Skut Posted July 8, 2019 Share Posted July 8, 2019 https://www.telegraph.co.uk/cars/classic/unique-mg-rover-prototypes-could-scrapped-part-longbridge-sell/ Pretty depressing if it's true but I can well believe that SAIC backed MG motors would scrap them. Their interest in the brands past always seemed entirely perfunctory. Surely destroying these cars is mindless industrial & historical vandalism. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zelandeth Posted July 8, 2019 Share Posted July 8, 2019 Ridiculous...aside from anything else, surely there are a plethora of owners or museums who would pay more than their scrap value to save them. Heck... they're important enough motors that I'd be perfectly willing to put my hand in my pocket and get them somewhere safe until a permanent home could be made. That's not an "oh if only I had space/money..." off the cuff comment either... I'm serious here. I couldn't keep them long term, but I'd go to pretty far lengths to offer them a safe haven until a permanent good home could be found. Utterly depressing news to be honest. If anyone does hear of anything and I can help, let me know. I'm not a million miles from Brum. I don't have driveway space, but there are at least three cars worth of garden which I'd offer if needed. Dick Longbridge, Skut and LightBulbFun 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clayts450 Posted July 8, 2019 Share Posted July 8, 2019 I'm sure Gaydon would take one - all they've got at the minute is a quarter size clay model in a cabinet.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tadhg Tiogar Posted July 8, 2019 Share Posted July 8, 2019 54 minutes ago, Skut said: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/cars/classic/unique-mg-rover-prototypes-could-scrapped-part-longbridge-sell/ Pretty depressing if it's true but I can well believe that SAIC backed MG motors would scrap them. Their interest in the brands past always seemed entirely perfunctory. Surely destroying these cars is mindless industrial & historical vandalism. At the end of the day, the Chinese aren't really interested in anyone's history except their own. sierraman, Dick Longbridge, Scruffy Bodger and 1 other 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
timolloyd Posted July 9, 2019 Share Posted July 9, 2019 Let’s not get in to stereotypes here. Plenty of manufacturers will have binned prototypes, models and mules over the years. And there must be loads of British staff working there who haven’t made any effort themselves to save these. I totally agree this is a crying shame though. There’s an interesting thread on twitter that suggested an early SD1 is among the vehicles going for scrap. martc and Lacquer Peel 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
timolloyd Posted July 9, 2019 Share Posted July 9, 2019 Here: https://twitter.com/keithparkers/status/1146178442305691649?s=21 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete-M Posted July 9, 2019 Share Posted July 9, 2019 The manufacturer will have to pay VAT on the development costs if they don't scrap them. So if they've spent £50m and these things are all that's left to show for it they have few choices: A: sell prototypes and pay £10m VAT B: scrap prototypes and reclaim a few million quid. ? start production of RDX. Jerzy Woking 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LightBulbFun Posted July 9, 2019 Share Posted July 9, 2019 if the manufacture is refusing to do anything sensible about it can they be intercepted at the scrap yard and just offer the scrap yard owner some monies or something? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sierraman Posted July 9, 2019 Share Posted July 9, 2019 You could effectively ‘scrap’ them by issuing a COD but not physically crushing them. Dick Longbridge 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jerzy Woking Posted July 9, 2019 Share Posted July 9, 2019 And HMRC don't care for history either, so if VAT is due, then they will chase down every penny. It won't be written off for the sake of history. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bunglebus Posted July 9, 2019 Share Posted July 9, 2019 What a shit state of affairs. We need a car nut in Westminster LightBulbFun and Banger Kenny 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
martc Posted July 9, 2019 Share Posted July 9, 2019 13 hours ago, timolloyd said: Let’s not get in to stereotypes here. Plenty of manufacturers will have binned prototypes, models and mules over the years. And there must be loads of British staff working there who haven’t made any effort themselves to save these. I totally agree this is a crying shame though. There’s an interesting thread on twitter that suggested an early SD1 is among the vehicles going for scrap. Well said - it's nothing to do with the owners country of origin. There's been plenty of vandalism in the UK by UK citizens - how many posts on here cite 'buy it now or I'll scrap it' ebay posts? Have we forgotten why MG is now owned by SAIC? hint - The Gang of Four who destroyed Rover were not Chinese. LDV, now owned by SAIC, was left to rot by the British Govt. The Governments scrappage scheme. Lightbulbfan certainly mourns the wanton destruction of Invacars by the NHS. And I'm sure there are many more examples. timolloyd, Banger Kenny, Skizzer and 3 others 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flat4alfa Posted July 9, 2019 Share Posted July 9, 2019 12 hours ago, sierraman said: You could effectively ‘scrap’ them by issuing a COD but not physically crushing them. I doubt DVLA know anything about them to be able to apply this. Not so the tax man Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lankytim Posted July 9, 2019 Share Posted July 9, 2019 Who says they're off to be scrapped? surely it's just speculation at this stage. sierraman 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sierraman Posted July 9, 2019 Share Posted July 9, 2019 I’m surprised the Chinese haven’t decided to put it into production like they did with the Maestro and the Ital. That said these days the average Chinese man would be knocking about in a Landwind copy of a Evoque. Banger Kenny 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Bell Posted July 9, 2019 Share Posted July 9, 2019 The Chinese. Great bunch of lads. cort1977, Skut, HillmanImp and 6 others 2 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tooSavvy Posted July 9, 2019 Share Posted July 9, 2019 ...... Just had one! mmmmm *Chicken mushroom curry + eggfry rice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
loserone Posted July 9, 2019 Share Posted July 9, 2019 ^ racial profiling! Sexism! Miss! EDIT: at Jim's post, not Savvy. tooSavvy 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sierraman Posted July 9, 2019 Share Posted July 9, 2019 So I hear your a racist now Ted? stonedagain, cort1977, Wilko220 and 4 others 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zelandeth Posted July 9, 2019 Share Posted July 9, 2019 I realise that dozens of not hundreds of prototype vehicles are scrapped all the time as the models come and go (one of my uncles was in fact employed at a scrap yard a lot of metal from BL ended up at in the 70s). The fact that these have survived so long though is what makes them special for me for the early ones, and the latest one I think deserves its chance in a museum just because it was from so close to the demise of Rover. ...And it's a good looking car in my opinion...kinda Rover 75 meets Tesla Model S with a hint of Vauxhall Signum (which I mean as a compliment...for all the car isn't great I think they look the business) thrown in. Given the tragic way Rover went under, it just seems a shame for bits of history like this to be destroyed. Wouldn't call it criminal...just a real crying shame. LightBulbFun, BlankFrank and The Old Bloke Next Door 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sierraman Posted July 10, 2019 Share Posted July 10, 2019 What’s the story on the Rover SD1? How come it was never scrapped or put on the road? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skut Posted July 10, 2019 Author Share Posted July 10, 2019 14 hours ago, Lankytim said: Who says they're off to be scrapped? surely it's just speculation at this stage. Hopefully your right. Maybe the social media outcry about them may convince MG to offload them to enthusiasts and get them out of their hair. My limited experience of big companies is they don't like negative exposure on social media one bit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adw1977 Posted July 10, 2019 Share Posted July 10, 2019 On 7/9/2019 at 7:48 AM, Pete-M said: The manufacturer will have to pay VAT on the development costs if they don't scrap them. So if they've spent £50m and these things are all that's left to show for it they have few choices: A: sell prototypes and pay £10m VAT B: scrap prototypes and reclaim a few million quid. ? start production of RDX. If they have sat on the prototypes this long without incurring a VAT bill, can't they continue to do so? If they went on loan to Gaydon instead of sitting at Longbridge, would that change the tax position? Banger Kenny 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lankytim Posted July 10, 2019 Share Posted July 10, 2019 Shall we start a fundraiser to raise the £10mil? I’ll stick a tenner in.Ones got Signum headlights in too. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gricer Posted July 10, 2019 Share Posted July 10, 2019 This speculation about the prototypes being scrapped is based on a casual remark from a security jobsworth to a passing enthusiast who saw the cars outside. Gaydon are on the case, and I'd expect that's where they will end up. The stuff about R&D VAT is nonsense, BTW. Lacquer Peel, Datsuncog, Banger Kenny and 3 others 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnthonyG Posted July 11, 2019 Share Posted July 11, 2019 On 7/9/2019 at 7:48 AM, Pete-M said: The manufacturer will have to pay VAT on the development costs if they don't scrap them. So if they've spent £50m and these things are all that's left to show for it they have few choices: A: sell prototypes and pay £10m VAT B: scrap prototypes and reclaim a few million quid. ? start production of RDX. The manufacturer was MG Rover, which is defunct. They would just have been lying around the complex when NAC/SAIC bought it, if they were recorded anywhere by the administrators I expect the value would have been minimal or zero. Banger Kenny and Skut 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clayts450 Posted July 16, 2019 Share Posted July 16, 2019 Safe..for now anyway https://www.aronline.co.uk/opinion/mgs-prototypes-secured catsinthewelder, BL Bloke, timolloyd and 4 others 6 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dick Longbridge Posted July 16, 2019 Share Posted July 16, 2019 Slight aside, but what is that? Looks like a mini NSX combined with a Barchetta. Early MGF prototype? Looking again, I'm assuming Metro/ Rover 100 underpinnings... Aston Martin, LightBulbFun and AnthonyG 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lesapandre Posted July 17, 2019 Share Posted July 17, 2019 I've posted about the MG showroom on Piccadilly in London in the past. Really not any exciting cars on show. Whole thing feels a bit dead in the water which is a pity. The MG brand surely (shirley) still holds a few crumbs of cudos and could have been the Chinese MINI competitor with a little nurturing? Dick Longbridge 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnthonyG Posted July 17, 2019 Share Posted July 17, 2019 21 hours ago, Dick Longbridge said: Slight aside, but what is that? Looks like a mini NSX combined with a Barchetta. Early MGF prototype? Looking again, I'm assuming Metro/ Rover 100 underpinnings... That is indeed an MGF prototype - from around 1990 or so. Theres a good book on the development of the car - slightly ironically given later ‘Gang of Four’ shenanigans, it’s titled ‘Project Phoenix’! https://www.amazon.co.uk/Project-Phoenix-Birth-Ian-Adcock/dp/0747526958?ref_=mw_olp_product_details Dick Longbridge 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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