He established
MG in 1928 but it was never his own company. He had
worked for
several
car companies before becoming sales manager for
Morris Garages
in 1921,
and was promoted to general manager in 1922.
The inspiration
and
motivator of the brand, he was still employed by
Morris Motors
until
sacked in 1941 and died in a 1945 train crash.
Although a car
enthusiast – he even raced – he had little engineering
training but
accountancy and draftsmanship skills and initially
designed
sporting
bodywork to be fitted to modified Morris chassis.
Managing
director from 1930, he was aware of future trends but also had
conservative
taste (viz. ‘L’
type 'Continental Coupé). William
Morris
(then Lord
Nuffield) prevented
him from being more
innovative and killed
off
the racing department in 1935 and Kimber was demoted. The founder
and
driving force behind MG, he was
perhaps the
Caroll Shelby of his age!