Monday 31st March 1980
BL agreed to sell its MG works at Abingdon to a consortium headed by Aston Martin-Lagonda. The last car to be built there was the MGB, and after the closure of the Abingdon plant, the MG marque was temporarily abandoned. Although many plants were closed by BL, none created such an uproar among workers, dealers, clubs, and customers as this closure did. Years later, Sir Michael Edwardes expressed regret about his decision. In 1982, the MG marque was revived and the Austin Rover Group built high-performance versions of their saloon and hatchback models built at Longbridge (Metro) or Cowley (Maestro and Montego). The MG Metro continued until 1990, with the Maestro and Montego versions being suspended a year later.