The History of the MG Octagon

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Cecil Kimber after being appointed as General Manager of the Morris Garages in 1922, had the idea of starting to manufacture models with sports bodies using Morris chassis. For the first time in March 1924 “The Morris Observer” published an advertisement to the "M.G.Saloon" and two months later the Octagon appeared in another ad for the "MG Super Sports Morris". It was from then on that MG began to be associated with the "Morris Garages", a situation that was officially established in 1929.

Determined to assert that an MG was something more than an embellished Morris, Kimber sprinkled these models with octagonal motifs, as was the case with oval dials that became octagonal.

The magic of the octagon was born, which began to spread over generations of true motoring enthusiasts associating itself with the brand's successes.

The octagonal badge gained worldwide fame from the first international victory of an MG in Argentina, in 1920s. The winning car was a four-seat MG 14/40 which driven by Alberto Sanchiz Cires achieved an average speed of 62 mph.

The octagonal badge quickly became a prestigious brand and the company had the idea of applying it to all the components that could be used for this purpose. The fans adhered to this spirit and even today they sign letters with:

“Octagonal Greetings”.

MG ROVER PORTUGAL
Public relations
April 2004