THE former Abingdon home of MG founder Cecil Kimber has been honoured with a blue plaque.

The plaque has been unveiled at The Boundary House, Oxford Road, once the home of MG founder Cecil Kimber, now a pub.

The idea was put forward by Oxfordshire Blue Plaques Scheme and arranged with the help of Abingdon’s MG Car Club.

Club co-director Richard Martin, said: “Abingdon is a Mecca for MG fans.

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“MG brings a lot of people into pubs and hotels.

“It’s important to recognise the past because it has bearing on what’s here now.”

Cecil Kimber developed his sports car while working for Oxford car magnate William Morris. While sales manager at Morris Garages, he developed cars based on Morris bodies and founded the MG Marque, specialising in sports cars, in 1924.

Such was the demand, production moved from the workshop to four progressively larger workshops in Oxford. In 1930 Kimber became managing director of MG and moved the company to a new factory in Abingdon, where they were built until 1980.
 

Oxford Mail:

  • Cecil Kimber

He lived at The Boundary House from 1933 to 1938.

Members of the Kimber family joined MG enthusiasts for the blue plaque unveiling on Saturday.

Mr Kimber’s grandson Kim McGavin, MG Car Club president John Day and motoring author John Wood were among the guests.

Mr Martin, 67, a grand-father who lives in South Abingdon, said: “I was Abingdon born and bred.

“I was brought up with MGs around me.

“As a child going to Dunmore Junior School my friend’s dad was a security guard at MG and we used go and sit in the cars.

“As a nine-year-old sitting in those open-topped sports cars, the feeling was tremendous, and that fuelled my enthusiasm.

Oxford Mail:

  • The blue plaque unveiled at Boundary House, Abingdon

“The blue plaque was a fantastic idea, the more we can do to say ‘MGs were here’, the better.”

The MG Car Club, founded in 1930, has more than 11,000 members in the UK and 40,000 across the globe in affiliated clubs.

The plaque was funded by Abingdon Town Council, Vale of White Horse Council, the North American MG Drivers Club and donations from MG Car Club members.

 

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