The MG Cyberster is set to become a future classic

Britain’s sports cars are among our most precious motoring legacies; of all the storied marques of yesterday, MG is sorely missed. Fans have been waiting nearly a quarter of a century for a new MG sports car – and if everything goes to plan, they’ll get one sometime next year: the Cyberster, an all-electric cabriolet that’s set to go toe-to-toe with Tesla’s second-generation Roadster.

On the grounds of heritage alone, the Cyberster is a winner, it has the sort of goodwill and following most manufacturers dream of. It’s not a MGB converted to battery power, either – it never has, nor never will have, an internal combustion engine.

‘MG’ and ‘sports car’ remain synonymous; th

e Cyberster will launch into a steadily expanding electric vehicle market with precious few competitors, aforementioned Tesla Roadster (and RBW Roadster, based on a Heritage MGB shell) aside.

Between those two cars, it’s well-placed; what it loses to the Tesla Roadster in performance, it easily bests the RBW and is said to be cheaper than (though time will tell). The Cyberster is also creating a new battery powered legacy for the marque, sitting above the well-respected MG4 and MG5 electric family cars.

The mass-produced electric sports car has been a long time coming, and with a £50,000 projected starting price, the Cyberster should, as MG history dictates, end up among the most affordable. That’s expected of an MG, it should be within the means of the average motorist, though said buyer will doubtless need a stout finance agreement to put a Cyberster on their drive.

In performance terms too, the Cyberster more manages to meet the spirit of that old MG strapline, ‘Safety Fast’. CAR Magazine speculated on the specifications and performance of the new car, with the Cyberster’s weight dictated by its battery packs.

CAR stated that two battery packs – a 64kWh and a 77 kWh will be available, the latter powering a long-range, single motor, 310bhp, rear-wheel drive model good for 330 miles and a 0-60 time of sooner than five seconds. The performance oriented, lighter Cyberster will use dual motors across both axles, making it all-wheel drive; 536bhp is mooted, with a sub-four second 0-60 dash and an unquoted range.

Metro 6R4 aside, the Cyberster bests all previous petrol-powered roadgoing MGs, including the X Power SV, ZT 260, RV8 and BGT V8. It’s somewhat larger than previous cabriolet models, too being close dimensionally to a modern BMW Z4.

Doubtless, the mythical, 1000bhp, nitrous-enhanced SV mooted in the early Noughties may have topped the Cyberster, but as DRIVETRIBE discovered, such a car while technically on the options list, was never ordered or built (various specialists said 1000bhp would have been difficult, if not impossible). A good number of the diesel Z cars could match and beat the long-range Cyberster’s range, mind you.

While a new MG sports car may have been obvious to the marque’s fan base, it wasn’t a priority for SAIC, MG’s Chinese owners, which acquired its assets from Nanjing Automotive following a merger in 2007.

Not that a sports car revival hadn’t been attempted once before: that same year, Longbridge started making TFs again; the TF LE500 featured a gently reshaped nose, softer suspension and a 1.8-litre N Series, a redesigned engine based on the sometimes-infamous K Series unit.

While the TF500 (and later 85th Anniversary edition) garnered some praise from press and patrons alike, its rapidly ageing body and cost relative to the third-generation MX-5 (NC) drew criticism.

Limited success in the UK was one thing; in China, where completely knocked down TFs were built by Nanjing Automotive, the TF was an unmitigated disaster.

Built in penny packet numbers, TFs sold poorly in SAIC’s home market. Sports cars were not viewed as status symbols by Chinese motorists, who were more likely to be found aspiring to the likes of a well-equipped executive saloon. Better than sitting gridlocked in traffic with trucks and lorries belching smoke, something the open top TF positively encouraged.

Cool Cars in China found a home market TF abandoned on the side of a Chinese road in 2014; writing about the encounter, Harry Helmsman wrote: “In 2007, the Chinese car market just wasn’t ready for a sporty two-seat roadster yet. Not much has changed, though! Even today small sportscars are a hard sell in China.”

That the Cyberster, complete with canvas roof and upward sweeping doors was well-received in the UK is something of an understatement. Despite the bad memories of the TF in China, the Cyberster will go on sale there before it arrives in the UK – though that may be in anticipation of a novel electric vehicle rather than the notion of a sports car that will drive Chinese sales.

MG Motor UK’s commercial director, Guy Pigounakis, told Car Dealer Magazine that, while the order books for the Cyberster weren’t open, its 156-showroom dealer network were already talking deposits.

“We don’t yet know when it will arrive or the exact price, but we are hopeful we’ll see it in the spring next year. Dealers are building their own order banks so when we release allocation their customers can take those places in the queue. The dealer network is incredibly excited about its arrival,” Guy said.

Reception from MG Owners’ Club members was similarly one of excitement; Classic Car Weekly also canvassed views on the Cyberster from marque fans.

General Manager Richard Monk, of the MG Owners’ Club, is looking forward to getting behind the wheel, having previewed the car at MG’s Marylebone, London showroom.

Richard said: “This much anticipated all electric soft top heralds a welcome return to MG’s sportscar tradition. Having been privileged some weeks ago to a confidential viewing of this UK designed supercar, I have to say that I was very impressed at first sight and in seeing it ‘for real’ it certainly had the wow factor!

Whilst quite futuristic in many of the design features such as the LED exterior lights including the illuminated MG badges front and rear, the wrap around computer screen ‘dashboard’ and amazing scissor doors, it certainly paves the way for a new generation of exciting MGs.

With anticipated prices around £55,000 for a rear-wheel-drive 309bhp version and up to £65,000 for a four-wheel-drive, twin-motor version with 536bhp it is still very competitively priced alongside existing electric performance cars and at the moment is the first EV open topped sportscar. With a 0-62 mph of sub 3 seconds, I can’t wait to be offered a test drive!”

With that in mind, the Cyberster’s assent to classic status is assured. With high expectations built on the current MG range, a new sports car takes the marque back to its roots.