AROnline
  • Home
    • Go to random page
  • Cars
    • Austin/Morris
      • Morris Minor
      • Austin A30/A35/A40
      • Austin FX4/FL2 Black cab
      • BMC 1100/1300
      • BMC 1800/2200
      • Austin 3 Litre
      • Austin Maxi
      • Austin Kimberley/Tasman (X6)
      • Austin Apache
      • Morris Marina
      • Leyland Sherpa
      • Leyland P76/P82
      • Austin Allegro
      • Austin-Morris Princess
      • Morris Ital
      • Austin Metro
      • Austin Ambassador
      • Austin Maestro
      • Austin Montego
    • Rover
      • Rover P5
      • Rover P6
      • Rover SD1
      • Rover 200 (SD3)
      • Rover 800 (XX/R17)
      • Rover 200/400 (R8)
      • Rover Metro/100 (R6)
      • Rover 600 (SK1)
      • Rover 200/25 (R3)
      • Rover 400/45 (HHR)
      • Rover 75 (R40)
      • Rover Streetwise
      • CityRover (RD10)
    • Jaguar
      • Mk2/S-type/420
      • MkX/420G
      • E-type
      • XJ6/XJ12 (XJ4)
      • XJ-S
      • XJ (XJ40)
      • XJ (X300/X308)
      • S-TYPE (X200)
      • X-TYPE (X400)
      • XJ (X350)
      • XK (X150)
      • XF (X250)
      • XJ (X351)
      • XF (X260)
      • F-Type (X152)
      • XE (X760)
      • F-Pace (X761)
      • i-Pace
    • Land Rover
      • Defender
      • Range Rover (Classic)
      • Discovery
      • Range Rover (P38A)
      • Freelander
      • Range Rover (L322)
      • Evoque
      • Range Rover (L405)
      • Range Rover Sport
      • Discovery Sport (L550)
      • Discovery 5
      • Range Rover Velar (L560)
    • MG
      • Midget
      • MGB/MGC
      • Austin/MG Metro (LC8)
      • Austin/MG Maestro (LC10)
      • MGF/TF
      • ZR
      • ZS
      • ZT
      • XPower SV
      • MG6
      • MG3
      • MG GS
    • Mini
      • Mini (ADO15)
      • Mini Cooper
      • Mini Clubman
      • MINI (R50/R56)
      • MINI (F56)
      • Countryman/Paceman
    • Triumph
      • Triumph Herald/Vitesse
      • Triumph Spitfire
      • 2000/2500
      • Triumph 1300/Toledo/Dolomite
      • TR6
      • Triumph Stag
      • Triumph TR7/TR8
      • Triumph Acclaim
    • Ford
      • Consul/Zephyr/Zodiac
      • Cortina
      • Escort
      • Capri
      • Ford Granada (1972-1985)
      • Fiesta
      • Sierra
      • Mondeo
    • Vauxhall
      • Viva
      • Victor
      • Chevette
      • Cavalier
      • Astra
    • Rootes/Chrysler/Talbot
      • Hillman Imp
      • Hillman Hunter
      • Hillman Avenger
      • Simca 1000
      • Simca 1100
      • Chrysler 160/180/2-litre (C Car)
      • Chrysler Alpine/Talbot Solara
      • Chrysler Sunbeam
      • Chrysler Horizon
      • Matra Bagheera/Murena
      • Talbot Tagora
      • Talbot Samba
    • TVR
      • M-Series
      • TVR Tasmin
      • Griffith
    • ‘Other cars’
      • AC 3000ME
      • Alfa Romeo Alfasud
      • Argyll Turbo GT
      • Bond Equipe
      • DeLorean DMC-12
      • Enfield 8000 Electric
      • Lotus Esprit M70/X180
      • Matra-Simca Rancho
      • Midas
      • Nissan Qashqai
      • Reliant Scimitar
      • Sinclair C5
      • Trident Clipper
  • Reviews & Drives
    • Car Reviews
    • Drive Stories
    • Our Cars
      • Mike’s Rover 400
      • Mike’s Rover 416GSi
      • Mike’s Montego
      • Mike’s Rover 75
      • Mike’s Rover 214SLi
      • Mike’s 214GSi
      • Alexander’s Citroën XM
      • Alexander’s Rover 800
      • Keith’s Range Rover P38
      • Keith’s Freelander
      • Keith’s Rover 75
      • Keith’s Citroen Xantia Activa
      • Keith’s Citroen C6
      • Keith’s Polish Rover SD1
      • Keith’s Rover SD1 Vitesse
      • Keith’s Renault Avantime
    • Staples2Naples 2004
    • Staples2Naples 2005
    • Czech Wrecks 2008
    • RatRod 2011
  • News
    • All News
      • Jaguar Land Rover
      • MG Motor UK
      • MINI
    • All Events
    • MGR@10 Month
    • Rover SD1@ 40 Special
    • Geneva Motor Show
    • Archive
  • Opinion
    • Opinion
    • Your Cars
    • Best of AROnline
    • Videos
  • Facts & Figures
    • Mechanical marvels
      • Commercials
      • Buses
      • The bus section
      • Rail Projects
    • History Files
      • British Leyland – The Grand Illusion
      • British Motor Holdings – the joining of BMC and Jaguar
      • Evolution of the AR logo
      • The Road to Perdition
      • The Whole Story
      • Road vs Rail
      • Urban myths and old wives’ tales
      • Interviews and personalities
      • Production figures
      • Development codes
      • Project Drive
    • The converters
      • Avon Coachworks
      • Chris Humberstone
      • Crayford
      • Lynx Engineering
      • Mumford
      • Panther
      • Paul Banham Conversions
      • Rapport International
      • Startins/MacNeille
      • Tickford
      • William Towns
      • Wood & Pickett
      • Woodall Nicholson
    • Concepts & Prototypes
      • BMC, BL and ARG Concepts
      • Ford concepts
      • Jaguar concepts
      • Land Rover concepts
      • MG concepts
      • MINI concepts
      • Rover concepts
      • Sports car concepts
      • Supermini concepts
      • Vauxhall concepts
    • AROnline Overseas
      • Around the World
      • Also known as
      • Carrozzeria designs
      • Connections
    • People
      • Alec Issigonis
      • Spen King
      • George Turnbull
    • Galleries
      • In production
      • Museums
    • Resources
      • Buying Guides
      • BMC, Leyland and Rover engines
      • Press photos
    • The Ryder Report
  • Marques
    • Austin
    • Authi
    • Hillman
    • Hindustan Motors
    • Innocenti
    • Jaguar
    • Land Rover
    • MG
    • Morris
    • Riley
    • Rover
    • Standard
    • Standard Motor Products
    • Sterling
    • Triumph
    • Vanden Plas
    • Wolseley
  • Timeline

MG XPower SV

The MG XPower SV was launched amid much ballyhoo during the 2002 Birmingham motor show – and proved once and for all that MG Rover very much harboured the ambition to change the MG marque’s image from one of the producer of saloon based roadsters and tuned up Rovers, to that of an ‘extreme’ manufacturer of bespoke supercars.

The SV was a very interesting car, which was placed into a unique niche within the supercar market by MG Rover. It was more raw than a Ferrari, more aggressive than a TVR, and certainly more exclusive than a Porsche.

Whether this niche was too small, or even existent, is open to conjecture, but its eventual sales performance indicated buyers didn’t fall for its charms. At the time of its launch, things had seemed so different. MG Rover announced it came away from the 2002 Birmingham motor show with 27 confirmed orders, and that, it said, proved there was a number of buyers who bought in to the XPower SV. Today, it’s a bona fide classic.


Reviews, blogs and news stories

Development story

The cars : MG XPower SV development story

23 July 2011 Keith Adams 6

MG Rover wanted to form alliances with other industry players, but no one could have predicted a tie-up with failed Italian supercar builder, Qvale. But in 2001, that’s what happened, […]

Car Reviews

Tested : MG XPower SV

24 July 2011 Keith Adams 1

LAMBASTED as an irrelevant folly, the MG XPower SV has always divided opinions – why? Because MG Rover should have spent its finite financial resources elsewhere… Others would say that […]

Concepts and prototypes

Concepts and prototypes : Aria XPower SV

24 July 2011 Keith Adams 0

These pictures published on the Aria Group website depict a new sporting MG, which would have been based upon the Qvale Mangusta platform… The Aria Group’s concepts for MG’s new […]

Car of the Month

Car of the Month : August 2006

1 August 2006 Keith Adams 0

MG Rover wanted to build a showcase flagship for the MG range – and when it managed to pick up the Qvale operation in 2001 for a mere £10m, its […]

Archive

Archive : MG launches new sports car

22 October 2002 Keith Adams 0

MG Rover Group has launched a high performance sports car that it hopes will rival the likes of Porsche, Maserati and Jaguar. The MG XPower SV is “an extremely powerful […]

Archive

Archive : New sports car for Longbridge

30 September 2001 Keith Adams 0

A new luxury sports car is to be built in Birmingham instead of Italy. MG Rover confirmed on Sunday that it will build up to 2,000 MG X80s a year […]

  • Login
  • Register
  • Forgot

Have an account?

Register for this site!

Sign up now for the good stuff.

Lost Your Password?

Enter your username or email to reset your password.

AROnline on Facebook

In the Spotlight

Concepts and prototypes : Allegro Equipe

by Keith Adams in Austin Allegro (ADO67) 31

Keith Adams, photography, Stephen Harper In the lead-up to the launch of the series 3 Austin Allegro, newly-recruited Austin Apprentice Stephen Harper joined the team of young stylists tasked with raising the appeal of the [...]

Recent Comments

  • Graham on Concepts and prototypes : Hillman Avenger Liftback (R424)
  • Graham on Concepts and prototypes : Hillman Avenger Liftback (R424)
  • RCT(V) on Concepts and prototypes : Hillman Avenger Liftback (R424)
  • Nate on Concepts and prototypes : Hillman Avenger Liftback (R424)
  • Keith Adams on The cars : Chevrolet Hatch
  • Miguel on Mini overseas : Spain
  • _ on The cars : Chevrolet Hatch
  • Keith Adams on Concepts and prototypes : Austin Ant prototype (1964-1968)
  • Rusty Brown-Austin on Opinion : Chrysler’s Esprit – do you know more?
  • richardpd on Archive : How Harry Webster is going to shape your car

Archive (1959-2019)

AROnline © Keith Adams 2001-2019 - please refer to the 'Terms of use' pages.

Optimization WordPress Plugins & Solutions by W3 EDGE