Toyota with an MG logo
> is not an MG. My opinion, mind.
>
> -The Roxter"
>
Hmmm. The Midget/Sprite was an Austin Healey Sprite BEFORE it was a Midget,
so surely that arguement should say that it is not a real MG.
The Mini was launched as an Austin and Morris pretty much simultaneously (as
well as Riley and Wolesely variants, not sure if they were simultaneous or
shortly after). It was designed by a company that combined Austin and
Morris, but lead designer was Alec Issigonis, who came from Morris (having
done the Morris Minor), so if anything it's more of a Morris than an Austin.
MG was founded as a company making sportified versions of workaday Morris
cars, and throughout its history continued to do so; in fact in the 80's the
ONLY MGs were souped-up Austins. The 90's was the only decade in history to
see MG 2-seat sports cars (RV8 and MGF) that didn't see any MG saloons.
You could have an arguement that a car designed and built in China isn't a
real MG just because the company owns the rights to the name and logo
(plenty would disagree, but it's a position you could justify). There's no
arguement to say that a sportified Morris, Austin, Rover or descendant
thereof is not a real MG.
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