The MG ZPower SV - the car developed from the Qvale Mangusta - was launched at the 2002 Birmingham Motor Show and first customer deliveries have taken place. The carbonfibre-bodied SV has a Ford Mustang-sourced 4.6 V8 delivering, in standard form, 326bhp, 0-60 in five seconds and 170mph, though madder versions promise 385bhp from a 5.0-litre version of the engine (SV-R) and, in the supercharged Clubsport version, 469bhp. With lairy boy racer styling - courtesy of Brit designer Peter Stevens - and a race-specification interior, the SV starts from £65,750 with the SV-R at £82,950.
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| 2004 MG ZT 260 |
The Detroit 4.6 V8 has also been fitted into the ZT saloon, however - in combination with rear-wheel drive and old-school muscle car appeal, and good for 155mph and 0-60 in 6.2 seconds. "The £27,995 ZT 260 is truly a remarkable car," noted 4Car's road tester. "Not remarkably good, you understand, but remarkable all the same... Round the Mallory Park test track, its ability to attack corners was sensational. (It) may be a car with more flaws than a Ratners-rejected diamond, but its character can still easily win you over." Arguably, it's much more in the original spirit of MG than the XPower SV.
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| MG X Power running heathily |
There have been recent hints of ongoing development for MG - a TF-based coupe concept car, minor updates to the roadster - but just after celebrating its 80th anniversary, however, MG's future now looks uncertain. Although the Sport & Racing division, the Powertrain engine-making companies, XPower and other subsidiaries in the Phoenix holding company have been running reasonably healthily, the core MG Rover car-making business has been called into administration after the collapse of a partnership deal with the Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation, which would have brought MG Rover the cash it needed to develop new model ranges. Most of the Longbridge site has been sold off to property developers, and the Phoenix directors accused of asset-stripping.
But although BMW retained ownership of the Rover brand name, MG is still owned by PVH, although it would have been sold to SAIC for £50m if the "partnership" deal (more like a buy-out, as it developed) had gone ahead. Whatever the outcome for Rover, and it's not looking good, the MG marque has more potential to survive, perhaps as a low-volume specialist manufacturer, if a suitable new investor can be found. Here's to celebrating its centenary in 2024.
