There is no shortage of British sports cars that have previously used American power plants, with Ford‘s V8 engine being the ideal option for many. One of the greatest sports cars that might never be built, the TVR Griffith, is one of those cars, having planned to borrow Ford’s Coyote V8 engine. However, some have stayed away from Ford’s V8 engine, like the Bristol Fighter, which is one of the coolest British sports cars ever, employing the Dodge Viper’s hulking V10 engine instead of an American-bred V8.
However, as far as cars from the other side of the pond relying on a Ford V8, there is a standout, and that is the MG XPower SV. Today, these rare muscle-bound sports cars are worth almost as much as a brand-new Ford Mustang Dark Horse.
Fret not if you’ve never heard of this muscular British brute, as only 82 examples of the MG XPower SV were ever produced. To add to that, they weren’t made available in the USA, although we wish they were. Its origins date back to the early 2000s, when the British automaker MG, not to be confused with the automaker currently producing sporty electric vehicles, acquired Qvale, an Italian automaker founded in 2000 but defunct two years later.
The company only managed to produce one model, the Qvale Mangusta, which is a name eerily similar to the Italian supercar bred to kill Shelby’s Cobra. Only a handful of examples were created before MG bought the company. With this changing of hands came the right to the Mangusta’s platform, which would later be the bedrock for MG’s hardcore V8-powered coupe. The MG XPower SV was created to bring attention to the company’s high-performance division, MG XPower. Since the Qvale Mangusta’s inner workings were already homologated, it only added fuel to the fire. To bring attention to its subdivision, MG green-lit its X80 concept that served as a preview for MG’s hardcore road warrior. However, the design was too conservative for MG’s performance ambitions.
So a redesign was needed, and the next design, the MG XPower, was the handiwork of Peter Stevens(of McLaren F1 fame), who aptly brought the SV’s performance to the forefront, with the finished product being a medley of bulbous body panels juxtaposed by sharp body lines. The decision to pursue this high-performance V8-powered sports car instead of tending to the evolution of its core models would ultimately be the final nail in the British automaker’s coffin. Still, regardless of its impact on the brand, the MG XPower SV was an exciting offering and one that demands a hefty sum today, but even if you’re willing to spend as much as a brand-new Ford Mustang Dark Horse costs, there’s a catch.
The MG XPower SV was not cheap, neither today nor when it was first revealed to the world in full production guise. When it was new, the MG XPower SV had a starting price of roughly £65,000. Adjusted for inflation, this translates to £119,140 or approximately $161,728 based on the current exchange rate. Today, thankfully, deprecation has softened its value on the used market. It’s worth noting that these cars were never offered in the US, and considering how many examples were produced, they were barely offered in their homeland.
Today, the average value of the MG XPower SV is roughly $65,415, which is enough to buy a bone-stock example of the Ford Mustang Dark Horse. At the time of writing this article, there is only a single example for sale with only 7,000 miles and in excellent condition, which is currently listed for sale. Remember that catch we mentioned earlier? Well, even if you had enough money to buy an example of this and then bring it over to the States, the chances of finding an example for sale are slim, entirely thanks to the tiny numbers in which this British sports car was produced.
Still, if you do manage to find an example for sale, be prepared to spend a hefty sum. In 2023, an example of the 2004 MG XPower SV with only 5,000 miles and finished in red with a white interior sold for £50,072, which is roughly $67,918 when converted based on the current exchange rate. Based on the examples listed on Classic.com’s platform, the lowest price for an example of MG’s hardcore sports car was $41,808, while the most expensive sale was $85,000.
Model
2003 MG XPower SV
2003 Ford Mustang SVT Cobra
2003 Ford Mustang GT
Engine
4.6-liter naturally aspirated V8
4.6-liter supercharged V8
4.6-liter naturally aspirated V8
Horsepower
325 hp @ 6,000 rpm
390 hp @ 6,000 rpm
260 hp @ 5,250 rpm
Torque
302 lb-ft @ 4,750 rpm
390 lb-ft @ 3,500 rpm
302 lb-ft @ 4,000 rpm
0-60 mph
5.3 seconds
4.5 seconds
5.4 seconds
Top speed
165 mph
155 mph
155 mph
The MG XPower SV was a stunning performer when it debuted. The Ford Mustang GT from the same period that it shared an engine with was in a different performance bracket, with the British V8-powered sports car commanding and demanding significantly more power from its variation of Ford’s 4.6-liter Modular V8 engine. The transition from clay model to production version took just three hundred days, but the production process was hindered by the extensive use of carbon fiber in the MG XPower SV’s body panels.
The engine was not the only part that MG borrowed from another automaker. The headlights of the carbon-fiber-bodied MG were borrowed from the second-generation Fiat Punto, while its taillights were sourced from the Fiat Coupe. Its mirrors, window switches, and even the interior door handles were borrowed from the Rover 75.
Although its V8 engine was not nearly as potent as the one utilized by the Ford Mustang SVT Cobra, it was a better application of the 4.6-liter V8 engine, considering that not only was it coaxed to a higher output, but it was also responsible for motivating a car that weighed 3,395 lbs compared to the Mustang’s 3,780 pound frame. However, while this didn’t result in a neck-spraining 0-60 mph sprint, it did aid its poise. However, while the regular MG XPower SV wasn’t as potent as the Cobra from that era, there was a version of it that was more potent.
Model
MG XPower SV-R
Engine
5.0-liter naturally aspirated V8
Horsepower
390 hp @ 7,100 rpm
Torque
391 lb-ft @ 4,800 – 5,600 rpm
0-60 mph
4.9 seconds (est)
Top speed
175 mph
While the MG XPower SV was a step above the standard Ford Mustang GT that it shared an engine with, this was not the only or most athletic expression of this American V8-powered coupe. That honor goes to the MG XPower SV-R, the racier and sportier sibling to the MG XPower SV. It came a year after the SV was revealed and was distinguished by its better go-faster hardware. This included a 5.0-liter V8 engine that was tuned and fettled by Roush Performance, which featured a bespoke dual plenum intake, fixed runner-length magnesium intake manifold, aluminum heads shared with the Ford GT, unique camshaft profiles, and a high compression ratio.
The result of its hardcore engine internals was an output that nearly rivaled that of the Ford Mustang SVT Cobra. However, that’s just comparing on paper specs, as it’s rumored that its actual power output was somewhere in the region of 410 hp. Customers who could afford the more expensive SV-R derivative were offered the option of a manual transmission or automatic transmission, which was a luxury not offered for the standard MG XPower SV.
As you’d expect, these derivatives demand significantly more than the standard SV, with one example that was sold for £85,000, which works out to roughly $115,377 when adjusted for inflation. While that might be a hefty sum to pay for a car from the early 2000s that was the cause of its manufacturer’s downfall, there is no doubt that these machines are cool enough to demand such prices from discerning collectors.
Sources: Classic, Ford.
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