RE: You Know You Want To: MG SV
Discussion
Sorry, but it looks absolutely awful. Everything that was wrong about Towers and his cronies is in the appearance of this car and its half-baked concept. I grew up in Longbridge and this is tainted for me by the aforementioned asset strippers' behaviour. I also remember reading when Rowan Atkinson had one (Car or EVO, EVO I think) and it was as half-baked in execution as in inception. Apologies to all the people that worked on them, but the resources should have gone elsewhere.
If I recall correctly there were actually around 110-120 produced along with a handful of supercharged SV-R versions plus a single Automatic. The SV-R's and the auto were directors cars at the time but MG Sport and Racing continued to trade for around 12-18 months after the demise of MGR and vehicles were still being assembled at the time.
The tubs were made in Modena by Vaccari & Bosi, the same company that used to make the tubs for Ferrari, Lamborghini etc. The bodies were made in the Isle of Wight by a composites specialist and the engines came from Ford via Roush Performance (as did the ZT 260 engines). The vehicles were painted and fully assembled in the MG Sport and Racing building which was on Groveley Lane.
A lot of money was spent to get the correct paint finish on the carbon body, at one point early on it cost £40,000 to paint each one. The issue was trying to avoid the classic 'sinking' of the paint, showing the carbon weave when the panel got hot. A special primer was developed which was then later used by the majority of the other specialist car manufacturers when painting carbon panels such as Ferrari and McLaren.
I remember driving one along the A45 alongside a guy in a new 996 Carrera, trying to goad him into putting his foot down as I wanted to see how fast it really was. He wouldn't take the bait and in fact wouldn't even look across. The car was raw, brutal even but certainly had character. Very close to a TVR in fact in principle. I always thought that the biggest styling error was the wheel to wheel-arch size plus ride height that robbed the car of much sense of purpose. The main design error was the use of carbon fibre panels when fibreglass would have been far cheaper and easier to develop. The body was unstressed after all.
This car will be a classic, it's too exotic not to be.
The tubs were made in Modena by Vaccari & Bosi, the same company that used to make the tubs for Ferrari, Lamborghini etc. The bodies were made in the Isle of Wight by a composites specialist and the engines came from Ford via Roush Performance (as did the ZT 260 engines). The vehicles were painted and fully assembled in the MG Sport and Racing building which was on Groveley Lane.
A lot of money was spent to get the correct paint finish on the carbon body, at one point early on it cost £40,000 to paint each one. The issue was trying to avoid the classic 'sinking' of the paint, showing the carbon weave when the panel got hot. A special primer was developed which was then later used by the majority of the other specialist car manufacturers when painting carbon panels such as Ferrari and McLaren.
I remember driving one along the A45 alongside a guy in a new 996 Carrera, trying to goad him into putting his foot down as I wanted to see how fast it really was. He wouldn't take the bait and in fact wouldn't even look across. The car was raw, brutal even but certainly had character. Very close to a TVR in fact in principle. I always thought that the biggest styling error was the wheel to wheel-arch size plus ride height that robbed the car of much sense of purpose. The main design error was the use of carbon fibre panels when fibreglass would have been far cheaper and easier to develop. The body was unstressed after all.
This car will be a classic, it's too exotic not to be.
bakerstreet said:
I believe the engines were a lot more powerful in the SV compared to the 75.
Absolutely, only 256BHP for the ZT out of the box, more with a KB blower though which takes it up to around 400BHPThis one with a KB blower already fitted cost me £8500 a few years ago
It goes well enough for my liking took 5 of us and luggage to Europe not long ago and the sound it makes is worth every penny of the 20-25 MPG I get out of it
On the down side this car does not have your usually driver aids mine does not have TC and I did manage to spin it in the wet into a crash barrier recently so it is currently being repaired.
I say that because of the comment earlier about parts I had no problem with the insurance company paying out or in obtaining all the parts I needed and even some I didn't need but changed anyway.
One plus point MGs unlike the equivalent Rover 75 V8 for some odd reason qualify for classic car insurance
My ZT400 even after my mishap costs me less to insure then my Renault Scenic!
I would assume the SV would benefit from similar low policies premiums as well.
I think a lot of people on here have missed the real point of this, no it wasn't what ishould have been, no it wasn't finished in any way.
But regarding this car, if you don't want a daily driver, and can afford to keep it pristine and off the road in s
tty weather for a 'long' time, then i would say it was a fairly safe place to put your money. It WILL make money in years too come.
Its an MG they have a huge classic following.
It is an exotic sportscar built in tiny numbers.
And i can remember looking at a 600 mile Clubby 6R4 for £20k in 2001, i bought a Lotus Elise Sport 160 instead, yes i wanted a car to drive and have summer fun in but the 6R4 would be worth £65-70k today, the Elise £9k?
But regarding this car, if you don't want a daily driver, and can afford to keep it pristine and off the road in s
tty weather for a 'long' time, then i would say it was a fairly safe place to put your money. It WILL make money in years too come.Its an MG they have a huge classic following.
It is an exotic sportscar built in tiny numbers.
And i can remember looking at a 600 mile Clubby 6R4 for £20k in 2001, i bought a Lotus Elise Sport 160 instead, yes i wanted a car to drive and have summer fun in but the 6R4 would be worth £65-70k today, the Elise £9k?
MY EYES! MY EYES! My God that is one horrendous piece of kit, and I do mean 'kit', because thats what the quality of it looks like, especially the interior. Look at the fit and finish of the leather around the seat bolster.
I see traces of Bugatti in the front end, TVR in the rear, and a goats turd everywhere else.
40,000 pounds, may seem like a bargain, but somehow I doubt it. Price aside, there is no way in hell that ever becomes a 'classic', unless a new category of classics crop up, under the FUGLY AS ALL HELL category.
Maybe i'm being a bit too harsh. Then again, maybe not.
I see traces of Bugatti in the front end, TVR in the rear, and a goats turd everywhere else.
40,000 pounds, may seem like a bargain, but somehow I doubt it. Price aside, there is no way in hell that ever becomes a 'classic', unless a new category of classics crop up, under the FUGLY AS ALL HELL category.
Maybe i'm being a bit too harsh. Then again, maybe not.
This looks good to me. Pretty sure it's a modded SV-R, not an SV-RS as stated, but still pleasant.
http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/4262607.htm
Lovely colour, ghastly steering wheel and awful aftermarket dials on top of the dashboard.........I still would though!
http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/4262607.htm
Lovely colour, ghastly steering wheel and awful aftermarket dials on top of the dashboard.........I still would though!
300bhp/ton said:
kambites said:
RINGMEISTER said:
on how deep your pockets were, surely a Mustang does everything this car does but better no?
What does the Mustang do better? kambites said:
So are these renowned for being unreliable then? I hadn't heard that.
I dunno, but it seems a popular thing mentioned once or twice in this thread 
That aside, it's a hand assembled (in Italy) bespoke car. I suspect like most cars of this ilk they suffer some sort of niggles and traits. And I'd suspect some of the bespoke parts might be somewhat difficult/expensive to get hold of.
The Mustang evidently isn't as bespoke, rare or arguable interesting. But it does offer a real world does of usability, practicality, durability and gets pretty close on ability, performance and to an extent looks.
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