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Abandoned rover /MG plant

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rsieracki

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Mar 3, 2010
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Chicagoland Area
when i won some items from the SK Tool factory auction here in chicago it looked like they just closed one day when the whistle blew... personal effects in toolboxes, pallets and crates of tools in varius stages of manufacturing etc... rather sad also
 
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Jononon

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Nov 28, 2006
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eborcim said:
I guess I missed the total loop on this one. So what is the current state of this plant?
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The whole site is now owned by property developers St. Modwen, with Nanjing (now part of SAIC) having taken a 33 year lease on the factory after they purchased MG Rover out of administration (a total clusterf**k that was one of the darkest of many dark days for the British motor industry.) The bulk of the modern production line seen in those pics survives intact and is used for the MGTF and will be used for the MG6, but the remainder of the site, 3/4 of the total original area, has been flattened ahead of redevelopment.

Both the MGTF and MG6 engine and drivetrain components are built in China, the machinery having been transferred from Longbridge.
 
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Jononon

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Graymills - Craig said:
And Lotus is Malaysian. Land Rover & Jaguar are Indian.
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That's true and a shame, but there's a substantial difference between foreign owned companies designing, engineering and building their products in the UK and exporting all over the world and an assembly plant with fewer than 500 employees screwing together giant Airfix kits to avoid European import duties.
 
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rwhite692

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Central Valley, CA
Pretty amazing that a plant of that size was closed in such a haphazard fashion, with that amount of Work in Progress. Colossal waste of materials....
 
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Jononon

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rwhite692 said:
Pretty amazing that a plant of that size was closed in such a haphazard fashion, with that amount of Work in Progress. Colossal waste of materials....
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Despite its directors taking £42m in pay, fees and pensions after buying the company for £10 with a £500m 'dowry' from BMW, the company literally couldn't pay its utility bills. When nobody stepped in to buy the company after its collapse the administrators were left with little choice but to lock the doors and walk away.
 
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Jononon

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jktruck150 said:
Those are wild! Seems they don't have as strict trespassing laws as we do in the US.
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Trespassing, in itself, isn't generally* illegal in England and Wales. That's not to say the police won't dream up something to arrest you for if the site security catch you, but it doesn't carry the legal risks associated with trespassing in the US.

*obviously exceptions apply, such as live airfields and military facilities
 
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jktruck150

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Oct 19, 2009
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Outskirts of Jackson, MS.
I still got lost in the pictures of some of the building and places. I spent a few minutes crusing the website....interesting stuff. Makes me want to pack a ruck sack and have at it! Just mind-boggling to see some of those places!
 
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