AN ABINGDON MG fan has become the first person in the country to own the first Chinese-built, British designed model of the marque.

The white MG6 GT is Gill Martin’s tenth MG.

Mrs Martin, who owns three other MGs with her husband Richard, 64, picked up the car in a special ceremony in the West Midlands a few days ago.

While Abingdon is MG’s spiritual home, the new car was designed at Longbridge in Birmingham and built in Shanghai.

The retired insurance saleswoman fell in love with the marque in 1971 when she met her husband, a bookseller at Blackwell’s in Oxford, who drove an MG Midget.

The new car now bears his personalised numberplate, RM04 FUN – Richard Martin For Fun.

More than one million MGs were made at the Abingdon factory in Cemetery Road between 1930 and 1981, and the factory employed 1,200 workers at its peak.

Mrs Martin, 62, said: “I’m honoured, and what feels nice is that we live in Abingdon and we’re so involved with MG.

“Abingdon has always been known as the spiritual home of the MG so it seems right that someone from Abingdon has got the first one. It’s really exciting and it’s a really beautiful car, I love it.”

The couple also own a 1964 MGB, a 2003 MG TF and a 2004 MG ZR, which changes colour in the sun.

MG Car Club spokesman Chris Seaward said: “This a significant car as it is the first all new MG for 16 years. When they were desiging this car, the British design team came to Abingdon, to our building, to get inspiration and try to capture the true spirit of MG.”

  • More than 1.3m MGs were made at the Abingdon MG factory in Cemetery Road between 1930 and 1981.

The marque was founded in 1924 and production moved to Abingdon from Oxford in 1929.

During the Second World War the factory was cleared and new machinery brought in so the workers could build planes and tanks.

The factory found itself engaged on armament work producing aircraft sub assemblies, tanks and component parts.

After the war the factory produced popular models like the MGA, MGB, and the MG Midget.