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MG X Power SV
The new MG SV was launched at the British International Motor Show by MG-Rover Design Director Peter Stevens, with a statement that the new car is his vision of what an extreme MG should be.
The car has handsome but conventional coupe proportions dictated by the De Tomaso Mangusta nee Quale Mangusta package that it is based on (also responsible a slightly high cowl) and an imposing down-road-graphic showing off a new MG corporate facial identity. But with the exterior and interior design exhibiting none of the finesse of previous Stevens designs such as the 1989 Lotus Elan, Jaguar XJ15 and the Maclaren F1, it is hard to believe that the SV really is his vision.
The car is powered by a 326bhp Ford Mustang sourced engine and developed by a small, but experienced Anglo Italian team to compete with, and be priced above, the Porsche 911 and Nissan Skyline GT-R.
The club sport version on display has 410bhp, and MG claims subsequent versions to have up to 965bhp with factory approved nitrous oxide kits (!). This emphasis on power and extreme performance is the main message that MG management want to get across about the revitalised MG brand and the brutal SV certainly conveys this well. But whether this new car is really worthy of being, as MG says, the icon for the brand, is perhaps questionable.
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