Moss Motors, Ltd

Interesting thing happened to me a couple of weeks ago. It was a nice day, and I had to go to the mall. A young guy with  French accent approached as I was getting out of the car. "Very cool  car." he said. I realized he had a Microphone and was accompanied by a Cameraman. Asking if I had time to answer a few questions,he proceeded to flim a survey with me regarding my feelings about the possibilty of Chinese Automakers selling cars in the U.S. . He seemed very surprised that I mentioned what I had read regarding Mg's  maybe being built in Oklahoma and asked if I worked in the Automobile industry. We concluded the interview and I went into the Mall to run my errand. When I returned to the lot to get the car, he was still speaking to people. As I drove out of the lot,he motioned to the Cameraman to get a shot of My car driving off. It's fun owning a " Cool Car".

who said the worlds a boring place.  although i still dont think i'd buy a chinese mg.  hell i wouldnt of even bought the new english mg's.

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1971 spitfire mkIV
1987 porsche 944

I went to my local California DMV today to register my 62 A and the gal says "what's an MG" so if the Chinese have real plans to sell a lot of cars, better plan on educating the general public, 'cause generation X for the most part ain't got a clue!

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Nothing like a good British car and a great Irish (Guiness) beer, unless it's a good German car and a great German beer!

I would love to own a New TF.

Would I buy a Chinese MG? No, I don't think so. I like English cars, not English designed cars made elsewhere. Would I buy A TF made in England out of Chinese parts? I don't think I would do that either. Not Oklahoma either for that matter.

The thought has crossed my mind that the new "T"'s will be 15 years old soon and importable into Canada but having just imported one car that's not something I would look forward to doing again so I guess a New T isn't for me....Pity!

 

Cheers,

Rich

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Life is too short to go slow-Safety Fast!

Hi Spooky,

 I agree. As a college student, I've run into about 5 people who know what a Triumph is. One guy asked me what make my car was, to which I replied "Triumph." He politely tried to tell me that Triumph was a model, and it must be made by Ford or Chevy.

kids these days...
 

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1964 Triumph TR4
2006 Micargi Pantera (beach cruiser bike!)

Went by O'Reilly parts today to look for a low volume electric fuel pump to replace the mechanical pump in my '62 Sprite. Young guy behind the counter asked "make?"..."Austin" I replied (knowing they drop the "Healey" in the catalog)..."who makes it" was his answer.

The older guy farther down the counter laughed..."check under MG" he chimed in.

Gray Power!

Ray

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Ray McCaleb
ray@raysmg.com
www.raysmg.com
'60 TR3A (driver)
'60 Bugeye (vintage race car)
'73 Midget (show)
'62 Sprite (future project)

I think I ran into this kid's brother. I was in a record shop looking for a CD.  He said " Here is what you are looking for,but I don't know why they call it The White Album."

Speaking of the Beatle's White Album, I'm old enough to have had that baby on eight track. It was a two tape boxed set and guess what... It was black...

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Motorbill
From Lola to Land Rover, If it's British and has wheels, it's likely I've bloodied me knuckles thereupon

I couldn't afford the White Album when it came out.

It was $9.00 and that was a lot of money for a teenager!

 

Rich

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Life is too short to go slow-Safety Fast!

I agree that I wouldn't be buying a Chinese MG. Why, well a couple of reasons that I might extol. First, the reason I own MG's is because it something I've maintained since my early teenage years when I bought MGA's and MGB's for $100 a car and painted them on the tennis court in my parents back yard, then turned them all to get an earlier or more original model. I like the look of a MGT or A or early pull handle B. I like the basicness of it, no power windows, heated seats, electric convertible tops etc. So it comes down to a history with the car. Second reason I own them, is the visceral "hands on" part of ownership. Like the Paul Williams song said "it's carburettors man, that's what life is all about" which for me is true. I don't want black boxes, computers and fuel injection, I like carbs, and points and uni-sin's. To paraphrase, I don't need no stinkin' diagnostic computers, LOL! If I made any change from stock at all it would be for a supercharger. Lastly, its all about the smells, the sounds, the feelings the car exudes and quite frankly I don't think I could get that from a Chinese Hyundai!

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Nothing like a good British car and a great Irish (Guiness) beer, unless it's a good German car and a great German beer!

I've owned a "few" cars over the years and no matter what I was driving at the time I always compared it to my first LBC. It was a 69 GT,(god I loved that car) and even though I've had a Corvette, a Mercedes, and countless American models(from suv's to muscle cars) I always find my way back to my beloved MG's.There is something very honest and basic about it.You never feel as if you are operating the car but really driving it. So having said that would I drive a Chinese car? I don't think so, but never say never. Would that car ever replace my B...NEVER!! That I know for sure.

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Alive to drive British

It's a sad state of affairs, but I don't think it really matters any more which country claims to have manufactured any car.  They are all just computerized assembly lines for parts made just about everywhere.  My '02 Chevy truck has all kinds of parts made in China, Taiwan, Mexico, etc.

The Chinese/ Oklahoma MG thing is nothing more than a business arrangement to make a product that they hope will sell.  The cars may be really cool, who knows?  Or they may look like Hyundais.  Those new Mini-Coopers are pretty cool, but those new S-Type Jags look an awful lot like Tauruses from the rear.  If you like new cars, buy them.  If you like true, authentic British sports cars, I'm afraid you're going to be stuck with something around 30 years old.  Whats more, if you buy your British parts from British Victoria, be careful, they may be made in China.

Not many people are aware of this, but the Chinese government has made it a national goal to "take over" the automotive industry within 20 years.  However, this is not in a way that most people expect.

The Chinese government has fundamentally opposed trying to compete with the US, Germany, Japan, and Korea in manufacturing complete automobiles.  Instead they want to dominate entirely the manufacturing of components used in all of these countries' vehicles.  The hope is that Chinese suppliers will essentially put Delphi, Bosch and all the other OEM suppliers out of business.

One might have two reactions to this: a) more competition will make the current suppliers produce better components for more reasonable prices...or b)the current suppliers will fail against lower-price competition, after which the Chinese sources will produce higher-priced, lower quality OEM parts than currently offered.

Keep in mind, by the way, that most Americans who were surveyed throughout the late 1960s and 1970s said they would not buy a Japanese car.  Obviously, that changed in the 1980s with the Honda Accord.  Similarly, Korean auto manufacturers polled poorly throughout the 1980s and 1990s, but Hyundai/Kia have moved perception very quickly.

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Sam Barer
Automotive Journalist,
"Sound Classics" Collector Car Column
&
"Four Wheel Drift" Automotive Blog
'60 TR3,'86 Ferrari 328 GTS,'91 Miata,'02 Corvette Conv.

The Japanese in the early 60's decided if they undersold the American television set manufacturers that within ten years they would essentially have put them all out of business and then they would have the whole market to themselves, well we all know how that all turned out! So what Sam says makes alot of sense to me. At present the Chinese have a practice of patent infringement and scoff at the world court when called on the carpet for copying patents so closely that they are near perfect replicas without paying royalties. In 2006 they bought several hundred Ford Crown Vics and Boeing 767's and according to government observers that within ten years they will be making passenger jets and Ford knock off cars so cheap that both manufacurers will be put out of business. All a bystander can hope for is that at China's present level of GNP coupled with the immense water and air pollution they have created by getting there, even if they win all the world markets they make their own country uninhabitable to the point of collapse. That would right the status quo.

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Nothing like a good British car and a great Irish (Guiness) beer, unless it's a good German car and a great German beer!

The thing that made the Japanese so able to compete with the US manufacturers in the 60's/ 70's, was their comparatively cheap labor force, and their uncanny ability to flagrantly copy all things American, to the point where there copies started becoming better than the originals.  Nowadays it costs about as much to get things built in Japan as it does in the US.  Those cheap labor days are gone.  They did force the Americans to make better products, however -now the quality comparison is not that significant.  The thing now with China is that they still have the cheap labor, and probably will have for some time.  There is a huge gap in China between the "haves" & the "have nots" -& I'm sure the Corporate powers that be intend to keep it that way.  China has also developed this ability to copy.  They have no regard whatsoever for copyright infringement laws.  I deal some with guitars -and right now China is flagrantly making copies of Martin, Gibson & Fender guitars, and making them damn good, for very reasonable prices.  I just got called to dinner, & I guess that's more important than whatever it is I'm trying to say here.

 

Tim