5 MGBs, and one MGA, have been driving for the last three months from China to Britain. They are on the way between Nanhui – an MG car plant in China – to Longbridge, and came for the day to Abingdon where they were joined by many other MGs, some parked on the Market Place, some in Rye Farm meadow.

This journey was conceived and planned by Dave Godwin, a member of The Gold Coast MG Car Club in Queensland, Australia. His car has the registration RIP which apparently means ‘Retired in Peace’.

He was joined by other Australian MG enthusiasts including Sue Slater who has been keeping a blog of the journey . Entering Uzbekistan she said “ We were once again the little convoy of MGs driving along with people waving wildly, calling out greetings and smiling broadly. Soon the locals were on to us. This involved approximately five cars driven by young guys, windows down and the male passengers seated out of each passengers window, waving madly, mock whipping the cars, speeding up alongside us and videoing each car. It was like the Wild West with the cowboys riding rough shod in their cars. They would speed past the convoy do a screaming turn and drive back for a second attempt to capture film of each car.”

Only when they got through into the EU did their vintage MGs no longer attract quite the same attention.

At Abingdon, they were joined by many enthusiasts from the MG Car Club, and by Don Hayter, on the right, the man responsible for styling the bodywork of the MGBs they were driving.

After Abingdon they go to Longbridge where the SAIC Motor Corporation are now in charge, which sounds like good news. SAIC have recently opened a design centre and are bringing the remaining Longbridge car plant out of mothball. In the near future, the MG6, the first all-new MG in 15 years, is to start production at Longbridge.