MG XPower SV

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MG X-Power SV
Modified SV at Rockingham, UK
Manufacturer MG Rover
Production 2003–2005
64 road cars
2008–present (as MG X-Power WR)
circ. 42 road cars
Predecessor Qvale Mangusta
Class Sports car
Body style(s) 2-door coupé
Layout Front-engine, rear-wheel drive
Engine(s) 4.6-litre V8
Wheelbase 2670 mm (105.1 in)
Length 4480 mm (176.4 in)
Width 1900 mm (74.8 in)
Height 1320 mm (52 in)
Designer Peter Stevens

The MG X-Power SV (Sport Veloce) was a sports car made in Modena, Italy in a factory owned by Vaccari & Bosi and leased by MG Rover and Longbridge, UK. It was based on the platform of the Qvale Mangusta, formerly the De Tomaso Bigua.[1]

Contents

[edit] Production

After acquiring Qvale Automotive Srl of Italy, MG Rover set up MG X80 Ltd. to produce the new car. One attraction was the potential sales in the United States, as the Mangusta had already been homologated for the American market.

It was originally revealed as a show car, the MG X80, but it was considered too sedate.[1] When the production model was eventually shown, designer Peter Stevens had made the car's styling more aggressive. The conversion from a clay model to a production car, including all requirements, was done in just 300 days by the Swedish company Caran. One goal was to get a street price of under £100,000. The car's baseline model eventually cost £75,000 ($150,000) with SV-R costing £82,000 ($164,000) despite of the fact that a lot of the cars exterior and interior parts were borrowed from current and past Fiat models. The headlights, for example, were taken from a Punto MK2 and the rear lights borrowed from a Fiat Coupe.[citation needed]

The production process was complex, partly caused by using carbon fibre to make the body panels. The basic body parts were made in the UK by SP Systems and then shipped to Belco Avia near Turin for assembly into body panels. These were then assembled into a complete body shell and fitted onto the box frame chassis and running gear and shipped to the MG Rover Longbridge factory to be trimmed and finished. [2]

According the data at the MG XPower SV Club, approximately 64 cars were produced. This included a few prototypes and show cars which were later dismantled, before production was stopped due to lack of sales. Most were sold to private owners, with the final ones being sold to customers in early 2008.[2]

In April 2008, William Riley, a member of the famous Riley Motor dynasty relaunched the vehicle under the name MG XPower WR. Mr Riley has bought the badge rights for the MG X-Power from the administrators of MG PricewaterhouseCoopers, and has launched MG Sports and Racing Europe Ltd, a £2 Million venture that has already created 17 jobs employing a selection of ex-MG Rover workers. There have already been seven confirmed sales, with another 35 in the pipeline, as well as 5 cars that have been sold in the United States. From his new 2.5 Acre site in Eardiston Riley can produce 6 cars a month that sell between £75,000 and £90,000 per car. Mr Riley wishes to eventually buy a 100,000 sq ft factory between Tewkesbury and north Birmingham, and once this infrastructure is established he plans to employ between 150-200 workers.

[edit] Performance

Side View
Side View

The base MG X-Power SV was powered by a 320 bhp (239 kW) 4.6 L Ford Modular V8[3] but was expensive due to the complex carbon fibre body. Both manual and automatic transmissions were available. The manual car had a top speed of 165 mph (266 km/h) and a 0-60 mph (97 km/h) time of 5.3 seconds.[2]Club Sport options, for customers who wished to use their SVs on the track, were planned but never produced. They included a 5·0 L 1,000 bhp (700 kW) version, thanks to factory-approved nitrous oxide injection kits, though the basic version had 410 hp (306 kW) with speed limited to 195 mph (314 km/h).

The 2004 MG SV-R featured a more highly tuned 5.0 L 32-valve V8 with 385 bhp (287 kW) and is believed to have a top speed of around 175 mph (282 km/h) and a 0-60 mph (97 km/h) time of 4.9 seconds.[2]

The SV-S version used the 4.6 litre engine but was fitted with a supercharger to match the 385 bhp (287 kW) of the 5.0 litre versions. Only 3 were made. One SV-R was fitted with a supercharger to become the SV-RS.[2]

The SV gained some notoriety on television on the series Top Gear when co-host Jeremy Clarkson banged his head against the driver's side window while testing a SV-R. As a result, the footage was shown three times on the show while Richard Hammond gloated. It was also displayed in slow motion.

[edit] Gallery

Front View

Engine bay of modified SV

SV lights up the tyres at Rockingham

MG SV-R on Display

MG SV-R on display.

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b The cars. austin-rover.co.uk. Retrieved on 2007-11-07.
  2. ^ a b c d e Simpson, Jock (December 2007). "The MG Supercar". Safety Fast 51: 16-20. 
  3. ^ MG SV-R. Yahoo!. Retrieved on 2007-04-30.

[edit] External links

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