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Magnette's back as MG 6 saloon

British-built four-door revives famous badge from Fifties Z-cars

Magnette's back as MG 6 saloon 1

By Julie Sinclair

10th June 2011

The name of MG’s new 6 saloon has been revealed – and it’s a real blast from the past. The Chinese-owned brand has confirmed the model will be badged Magnette, reviving a name last used in 1969 and most famously adopted by the Z-range in the Fifties.

The four-door goes on sale next month to join the hatchback, which takes its GT name from the famous coupé version of the MGB that was built until 1980.

Neither badge will be displayed alongside MG6 on the boot, but they will be available as an accessory, with the task of styling the lettering given to head designer Tony Williams-Kenny.

Asked why MG had revived the Magnette, sales and marketing director Guy Jones told Auto Express: “It’s the most famous name in MG history for four-seat, four-door cars. It was an obvious choice.”

The Magnette name dates from MG’s race-focused roadsters of the Thirties. According to MG Car Club member Tony Slack, its resurrection for Z-cars in the Fifties was controversial – and MG enthusiasts were even angrier when it was applied to a version of the stodgy Austin Cambridge in 1959. “There was a real outcry then,” he said.

This time, the move has gained support from fans of the old cars. “I think it’s great. If you’ve got a reputation and a history, you should build on it,” explained Slack.

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10 Comments

No!!!!

Supposedly spend all this money "developing" the spiritual successor to the MG heritage - sporty and driver orientated - and then call it "Magnette".
I really want MG to succeed, but it's not going to be with this car, and certainly not with a name that harks back to old leathery smelling, chrome clad, slow old barges driven by old men. Get some vision.......there you go.....the MG Vision !!!!

By BigMartyn on 15 June, 2011, 11:29am

Yessssssss!!!!

There's nothing wrong with reviving the Magnette name. After all VW did it with the beetle and we don't think of fat smelly nazis with sausage breath, or up-coming new Capri with it's Del boy overtones- actually that's probably not a good revival. The Magnette was a racy, cool cad about town car in it's day,not at all the immage you say. It's fantastic they revived it and suits the above immage for me!
The question is, do you know what Magnette actually means, and no it's not French for magnet?

By bishop on 15 June, 2011, 2:16pm

Dictionary Definitions

No I don't know what it means, and I think you are missing the point. If, as you suggest, Magnette is a watchword for quality and .... dare I say it ..... style then leave the name where it is and use a new name for the new Model. Why couldn't the saloon have been the ST and the hatch the GT?? What's next, the Vanden Plas?

By BigMartyn on 16 June, 2011, 9:06am

Desperation

Both names smack of desperation! This is a generic-looking hatch/saloon in search of an identity. Calling the hatch GT is really stretching it - the pretty/Pininfarina-styled BGT did have a hatch but there the resemblance ends. Ford (unforgivably) stuck GT badges on its souped-up models in the 60s and almost everyone has continued to debase the term. Apart from Bentley!
So what DOES Magnette mean??

By Anorak17 on 16 June, 2011, 9:25am

Badged as Magnette? er .....well no actually

Who thought up this whizzard wheeze then? It is badged as MG6 but you can buy a stick on badge and call it a Magnette!!

Why not stick on a Yugo badge that you could get on ebay and give it some class?

Magnette just sounds naff unless they are thinking it will be a f&**y Magnette! ....... don't think so somehow.

By billdyke7 on 16 June, 2011, 12:42pm

People in glass houses

I might not know what Magnette means, but I'm jiggered if I can find "immage" in the dictionary either.

By BigMartyn on 16 June, 2011, 1:00pm

meaning of magnette

Magnette comes from the Latin root word "magnus" meaning ; great, powerfull, big, long, tall, spacious, broad extensive. Hence the Magna Carta. (Great charter)

There was an MG Magna, which was bigger than the original Magnette, thus meaning, in this case, "little brother", rather like "wifette, " for example. So, all in all, much more interesting a name than "Vision"! As for the car being a f&**y Magnette with that definition, it could be.

Oh and BigMartyn, you were right about my wrong spelling of image, and I'm an English teacher !

By bishop on 16 June, 2011, 2:42pm

POINTLESS

What is it with certain car manufacturers coming up with daft names for their models. Magnette doesn't mean anything to most people. Its a MG6 saloon. Simply as that.

Also, why do Audi call their 5 door models Sportbacks? They are hatchbacks. Sportsback is a meaningless name.

By matthughes on 18 June, 2011, 4:26am

Oh Well.....it might work!

This harks back to the glory days of the 1950's when the MG Magnette was a re-badged Wolseley 4/44, so not quite as much of a heritage brand.
Good luck to MG, although I feel that some of their models look like the MG badge is an afterthought, complete with sticky fixers to hold it in position. If they introduce a smaller model I'll give it a good look over, although the competition is fierce for small, well appointed cars. MG may struggle to find names to use for their other models....Metro, Maestro and Montego just don't cut it, do they?

By n50pap on 18 June, 2011, 9:48am

Its only a name!

And one you can have added as an option.

More important is fixing those little issues raised at launch, the fiddly wheel mounted switches and lack of a 6 speed box.

I hope they get those things sorted. Disappointed too that AE did not post pics of the boot is it usable?

Best Wishes to MG and their GB staff in getting these cars out and sold, adding more models and meeting the expectations of customers and their Chinese owners

By sherbo1959 on 15 July, 2011, 7:45pm

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Magnette's back as MG 6 saloon 1
Magnette's back as MG 6 saloon 2

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