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It’s hard to believe that it’s now a year since MG Rover called in the administrators. With speculation over its imminent demise so often in the press over the last couple of decades I became blind to it in the end. Longbridge was about to celebrate its Centenary, Rover had been a household name throughout my lifetime, it produced cars I aspired to own and there was simply no question of this (to me) important bastion of Britishness ever being under threat. Unsurprisingly Patricia Hewitt’s announcement on 7th April last year didn’t go down too well here, and like others among us I only narrowly avoided my overwhelming compulsion to start throwing furniture at my television.

So, twelve months on what has actually happened? For most of us the stark reality of the situation has set in and we’ve become resigned to the worst case scenario, but it’s still agonizing to look back only a few years and consider what we had and what could have been. Aside from the tantalising stream of rumours and speculation we now know that a Chinese firm (Nanjing) now own most of MG Rover’s assets and have stated that they intend to restart some form of car production next year using part of the Longbridge site. Whether this will actually happen once the bills start coming in and without a dealer network remains to be seen.

Today’s “Pride of Longbridge Rally” one year on was a wonderful demonstration of the strength of the brand and the feeling that Longbridge evokes, and one witnessed first hand by a delegation of officials from Nanjing who themselves seemed to take much interest in goings on. Although I still wonder how successful their venture will be, today overall left me with a warm, positive kind of vibe. Maybe it’s just the time of year.