73 Top-down Motoring

TOP-DOWN MOTORING

MG reveal a concept design for a futuristic new roadster called the Cyberster.

WITHOUT A HINT of sporting DNA in its history, China’s biggest car-maker, the State-owned Shanghai Motor Corporation (SAIC), has not only retrieved Britain’s beloved MG from the edge of extinction but also made it more successful than ever.

MG sold over 15,000 new vehicles in Australia last year – many more than it did during its original hey-days – but enthusiasts hoping for a new sports car have found the iconic octagonal MG badge instead on a range of affordable family hatchbacks and SUVs.

But the glorious days of top-down motoring in a British sports car could be returning and, again, it will be thanks to the Chinese.

SAIC has used the recent Shanghai motor show to reveal a concept design for a new MG roadster. Possible production hasn’t even been mentioned, but MG didn’t put the concept out WORDS CHRIS NIXON

there for nothing and you can bet something is in the pipeline.

However, it will be a very different car to past MGs, as its futuristic name, Cyberster, implies.

No more shiny upright grilles, leaky softtops, rorty exhausts or wire wheels, the new MG roadster will be a stealthily-quiet, high-tech road missile.

Its performance will be literally electric, in fact.

The Cyberster might come from a Chinese manufacturer, but its inspiration apparently is pure-Brit from the MG Advanced Design Centre in London.

This sounds a promising plan: British design executed with Chinese efficiency.

Accordingly, MG says the Cyberster takes some styling cues from the classic MGB, which ended production 1980.

Yes, looking at the concept photos we can see it indeed does have wheels at each corner, two doors, headlights and no roof.

But any other heritage cues seem pure fantasy.

Traditionally, manufacturers use motor show concepts to get public feedback about the design and the market potential.

Even in watered-down production form the Cyberster should get a huge welcome, but if the looks aren’t enough the performance claims should swing it: powered by only electricity, the concept for the MG of the future is said to hit 100 kmh in less than three seconds and run for up to 800 kms on a single charge.

The downside? Don’t expect another affordable runabout.

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