MGF Cars was founded by Brad in April 2010 after a visit to England the previous month. During that visit he sat in a MGF for the first time, minutes after departing from Heathrow Airport!
Having owned Triumph TR7's and TR8's since the mid 1980's, the MGF had interested him ever since it came on the market, as it clearly represented the future of the classic, fun, affordable British sports car, but alas there seemed no way to obtain one in North America thanks to onerous government regulations. Imagine what might have been if the US government had put even a fraction of the effort into determining why a certain group of flight students were acting in a highly suspicious manner almost two decades ago as they have into harassing car enthusiasts over the years?
But it was a MX-5 rental car in Aix en Provence the previous autumn that really got the ball rolling. Brad had divested himself of his TR7/8 fleet two years earlier in favour of a larger British sports car, the XK8. Whilst the XK8 is a lovely car, it is not a true "little British car" or LBC as they have come to be known in North America. Brad had never driven a MX-5, since attempting to get into an earlier generation Miata years before and determining it was simply too small. Still, the rental company owed him an upgrade so it was time to give the newer MX-5 another try.
Delight! The newer car was a bit bigger. Driving around the south of France in a convertible was indeed très bien, yet also with the sober realisation that, what a pity MG had never returned to North America because whilst the MX-5 is a nice car, it is, well, Japanese. Not that there is anything wrong with that, but when one has been around British cars most of ones life, it just was not a LBC.
It was time for action. Brad is not the sort of person who takes kindly to being told 'no'. There had to be a way to get the MGF across the pond. Research began in earnest and it appeared there were, as with the creation of the car itself, three 'proposed routes' (PR's). PR one involved making the car compliant, i.e. doting the I's and crossing the T's as MG should have done. Whilst the car was almost there in terms of compliance, the cost of finalising this process to the satisfaction of either the Canadian or US governments was prohibitive, especially considering that MG themselves were not likely to be forthcoming in terms of help with access to crash data for example, so this option was rejected.
PR two offered more promise. There are, relatively little or no restrictions on importing car parts into either country. Even a bare body is not considered a motor vehicle, it is just one large part. A motor vehicle requires self propulsion, otherwise it is just 'an assemblage of parts', so in theory it would have been possible to import the car bit by bit and then register it as a home built vehicle or kit car. This option would have been particularly attractive south of the border but again very costly and time consuming.
Which brings us to PR three. The MGF was approaching its fifteenth birthday, the point at which, for now at least, the Canadian government essentially tells its citizens: 'ok, you have done your time, now you can have a MGF or whatever other specialty vehicle takes your fancy as long as it is fifteen years old and is roadworthy by provincial standards.
Thus, MGF Cars was born. Almost as soon as the car reached its fifteenth birthday, the massive vessel Atlantic Compass departed Liverpool bound for Halifax and amongst its cargo were three little red MGF's.
In January 2011, Brad was fortunate to make contact with Mark also of Kitchener who shares his passion for the MGF and they are excited about making this fun, modern sports car available to Canadians. If you are interested in a MGF then please do not hesitate to contact Brad to arrange a viewing and test drive.
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