By the 1970s, British Leyland was in such a financial mess that several factories had to be closed down, one of them being the MG plant at Abingdon. This meant the death of the long-running MGB – and the end of MG sports car production for more than a decade. After several changes of control in the 1980s, British Leyland became Rover, who were determined to revive MG sports cars. The retro-engineered MG RV8 of 1992 was the first new model, but it was the all-new mid-engined MGF of 1995 which caused such a stir.
By any previous MG standards, the layout of the new MGF was sensational enough, but the commercial deal which made the project viable was equally bold. Rover planned to make only 15,000 cars a year and needed an investment partner. They found it in the Mayflower business of Coventry, which not only produced all the body shell tooling and built all the bodies, but financed that operation too.
Sleek, rounded, compact and arranged purely as a two-seater, the MGF had a new unit-construction body shell, with all-independent suspension, but (in the very best historic MG traditions) almost all the engine, transmission and chassis components were lifted, only slightly modified, from mass production family cars in the parent company. The twin-cam four-cylinder engine was a highly-tuned version of the 16-valve K-series units already found in Rover 100, 200 and 400 models, and was linked to a neat, five-speed transmission, the entire assembly being placed closely behind the passenger cabin. |
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There were two engine tunes, the most powerful having technically advanced VVC, or Variable (Timing) Valve Control. Hydragas suspension, interconnected from front to rear, as used in the Rover 100 (the former Metro) was modified to include separate telescopic dampers and anti-roll bars at each end of the car, which ensured sports car handling allied to a soft and supple ride. Rack-and-pinion steering was as expected, though not the speed-sensitive electric power assistance which was also available.
By any standards this was a fast and well equipped little car, which kept its high performance (131 mph on the VVC-engined cars) in check with four-wheel discs, and ABS braking on the VVC version. Fuel injection, electric windows, a catalytic converter and part leather trimming in the cockpit made it an appealing little car which sold well – and continued to sell – from the moment it went on sale.
British customers originally had to pay £15,995 for the ‘base’ car, £17,995 for the VVC-engined machine, but there were waiting lists at first. For the first time, though, this was an MG sports car which was not to be sold in the USA. Five years after its launch, the MGF had gained a detachable hard-top option, but few other changes, and it looked exactly the same as in 1995. The co-financing deal had already paid off handsomely, and for the 2000s its future looks secure.
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