What was happening to production at MG Plant around the end of 1973?

Members with MGBGTV8s made around the end of 1973 have been puzzled by the seemingly erratic"build" dates for their cars but the country was in a state of turmoil at the time which particularly affected car manufacture.














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With the road tax exemption concession for cars built before 1st January 1974 due to apply from 1st April 2014, many V8 members with chrome bumpered MGBGTV8s have been checking to try and find the "build date" for their V8 to see if it is eligible for the concession this year. For cars built close the 1973 year end there have been some very frustrating findings - Dennis Wharf with Blaze 1189 found the "Date of Build" for his V8 are shown on his BMHIT Heritage certificate as 4th - 11th January 1974, so he missed qualifying for the exemption this year by less than two weeks. In another case Andrew Vine, with Glacier White 1147, found the build dates for his V8 were 18th December 1973 - 9th January 1974.

The Heritage certificates issued by BMHIT Gaydon for the MGBGTV8 model give the "Date of Build" in that form and when we compare those
two dates with the copy of the Factory records made by the late Geoff Allen in the weeks before the MG Plant closed, we can see they seem to be the Date of Commission and the Date through Paint Finishing. In Andrew's case this was particularly frustrating because the dates straddled the year end and he was left wondering why it took so long for his car to reach the stage where "painting was finished". In fact the bodyshells came to the MG Plant from Cowley ready painted and then went through assembly ending with a road test and a final quality check. Where a problem was found on a car it went into Rectifications Department, which is where Geoff Allen worked for some 27 years. There a gearbox change or another job would be carried out and then the car was released for a final quality check. So "Paint Finishing" was part of that final quality check. The next stage noted in the production records is when the car was "Advised for Delivery" to an MG dealer or distributor, like Stewart & Arden or University Motors.

At the end of 1973 and into 1974 there were some exceptional conditions affecting manufacturing industries in the UK like MG at Abingdon - inflation following a major hike in oil prices, strikes resulting in power cuts and restrictions on the commercial consumption of electricity. This situation caused serious disruption to manufacturing plants, particularly companies like MG involved in production line car assembly.

Power cuts and the three day week at the turn of the year 1973-74
In the Britain of the 1970s, power cuts and lengthy blackouts became a fact of life. The country's electricity network had long been vulnerable to mechanical failure or industrial action. In December 1970 hospitals were forced to function on batteries and candles during a "work-to-rule" strike. But the oil price rise shock in 1973 following the Arab-Israel war caused the situation to become even worse. The Prime Minister at the time, Edward Heath, attempted to impose a prices and incomes policy to cap rampant inflation, but the unions resisted. After a series of miners' strikes, Heath declared a three-day week to reduce electricity consumption, and thus conserve coal stocks. So a series of measures were announced on 13th December 1973 by Heath, including the "Three-Day Work Order", more commonly known as the Three-Day Week, which came into force at midnight on 31st December 1973. Commercial consumption of electricity would be limited to three consecutive days each week

The effect was that from 1st January until 7th March 1974 commercial users of electricity were limited to three specified consecutive days' consumption each week and prohibited from working longer hours on those days. Services deemed essential, for example hospitals, supermarkets and newspaper printers were exempt. Television companies were required to cease broadcasting at 10.30 pm during the crisis to conserve electricity. The MG Plant, like many manufacturing businesses, was subjected to these measures which disrupted production of cars, particularly with the Christmas holiday break in 1973 and the resumption of production in the new year (1974).

Prime Minister, Edward Heath, called a snap election in February 1974 using the slogan "who governs Britain?" but it resulted in the Conservative Party losing its majority. Labour became the party with the most seats in the House of Commons, but without an overall majority. In the resulting talks, Heath failed to secure sufficient parliamentary support from the Liberal and Ulster Unionist MPs and Harold Wilson returned to power for a short minority government third term. The normal working week was restored on 8th March 1974, but other restrictions on the use of electricity remained in force. Another general election was held in October 1974 cementing the Labour administration, which gained a majority of three seats.
More on the difficulties in 1973 and later & BBC article & Guardian
V8 Register - MG Car Club - the leading group for MG V8 enthusiasts at www.v8register.net