2004 MG SV-R

The best things about the car, however, remain the chassis and the steering, which has a lovely feel to it. The chassis is sharp without feeling snappy, taut without riding harshly. The car feels smart and intimate: you feel on top of the job. However the uninitiated should know that the traction control is very hands off , it’ll willingly give you enough rope to hang yourself. The worse things? The gearbox always feel hard work, perhaps it will ease up with mileage.

So wrote Mr. Rowan Atkinson about his SV-R, one of the most fascinating machines to wear the octagon badge. This was transport for what used to be known as the ‘jet-set’ rather than the would-be Graham Hill and a car to benefit all cheaper MGs in your local dealership.

As for its looks, Andrew Frankel stated in Autocar: “Your eyes are drawn naturally to those steroidal wheel arches, the outlandish side strakes and those deep bonnet vents”. Even if “The driving position is one of the worst I can recall”. A Mr. J Clarkson thought the MG “fabulous”, although “the dashboard looks like I made it”.

The original SV debuted at the 2002 NEC Motor Show and, as the MG Owners’ Club wrote, was “developed from the Qvale Mangusta, which in turn was developed from the De Tomaso Bigua”. The styling was by Peter Stevens with carbon fibre bodywork on a lightweight steel chassis. Power was from a Ford 4.6 litre alloy V8 engine with four valves per cylinder. Meanwhile, the SV’s chief engineer Giordano Casarini described it as a car “that will aggress you”.

The SV was an international product, with a chassis made in Italy and bodywork shaped on the Isle of Wight, with an USA power plant and final assembly in the West Midlands. Potential customers were informed they could “specify the engine from the 225 mph MG ZT-T Bonneville rated at 765bhp (and beyond if required), which will give top speeds of well over 200 mph and suitably electrifying acceleration”.

The SV-R made its bow at the 2004 Geneva Motor Show and featured a 5.0-litre plant capable of 380 bhp, 0-60 in less than five seconds and a top speed of circa 175 mph. Prices commenced at £89,250, which placed the SV-R in the Porsche 911 GT3 category.

Sadly, as history relates, April of 2005 saw MG Rover enter receivership after circa 80 SVs and SV-Rs. Each was virtually a collector’s item when new, and to summarise their appeal, here are some more wise words from Mr. Atkinson:

I’ll never forget when driving the SV-R, being spotted by a spotty 17-year-old who, at the sight of the car, promptly leapt into the air with his arms and legs splayed. An Enzo would not have curried a more favourable response. If ever there was a brand with a future…