MG  RV8

In 1980 MG had discontinued the production of its beautiful sports cars - most recently MGB and MGB GT. Then the brand name floundered, adorning only small and medium-sized sedans and hatchbacks from the Leyland stock, such as Metro, Maestro and Montego.
The calls for a revival of the brand became louder after British Motor Heritage had begun in 1988 to re-produce the chassis and body parts of the MG B models. The Rover Group, which belonged to British Aerospace from 1988, was also open to such plans. The decisive impulse, however, came from the success of the Mazda Miata (RX7), which mixed up the open two-seater market.

At ROVER, financially kept rather short under BAe, the company worked on the predecessor of the later MGF, but the resources of the development department were completely exhausted with the planning of new limousine models following the Leyland products and the cooperation with Honda. Because the MGF would not be ready for production before the middle of the 90s, it was necessary to act quickly to keep the brand name MG alive.At ROVER, financially kept rather short under BAe, the company worked on the predecessor of the later MGF, but the resources of the development department were completely exhausted with the planning of new limousine models following the Leyland products and the cooperation with Honda. Because the MGF would not be ready for production before the middle of the 90s, it was necessary to act quickly to keep the brand name MG alive.

With a mini-budget of only 5 million pounds, a sports car was needed that raised the brand's reputation back into consciousness, surpassed the performance of the last MG model as far as possible and was inexpensive to produce. The project "Adder" (viper, adder) started.
To this end, engineers and workers who had literally retired were brought back into production. Rover set up Rover Special Products in 1990 and gave the go-ahead for the development of an MG based on the post-produced MGB parts in small series. In addition, the Rover V8 came just in time. From the old MG B chassis, doors and trunk lid remained, fenders, engine hood and car front were redesigned. The new panels were produced by Abbey Panels and corresponded to the overall high quality level achieved with the Heritage parts.

Already in June 1991 Rover released the project MG RV8, in the following January the prototype could be presented to the Rover dealers. From June 1992 the first brochures were available. On 20 October, the Birmingham Motor Show provided the setting for the public presentation of the RV8, which Rover Chairman John Towers also sees as a finished product for the first time here.

The public and the trade press were very enthusiastic about the Roadster. However, Autocar was rather reserved by writing:
"The bottom line is, and Rover admits, that the RV8 is more of a status symbol than a car where you have fun driving. For us, the RV8 is an anachronism, albeit a strangely likeable one. It's by no means as good as a new car as a TVR or an old car as a Morgan, but on the right day, under the right conditions, it's easy to enjoy and it can even be fun to drive in a boyish, old way. However, if you asked us to part with £25,440 for the pleasure of his company, we would unfortunately have to refuse."

However, the actual goal of putting the name MG back more in the spotlight had been achieved. Waiting for the MGF would now be less painful. Many a reader may have looked at the RV8 longingly and hope that soon an MG will appear that would be more in keeping with his wallet.

The disadvantage was that in 1992/3 Great Britain suffered from a recession. Therefore, the Tokyo Auto Show in October 1993 came very handy - Rover was still able to take 1,300 orders for the car at the fair. No major adjustments were necessary for this market. The first RV8s for Japan left England in January 1994.

On 22 November 1995 the last RV8 left England - also in the direction of Japan. Since only right-hand drive cars were produced, the US market and the continental European market remained unmanned. About 1580 - the numbers vary between 1579 and 1583 depending on the source - cars were exported to Japan, about 330 - also these numbers vary between 311 and 330 - remained in Great Britain. In the meantime, some have been reimported from Japan or sold to Australia, as Japan itself has no private used car market.