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27th June 2003

IT'S OFFICIAL - CITROEN CLAIMS ARE SKY HIGH
OPEN-TOP MGS WERE AT A HIGHER ALTITUDE LONG BEFORE CITROEN!

Recent claims by Citroen to have set a new record at 3,500 ft for the world highest flying car, their new C3 Pluriel, were thwarted today when they were reminded, by MG historian David Knowles, who brought it to their attention that MG had been almost twice as high 25 years ago!

From the text of his book The MGB it records that in late 1978, as the 1979 model year MGB made its appearance, the wide open theme remained, but the special gimmick this time was a giant red hot-air balloon - at 350,000 cubic feet, the second largest such balloon in the world. The MGB had been converted to a gondola, with steel bars welded to the front and rear of the body, which allowed the car to be suspended precariously beneath the balloon on four steel cables. A propane gas cylinder was installed in the boot, while the "burn" controls were in the car interior. The ensemble - which the company had to register with the Federal Aviation Authority as an "experimental aircraft" - was flown to 6,500 feet as part of another bold thirty second television advertisement, breaking the record for the heaviest lift by a hot-air balloon in the process.

Citroen must be feeling somewhat deflated, having issued communications about their assumed success.

Issued by MG Rover Group Communications


See also MGB parachute movie Back to the News content

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