http://www.thecarconnection.com/images/gallery/4982_image.jpg Chicagoland MG Club:What's New
Chicagoland MG Club: What's New?

WHAT'S NEW?
with MG in 2001



MG EX257 at Sebring test
December 3, 2001
MG/Lola LMP 675 nets unofficial
Track Record in Sebring testing
  December 11, 2001 ....just returned from the US
.... tested the MG Lola EX257 .... at Sebring ....
demonstration of the new car for some very interested American sports car teams. .... EX257 is a very quick car.

November 21, 2001 - From MG Rover Group Communications:
BOARD DIRECTOR OF MG ROVER GROUP VOTED ENGINEER OF THE YEAR
Click for details
October 19, 2001 - From our friends at Mini Mania:
The BMW Group has reached an agreement to sell its British Motor Heritage Limited classic car parts business, based in Witney, Oxfordshire, to the Legacy Consortium. Click for details.
MG Lola EX257s begin winter shakedown testing.
Visit our friends at PistonHeads for details.

You may find more XPower Girls with a little browsing. They get around!

current MGF MG-X80 at Frankfurt show 2003 MFG spy shot
MGF 2001 plus MG-X80 influence yields 230HP MGF 2003 (spy photo).
16-OCT-01 - Check out thecarconnection.com for details.


MGF Extreme Roadster
They're still at it.
Now a new picture of the MGF extreme concept car in proposed roadster form. Click the picture for a link to the www.supercars.net web site for specifications and a larger image.
MGX80 at Frankfurt
WANNA DROOL SOME MORE? - (9/27/01)
The new MG_X80 at the Frankfurt Auto show?

MG X71 MG X70
MG X71 and MG X70 - 11Aug01
V6 powered Coupe and Cabrio with classic front-engine/rear wheel drive for spring 2004.
More details from Jerry's MG-XPower

ZT XPower 500 prototype
Fastest-Ever MG Hits The Road
MG ZT XPOWER 500 - July 6, 2001

Rover roars back to U.S. with Super MG
from London Sun Newspaper - June 22, 2001

MG X80 Luxury High Performance Sports Car
(more info on the car company acquisition)

Compare the current Mangusta here.

      MG ROVER is on its way back to America after buying out another sports car maker. Above is the first picture of the new Porsche-beating Super MG that will relaunch MG in the U.S. The revitalised British car firm stunned the car world this week by buying the American-owned Italian firm Qvale. Qvale currently has 70 workers hand-building its Mangusta model at a little factory in Modena next to Italian sports car giant Ferrari.
      MG intend using the Qvale chassis and V8 engine as the base to build their high-performance MG. They are looking to sell at least 1,000 MG cars a year in America, the world's most lucrative sports car market. MG stopped selling in America in the early 80s but the U.S. still has a huge army of MG fans and was a major market for the UK firm in the 70s and 80s. Although MG are taking on the Italian workers, it is likely that the new MG will be built at the firm's UK headquarters in Longbridge.
      The high-performance MG will be capable of speeds of 160mph-plus and 0-60mph in under five seconds. With a price tag of around £40,000, it will undercut rival models from Porsche and Jaguar. The Super MG will go on sale next spring. The car, code-named X80, has been designed by Peter Stevens, whose triumphs include the McLaren F1 Supercar and Lotus Elan. MG Rover boss Kevin Howe said: "The new MG X80 will be an excellent next step in the growth of our family of MG cars." The firm is set to bring out a new range of MG saloons that should see them hit their target of 187,000 cars this year.


MG EX257 Racing at Le Mans - dawn 17JUN01

Okay, just to pique your curiosity,
one day after Le Mans, ....

MGF 500HP prototype
MGF XPOWER 500 - June 18, 2001
Also MG ZT, ZR and ZS Extreme models - June 19, 2001

MG motorsport programme
MG EX257 LaMans car
MG EX 257 LeMans car on the track - May 6, 2001
Also EX258 Rally car and EX259 Touring car press release.
MG-XPOWER Logo

Rover looks at sending MG right over.
March 19, 2001

By Joseph Szczesny - Special to the Tribune


    DETROIT - MG Rover, the company created last year after BMW divested most of its British-based car making assets, is thinking of bringing MG sports cars to the U.S.
    MG Rover's five-year business plan assumes the company won't be selling cars in the U.S. for the next half decade. But the fledgling company, which acquired the MG and Rover brands from BMW last year, did take informal surveys at the Society of Automotive Engineersannual meeting in Detroit this month.
    A two-seat MGF, the company's most popular model, which sells for about $21,000 in Europe, was included in the British display at the meeting to gauge the public reaction to the car, said Colin Cushing, managing director of Chapman Arup engineering, which brought the car to Detroit.
    "They [Rover] said, 'Since you're going, why don't you bring this along with you,'" says Cushing, who spent part of his time handing out questionaires. "The response has been great," added Cushing, who said the results of the survey taken in Detroit will be kept confidential while they are evaluated by MG Rover's management.
    A statement from MG Rover said the outcome of the informal survey will "strongly influence MG Rover's marketing strategy."
    The questionaires asked attendees about the MG brand, the price and what cars might compete with MG in the U.S., the statement added.
    There are plenty of people around MG Rover headquarters in Birmingham, England, who think the company ought to return to the U.S. as soon as possible, Cushing noted. Right-hand drive versions of the MGF are sold in Germany and France and the car could be tested and ready for the U/S. market in about 18 months, he suggested.
    Chapman Arup, a British engineering services company, is working with MG Rover as it prepares its new product line. MG plans to introduce three new models in Great Britain this fall, Cushing noted.
    MG cars haven't been sold in the U.S. for more than 20 years, but Cushing said several people made a point of stopping at the Chapman Arup booth and telling him they owned one. He also learned there are several active MG clubs around the U.S., noted Cushing.
    The MGF, the best selling sports car in Britain, is a direct decendent of the legendary MGB. It has been on the market since 1995 in Great Britain and Europe. Sales have held at around 20,000 units annualy, Cushing added
    The MGF also represents about 10% of MG Rover's production of about 200,000 units annually, which makes it a relatively small independent car company.
    The wait for the MGF since its launch in 1995 has averaged 16 to 20 a week in the UK, according to the company's web site.
    The MGF was updated for the 2000 model year to include new alloy wheels, an adjustable steering wheel and electric door mirror controls.
    The MGF can be ordered with a 1.6-liter or 1.8-liter direct-injection overhead cam engine that can reach top speeds of 120 miles per hour and go from 0 to 60 in less than 8.5 seconds. It can also be ordered with a five- or six-speed transmission.




mga white mgb cream Johnny Lightning
British Invasion series
MG models

Click for Pictures



Completion of electric MGA
February 27, 2001

From: "Hank Danford" <hankdanford@hotmail.com>
To: "Barney Gaylord" <barneymg@mgaguru.com>
Subject: For those that remember the Electric MGA...
Date: Tue, 27 Feb 2001 01:24:57

Here are a few pics:
      [snip]
UPDATE 07 JUN 01:   Many pictures of the electric MGA conversion are now on line here:
http://mgaguru.com/uta_mga


The car runs and handles great. It will squeal the tires in 1st gear and with the regenerative braking you barely have to use the brakes to stop. We upgraded so it was overkill anyway. Upgraded the rear suspension and completely rebuilt most of the car. We got 25 batteries in the car too (12 where the gas tank was, 4 behind the seats, and 9 above the electric motor). Quite a project. Thanks for your help and support :)

Hank Danford



Three new MG X-Cars, details, pictures - 31Jan01

MG  X-10 (ZT)

MG  X-20 (ZS)

MG  X-30 (ZR)
Pictures unabashedly pirated from www.pistonheads.com/fastcars/mg
More MG X on newly updated www.mgcars.co.uk
MG X cars to be named MG Z cars - 17FEB01.
And,
new MG X11 Sports Estate Variant - 17FEB01.
Photo from www.mgcars.org.uk

MG Heads back to Le Mans - 23Jan01

back to top   What's New index

©2000-2013 Chicagoland MG Club, All rights reserved.