The MG Club of St. Louis October 2010 Newsletter Volume 23, Issue 10 www.stlouismgclub.com For Members in Good Standing With The MG Club Of St. Louis Lead Story Headline Newsletter Highlights HERE’S A BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE NEWS IN THIS ISSUE. WHAT’S INSIDE MORE DETAILS ON THESE TOPICS BEGIN ON PAGE 2. Roewe cashes in on MG 2 British Leyland, the next generation? Page 2 Rover's British heritage Expensive Wreck You should know better then to count on the brake 4 lights on the car in front of you, especially when leav- St. Louis All British Car 5 ing a historic car event! Page 4 Show 2010 Interviews and a great general article from Kathy Kresser covering the St. Louis All British Car Show For Sale 12 starts on page 5 The Route 66 Cruise In/ 13 Get out and see the fall colors. Page 13 Cruise Out and Fall Color Tour Cars and Coffee 14 Rally to Reno 15 Meeting Minutes 16 Volume 23, Issue 10 The St. Louis Metro Gazette Roewe cashes in on MG Rover's British heritage Five years ago, the last car stuttered off the production line at Longbridge as MG Rover, Brit- ain’s last major car manufacturer, collapsed ignominiously. By Malcolm Moore in Shanghai Published: 2:04PM BST 25 Aug 2010, Telegraph.co.uk. Today, however, sales of Rover’s twin brother, the Roewe, are soaring in China. And the white gates of Longbridge are open again, producing a new MG6 that will go on sale at the end of the year in the UK in the showrooms of as many as 40 dealers. On the streets of Shanghai, Roewe 550s, designed in the UK by the team at Longbridge, are becom- ing a common sight. In the first half of 2010, more than 47,000 of the cars were sold, at between £12,600 to £18,900, as sales grew by nearly 70pc. Across Roewe’s three models, almost 62,000 have been sold in the first six months. “It is an impressive performance,” said Jin Yongsheng, an analyst at Sinotrust Information and Con- sulting. “It is quite rare for a car like Roewe, at this price level, to achieve sales of over 10,000 a month,” he added. Shanghai Automotive (SAIC), which bought the designs for the Rover 25 and 75 before the company went bust, went on to invest £4.7m in a British design team at Longbridge because it never bought the Rover marque. “The cars are successful in China because they have marketed them well, built a good brand and mixed up the technology,” said Mr Jin. “For example, the Roewe 750 is the old Rover 75, the 550 and 350 were part developed by the new team, and the upcoming W5 sports-utility vehicle is based on the Korean Ssangyong, which itself used Mercedes technology.” He said Chinese consumers saw the marque as British, but were also excited by the new life that SAIC had breathed into it. “All the British badge means is that the car has a pedigree, a long history and a certain nobility. But that is it. SAIC has now focused on fashion and technology and the British designers have understood the Chinese market.” In addition, Roewe is seen as a premium brand. “They started with the most expensive car, the 750, before releasing a mid-priced and low-end car,” said Mr Jin. “Other Chinese car companies still give the impression that they are low-end, even if they are now making expensive cars, because they started at the low end of the market.” The Roewe is not for sale in Europe, but the new MG that will roll out of Longbridge is destined to form the spearhead of SAIC’s push into Europe. The rebirth of the company is no comfort to the 6,300 former Longbridge workers who were laid off when MG Rover went spectacularly bust, having squandered £427m in interest-free loans and run up almost a billion of debts. A government inquiry into the actions of the Phoenix Four, a consortium of businessmen led by John Towers, who took over MG Rover in 2000, found that they had personally benefited by £42m from the business, despite its collapse. However, MG Rover has fared considerably better in the hands of the Chinese government. “SAIC has made a good return on its investment,” said Mr Jin. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Back to Page 1 2 Volume 23, Issue 10 The St. Louis Metro Gazette Roewe (in Chinese: 荣威; in Pinyin: Róngwēi, English pronunciation: /ˈroʊvə/ ROE-və, the British pronuncia- tion of "Rover") is an automobile marque created by the Chinese firm Shanghai Automotive Industry Corpora- tion (SAIC), to use on cars it builds based on the MG Rover technology it has bought.[1] The marque appeared firstly on the company's version of the Rover 75, called Roewe 750. Roewe was publicly launched at the November Motor Show in Beijing in 2006, where the revised 75 was on display. The car is slightly longer than the equivalent MG Rover model, but shares components such as parts of the interior and the engines.[2] Over 30 new models are expected to be launched under the marque between 2006 and 2011, whilst 120,000 Roewe cars are expected to be produced by SAIC in 2007. The use of the Roewe name is due to SAIC's inability to buy the rights to the Rover name from BMW due to Ford Motor Company exercising their option on the name. Underneath, the 550/MG6 is based on a shortened Rover 75 platform, featuring a development of BMW's Z-axle system. It is expected to come on 19-inch alloy wheels with suspension tuned by ex-Rover and MG engineers. Based on the Rover K series engine, power options include a 1.6 litre and 1.8 litre turbocharged petrol and 2.0 litre diesel engines. The 1.8 litre delivers around 150 bhp (112 kW; 152 PS), while the 2.0 litre diesel – comply- ing with Euro IV emissions regulations – provides similar levels of power. A hybrid drivetrain is expected to be offered also, with manual or automatic transmissions for the complete model range. Back to Page 1 3 Volume 23, Issue 10 The St. Louis Metro Gazette EXPENSIVE WRECK courtesy of Rod Barkley #1. Ferrari 250 GTO - $28.5 Million We now present you with the most expensive car crash ever. Touted as the Ferrari that most successfully em- bodies the traits of the marque, the 1962-64 Ferrari 250 GTO became the most valuable car in the world. In 2008 an anonymous English buyer bought a 250 GTO at auction for a record $28,500,000. The crash below represents a car worth more than the combined value of all 14 Enzos involved in accidents. It is simply unbeliev- able that an owner would even dare take this car on the road. After a track event involving historic cars, the owner of this rare beast rammed into the back of another car after traffic slowed down. The eChatter Official Publication of the Emerald Necklace M.G. Register, Inc Volume 30 Issue 8 WWW.MGCLEVELAND.COM AUGUST 2010 Back to Page 1 4 Volume 23, Issue 10 The St. Louis Metro Gazette St. Louis All British Car Show 2010 By Kathy Kresser Proofread by Anice Etz Let’s hear it for another smashing success for the St. Louis All British Car Show! The British classics rolled in and in and in. Over 150 cars were on the display field. I had the time to chat with a few folks. The following is what they shared with me. John Horen 1969 Jaguar MKIX Jaguar was the featured marque for the show and they arrived in force. I asked John why he loved his MKIX and he re- sponded, “I have so much invested I have no choice but to love it. Seriously, it is a great car and I have shown it for twenty years from Missouri to Colorado, Chicago, Milwaukee, and Louisville. The car has taken first place at the National JCNA.” Gary Sudin 1966 Jaguar E Type Gary told me he bought this classic in 1973 for $1,000. I think at that price he should have bought several. Gary noted the car needed improvements as the floor boards were totally gone. It took fifteen years to restore. Next year is the 50th anni- versary and this car is featured in the JCNA calendar. Gary Schlueter 1997 Jaguar VDP Gary commented this is his sixth straight year to attend the St. Louis show. He said “I really enjoy this event!” In prepara- tion for show day, Gary mimicked Betty Crocker and whipped up a batch of chocolate chip cookies – they were good. Eve- ryone is invited to the Jaguar Palooza on the streets of Clayton on October 9th. Ron Varley 1956 Austin Healey 100M with 100S upgrades I did not find Ron on the field at any time during the day, but many envied this stunning car. The car recently rolled from the restoration bay to Ron’s garage. Considering the car has no weather gear -- no tonneau, no wipers, no side curtains -- I was impressed that he gambled on the cloudy morning to share his car with the crowd. Thanks, Ron! Back to Page 1 5 Volume 23, Issue 10 The St. Louis Metro Gazette Bob Bridges 1951 Riley Drop Head Coupe Well, Bob may like to own this car, but he doesn’t. He brought it to the show for his friend, Paul Storment.