RE: You Know You Want To: MG SV
Discussion
dme123 said:
Whoever made the decision to spunk scarce resources at MGR on this hopeless turd should be ashamed.
I'd buy them a drink because at least the legacy of MG and this car being the swan song won't be left to re-badged Rovers 25/75's and MGF's falling apart on the forecourts. The last proper MG and it was as bonkers as they all should have been. I was at the auction that was held in the old Xpower building in Longbridge. There were a few built and unsold MG SV's there under auction, and quite a number of MG SV's in various stages of build, 20% complete, 70% complete etc with the price reflecting their stage of build. Memory says there was a black one there which was for sale, maybe this is that car?
I don't know about the SV so much but I do remember the MG/Rover 260 being a surprisingly slow car - in many ways one of its issues as it meant the high build costs couldn't be easily recouped as pricing was restricted by performance.
I've never quite understood why it was so slow - lots of power and bags of torque on paper but somehow a lazy engine that didn't deliver much in practice.
Hiedously unreliable in the early versions and a tortured development - another beast that would have been better strangled though I realise some people love them!
I've never quite understood why it was so slow - lots of power and bags of torque on paper but somehow a lazy engine that didn't deliver much in practice.
Hiedously unreliable in the early versions and a tortured development - another beast that would have been better strangled though I realise some people love them!
I seem to remember a few of these going very cheaply at the auction that took place just after MG collapsed. They were then advertised by one of the regular advertisers in C&SC for about 3x what they had paid for them.
I guess they will have a value associated with their rarity, but personally i'd love to know if any shift at the prices they are advertised for.
I guess they will have a value associated with their rarity, but personally i'd love to know if any shift at the prices they are advertised for.
405dogvan said:
When it comes down to getting involved with insurance companies re:body repairs for many types of Rover, you could well come unstuck because issues with supply/availability mean they are VERY trigger-happy about writing-off cars.
Remember that insurers will never repair cars with used parts and are often very touchy about pattern parts too.
None of that is an issue if you're self-repairing - but a lot of people don't do that and you often won't get the option.
Not sure I follow?Remember that insurers will never repair cars with used parts and are often very touchy about pattern parts too.
None of that is an issue if you're self-repairing - but a lot of people don't do that and you often won't get the option.
You said 100/200/400. Now almost all of these are going to be £500-2000 tops. Even with a plentiful supply of factory body panels, almost any body damage would result in a write off, purely based on the value of the vehicle and the cost of parts, paint and labour.
How cheap are factory body parts for a MK5 Escort?
And as you didn't say body panels previously... what other parts were you referring too?
300bhp/ton said:
405dogvan said:
Add to that the ever-growing pile of 'dead' Rovers with perfectly decent V8 engines and
What pile? You got a link?Ironic if it's K Series - less so otherwise
Numeric said:
I don't know about the SV so much but I do remember the MG/Rover 260 being a surprisingly slow car - in many ways one of its issues as it meant the high build costs couldn't be easily recouped as pricing was restricted by performance.
I've never quite understood why it was so slow - lots of power and bags of torque on paper but somehow a lazy engine that didn't deliver much in practice.
Couple of points:I've never quite understood why it was so slow - lots of power and bags of torque on paper but somehow a lazy engine that didn't deliver much in practice.
-Since when has 260hp been "lots of power"?
-Even more so when the vehicle was circa 1800kg.
-How was it slow? It was as fast as a Civic Type R or a BMW 330i and weighed more than both.
JapFreak786 said:
I was at the auction that was held in the old Xpower building in Longbridge. There were a few built and unsold MG SV's there under auction, and quite a number of MG SV's in various stages of build, 20% complete, 70% complete etc with the price reflecting their stage of build. Memory says there was a black one there which was for sale, maybe this is that car?
yep about 1/2 dozen cars if i remember. that auction was tedious 8 million lots of x power t-shirts before you got to anything remotely interesting.we bought some go jacks!! but were looking seriously at the belcar prepped zt with the cammer engine but wilted before it came up which is a pity as it was a steel at 30k, the gearbox was worth half that on its own.
we also wanted the proto sv to turn into a racer, but oddly that went for silly money.
We didnt stay till the end but didnt they pull the part built cars as they did a deal with someone for the lot.
Im not sure how these cars proved a distraction to mg a they were built separately by mg sports and racing which was the last bit of mg to fold !!
300bhp/ton said:
Couple of points:
-Since when has 260hp been "lots of power"?
-Even more so when the vehicle was circa 1800kg.
-How was it slow? It was as fast as a Civic Type R or a BMW 330i and weighed more than both.
its a real pity they never sold the supercharged version. a mate has one of the original factory roushe engines swapped in place of the original motor and with its xpower exhaust system its a bit more of a monster..-Since when has 260hp been "lots of power"?
-Even more so when the vehicle was circa 1800kg.
-How was it slow? It was as fast as a Civic Type R or a BMW 330i and weighed more than both.
the zt-260 got a real hammer for depreciating when new, but it was a falacy as nobody paid anywhere near list. the year before rover went bump I went into a dealer to look at one, and they offered almost 10k off the price before they even sat me down with a coffee.. that 10k was most of the first 3 years depreciation in one go..
The funniest bit there was the sales boy telling me I really wanted an m5 erm no if I wanted an M5 id go to a bmw shop !!!
Edited by Graham on Wednesday 26th September 11:09
Graham said:
yep about 1/2 dozen cars if i remember. that auction was tedious 8 million lots of x power t-shirts before you got to anything remotely interesting.
we bought some go jacks!! but were looking seriously at the belcar prepped zt with the cammer engine but wilted before it came up which is a pity as it was a steel at 30k, the gearbox was worth half that on its own.
we also wanted the proto sv to turn into a racer, but oddly that went for silly money.
We didnt stay till the end but didnt they pull the part built cars as they did a deal with someone for the lot.
Im not sure how these cars proved a distraction to mg a they were built separately by mg sports and racing which was the last bit of mg to fold !!
I can't remember to much to be honest,I remember sitting there bored out of my brains for ages in the start, kept saying to my dad to buy the TF500 (he use to work for MG/Rover in trim development on motorsport/prototypes) and did the interior for that car.we bought some go jacks!! but were looking seriously at the belcar prepped zt with the cammer engine but wilted before it came up which is a pity as it was a steel at 30k, the gearbox was worth half that on its own.
we also wanted the proto sv to turn into a racer, but oddly that went for silly money.
We didnt stay till the end but didnt they pull the part built cars as they did a deal with someone for the lot.
Im not sure how these cars proved a distraction to mg a they were built separately by mg sports and racing which was the last bit of mg to fold !!
WMP said:
A used MG Rover 75 V8 makes far more 'sense' - same engine, reasonable handling, ultimate Q-car - all for sub £10k (if you can find one).
I'd really, really like to argue that point with you (well, I wouldn't, but YKWIM). "Ultimate" - Who buys a £10K Rover when the world is full of 10K AMGs?Edited by Gridl0k on Wednesday 26th September 11:18
Graham said:
Im not sure how these cars proved a distraction to mg a they were built separately by mg sports and racing which was the last bit of mg to fold !!
Well, let's see - SV? Check. Touring Car entries? Check. RWD conversion for 75 and 9 'new' 'MG' models? Check. Pensions and pay for Mr Towers et al? Check. Mid-range volume car not based on a 15-year old Honda? Hmmm..300bhp/ton said:
Numeric said:
I don't know about the SV so much but I do remember the MG/Rover 260 being a surprisingly slow car - in many ways one of its issues as it meant the high build costs couldn't be easily recouped as pricing was restricted by performance.
I've never quite understood why it was so slow - lots of power and bags of torque on paper but somehow a lazy engine that didn't deliver much in practice.
Couple of points:I've never quite understood why it was so slow - lots of power and bags of torque on paper but somehow a lazy engine that didn't deliver much in practice.
-Since when has 260hp been "lots of power"?
-Even more so when the vehicle was circa 1800kg.
-How was it slow? It was as fast as a Civic Type R or a BMW 330i and weighed more than both.
But it wasn't quicker (a smidge slower if memory serves?)so wasn't exactly a high performance car, drank fuel so was doomed as a company car and rather than having advantages by being a V8, just seemed overwhelmed by the more advanced engineering of other companies.
As for 260 being lots of power - well all things are relative, but at the time 260 was a fair bit more than BMW/Merc offered in their cooking models (was the BM 220 at the time?)and the torque of the V8 was supposed to be better so yes, I was surprised it was so slow, the weight of course being a part of the issue, but other models weren't so badly hampered, the 190 went quite well and the 132 diesel was well up to pace, so I did slightly blame the engine.
So huge M-car type build costs but a vehicle that was slow and lacked image - pointless from my position, but a nice thing for an enthusiast to have today I'm sure!
AC43 said:
Rowan Atkinson had one as a long termer in Evo IIRC. He really tried to like it but in the end had to conclude it just hadn't been finished in any meaningful way and was really not much use.
I remember that well 
Basically, every time he tried to drive it it let him down in some way, then I seem to recall the alarm kept going off and annoying him. He was to have it for X period of time, and barely had it for very long at all before he told them to take it away.
It's a shame as I'd love to love the SV, and even though it's as ugly as hell I think it has real presence in the flesh (one used to reside here in Medway believe it or not).
Will be perfect as part of a collection
This SV was completed by QCR Ltd one of the 3 official sub-contractors appointed by the factory to finish the cars. They also painted many of the McLaren F1 Road cars and the Jaguar 220's for the respective factorys.
They have carried out other Coach Building projects over the years for Rolls Royce, Bentley and the Sultan of Brunei. Many other manufactures have also commissioned QCR in the past for special projects, including Mitsubishi Ralliart for their WRC cars.
This example was one of the final cars and had been in dry storage following the collapse of MG Rover until finished to a high standard. It was registered last year on an 04 plate, having to be the year of orignal manufacture. ( I'm guessing they were bought from the receiver )
Will it in years to come be a highly desirable car for the collector? who knows? I do recall coming very close buying an RS200 for £33,000 many years back ( Dreadful road car ) and a good friend parted with his Metro 6R4 International for £14,000 and was glad to see the back of it .... The SV is a much more civilised and usable road car so who knows?
I think a quick call to Xtreme UK chaps from the Pistonheads team would have answered the build question, rather than make it sound a little mysterious. QCR completed 3 cars, one of which went to a German buyer and two remain, and these are the only two delivery mileage cars available to my knowledge?
They have carried out other Coach Building projects over the years for Rolls Royce, Bentley and the Sultan of Brunei. Many other manufactures have also commissioned QCR in the past for special projects, including Mitsubishi Ralliart for their WRC cars.
This example was one of the final cars and had been in dry storage following the collapse of MG Rover until finished to a high standard. It was registered last year on an 04 plate, having to be the year of orignal manufacture. ( I'm guessing they were bought from the receiver )
Will it in years to come be a highly desirable car for the collector? who knows? I do recall coming very close buying an RS200 for £33,000 many years back ( Dreadful road car ) and a good friend parted with his Metro 6R4 International for £14,000 and was glad to see the back of it .... The SV is a much more civilised and usable road car so who knows?
I think a quick call to Xtreme UK chaps from the Pistonheads team would have answered the build question, rather than make it sound a little mysterious. QCR completed 3 cars, one of which went to a German buyer and two remain, and these are the only two delivery mileage cars available to my knowledge?
Gridl0k said:
WMP said:
A used MG Rover 75 V8 makes far more 'sense' - same engine, reasonable handling, ultimate Q-car - all for sub £10k (if you can find one).
I'd really, really like to argue that point with you. Who buys a £10K Rover when the world is full of 10K AMGs?Numeric said:
I don't disagree with your assessment of the performance at all - and that was the problem. There was an assumption that somehow an MG V8 would be a premium product and it would appeal to performance car drivers through its great performance so it could be priced nicely above a 330i!
But it wasn't quicker (a smidge slower if memory serves?)so wasn't exactly a high performance car, drank fuel so was doomed as a company car and rather than having advantages by being a V8, just seemed overwhelmed by the more advanced engineering of other companies.
As for 260 being lots of power - well all things are relative, but at the time 260 was a fair bit more than BMW/Merc offered in their cooking models (was the BM 220 at the time?)and the torque of the V8 was supposed to be better so yes, I was surprised it was so slow, the weight of course being a part of the issue, but other models weren't so badly hampered, the 190 went quite well and the 132 diesel was well up to pace, so I did slightly blame the engine.
So huge M-car type build costs but a vehicle that was slow and lacked image - pointless from my position, but a nice thing for an enthusiast to have today I'm sure!
I don't recall pricing, but how did the ZT260 compare to an equally specced 330i? The BMW had 231bhp (upgraded to 256bhp later on). The MG compared fairly well performance wise, although I admit fuel was worse.But it wasn't quicker (a smidge slower if memory serves?)so wasn't exactly a high performance car, drank fuel so was doomed as a company car and rather than having advantages by being a V8, just seemed overwhelmed by the more advanced engineering of other companies.
As for 260 being lots of power - well all things are relative, but at the time 260 was a fair bit more than BMW/Merc offered in their cooking models (was the BM 220 at the time?)and the torque of the V8 was supposed to be better so yes, I was surprised it was so slow, the weight of course being a part of the issue, but other models weren't so badly hampered, the 190 went quite well and the 132 diesel was well up to pace, so I did slightly blame the engine.
So huge M-car type build costs but a vehicle that was slow and lacked image - pointless from my position, but a nice thing for an enthusiast to have today I'm sure!
Jag X-Type 3.0 was around 230hp also, and 241 or something for a V6 S-Type.
Sadly it's probably more British ignorance that we assume "having a V8" means supercar potential. When the rest of the world knows this isn't true (BTW - why not check out how quick a 3.2 V8 XJ8 Jag was
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