MG: The Iconic British Sports Car

In 1974, all MG models were face lifted with new impact resistant rubber bumpers to meet new US legislation, and the Midget became the 1500 model fitted with a Triumph engine. The Midget bowed out in 1979 after a total production run of 225,000 – not counting the similar Austin Healey Sprite models – while the MGB lasted a year longer, and reached a record production of over 513,000. As the MGB went out of production, the Abingdon factory was closed and the MG brand disappeared from the North American market.

After a period when MG was in abeyance and several different proposals for the future of the brand had been discussed, in 1982 the name came back on a sporting version of the parent company’s Metro small car. Over the next few years MG versions also appeared on the Maestro and Montego models, and all-three MG saloons eventually became available in turbocharged versions as well. Particularly well liked was the MG Maestro 2.0 EFi model with a fuel injection 2-litre engine, an effective competitor in the "hot hatch" market of the 1980’s, typified by the VW Golf GTi. Most popular were the Metro and Metro Turbo models, which reached a combined production total of 142,000 cars.

There was also the short lived MG 6R4 rally car of 1984 with a centre mounted V6 engine and four-wheel drive, built in small numbers but never fully developed before rally regulations were changed to exclude such specialised machines.

Nevertheless, MG enthusiasts understandably longed for the day when the MG sports car would return. In fact behind the scenes, Rover Group was planning to do just that. A foretaste of things to come was the stunning MG EX-E concept car revealed at the Frankfurt Motor Show in 1985, based on the mechanical package of the MG Metro 6R4 rally car. Under the ownership of British Aerospace from 1988, plans for a new MG sports car were accelerated. The MG saloon range was discontinued in 1991, and in the following year the MG RV8 was introduced. This featured a re-styled version of the classic MGB roadster bodyshell, and was fitted with the 3.9-litre V8 engine from the Range Rover. It was only ever intended as a limited production model, and of the 2,000 cars made many were exported, in particular to Japan.

Several different proposals were now under consideration for an all-new MG sports car. Rover Group eventually decided in favour of project PR3, a mid engined two-seater which in many ways was a break with MG’s traditions, yet as an affordable roadster using some saloon car components it also followed in the footsteps of most of the popular MG’s of the past. The engine was a developed 1.8-litre version of the K series, with an advanced form of Variable Valve Control in the higher performance model, while the suspension was based on the Hydragas system, but interconnected front-to-rear.

Much of the development work was completed before Rover Group was taken over by BMW in 1994 but the launch of the new model only occurred a year after the merger, at the Geneva Motor Show in March 1995. Named the MGF, the new model went into series production at the Longbridge factory in August 1995, and quickly became enormously successful in the home market as well as many export markets. Indeed the MGF became the UK’s best selling sports car from launch.

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