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MG XPower SV

The MG XPower SV is a sports car that was produced by British automobile manufacturer MG Rover. Manufactured in Modena, Italy and finished at Longbridge, United Kingdom, it was based on the platform of the Qvale Mangusta, formerly the De Tomaso Biguá, itself using parts from the Ford Mustang.

After acquiring Italian automobile manufacturer Qvale, MG Rover allocated the project code X80, and set up the subsidiary company, MG X80 Ltd., to produce a new model based on the Qvale Mangusta. One attraction was the potential sales in the United States, as the Mangusta had already been homologated, for the market in the United States.

The MG X80 was originally unveiled as the concept car, in June 2001. However, the styling was considered too sedate. When the production model, now renamed MG XPower SV, was eventually launched the following year, Peter Stevens, previously the exterior designer of the McLaren F1, had made the car's styling more aggressive.

The conversion from a clay model to a production car, including all requirements, was done in just three hundred days, by the Swedish company, Caran. The goal was to get a retail price of under £100,000. The car's base model eventually cost £65,000, with the uprated model XPower SV-R, costing £83,000.

The production process was complex, partly caused by the use of carbon fibre, to make the body panels. The basic body parts were made in the United Kingdom by SP Systems, and then shipped to Belco Avia, near Turin, for assembly into body panels.

These were then assembled into a complete body shell, and fitted onto the box frame chassis and running gear, and shipped to the factory of MG Rover, in Longbridge, to be trimmed and finished. Several of the cars’ exterior and interior parts, were sourced from current and past models of Fiat.

The headlights, for example, were taken from the second generation Punto, and the rear lights from the Fiat Coupé. Exterior door handles from a MG TF, Mirrors, Window switches and interior door handles from the Rover 75. In total, the production process required each vehicle to visit six different companies. According to the data at the MG XPower SV Club, approximately 82 cars were produced, excluding the four 'XP' pre production prototypes.[citation needed]

This included the few pre production and show cars, which were later dismantled before production was stopped, due to lack of sales. Most were sold to private owners, with the final ones being sold to customers, at the beginning of 2008. Three vehicles, that had been produced, but not assembled, were acquired by classic car dealer Eclectic Cars Limited in March 2013, and later completed. Another partially completed chassis is in storage with a private owner in the UK.

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British sports car by MG Rover
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