Progress Report: 2004 MG XPower SV-R vs 2023 MG4 XPower

Oh my word, I'd forgotten all about the XPower SV...

How could you? This is Britain’s own muscle car. A TVR-rivalling flagship MG that was all set to fire the company into a new and prosperous era in a blaze of V8 noise and fury. It’s the car manufactured in Modena and finished in... Longbridge. It was built to take on the Porsche 911. It, erm, didn’t quite go to plan.

And what's that bright orange thing next to it? 

Ah yes, that’s the MG4 XPower – the new-age flagship (at least until the two-door Cyberster sports car arrives on UK shores) that has resurrected the old name. You’ll know that MG is now owned by the state-owned Chinese megacorp SAIC, and by all accounts is doing rather well too, with well-priced family EVs its bread and butter.

Remind me of the oldtimer's story...

How long have you got? Seriously, its birth was not an easy one. The car started life as the De Tomaso Biguá concept and was first shown at the 1996 Geneva motor show. It then transformed into the production ready De Tomaso Mangusta, before being renamed and sold in limited numbers as the Qvale Mangusta when Bruce Qvale fell out with Alejandro de Tomaso. Eventually, MG arrived and bought Qvale outright. It then tasked Peter Stevens with a complete redesign, and the man who drew the McLaren F1 came up with the carbon-bodied shape that you see here.

Is it as brutal to drive as it is to look at?

Well, you’d think it would be given this particular car is an XPower SV-R – the top spec version that had its Ford Modular V8 bored out to 5.0 litres and was tuned by Roush to produce a conservative estimate of 385bhp. In reality, it’s actually very happy bumbling about at slow speeds with light steering, soft suspension and a lovely eight-cylinder burble. Yes the trim inside might creak a little, but it turns out this is a big friendly GT car.

Is the new one anywhere near as quick? 

Oh it’s much, much quicker. Whereas MG quoted a 0-60mph time of 4.9secs for the SV-R, the modern XPower takes just 3.7secs. That’s thanks to a twin electric motor setup that sends 429bhp to all four wheels, although the whole thing lacks drama both in the drab interior and in the point-and-squirt driving experience.

How much will they both cost me?

Well, this particular SV-R is a rather special one. Just 42 5.0-litre cars were ever built, and this is the only one finished in green paint with a tan interior. Current owner John bought it for over £25,000 and it’s unlikely that even a blank cheque would tempt him to sell. The MG4 XPower looks like remarkable value at just £36,495, but if we’re honest we’d rather have the slower, cheaper version and some money to put into our ‘future SV ownership’ pot.