MG’s most expensive vehicle ever sold in Australia could be the catalyst for cheaper sports cars if the brand’s head of design gets his way.
Speaking to CarExpert ahead of the Cyberster going on sale in Australia, Carl Gotham – studio design director for MG’s parent SAIC Motor – said a sports car to bridge the gap between the brand’s new electric roadster and its budget-friendly family models is on the wishlist.
“The brand’s got such a stable of really great cars. Clearly it’s famous for doing small, approachable, let’s say easy, sports cars,” said Mr Gotham.
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Carl Gotham (left)
“I think something a little lighter and even more accessible, bring that price down a little bit further. Maybe just a bit more balance – not quite as extreme in terms of performance or even features.
“[I’d] just position it somewhere in the middle to complement the whole portfolio [is] what we’d propose next.”
At $115,000 before on-road costs, the MG Cyberster is well and truly the brand’s dearest model to be sold in Australia, surpassing the Ford V8-powered ZT 260 which was listed at $89,990 plus on-roads 20 years ago.
It’s launching here only in its most powerful dual-motor all-wheel drive configuration, with total system outputs of 375kW of power and 725Nm of torque – good for a 0-100km/h time of just 3.2 seconds.
MG’s next-cheapest model in Australia is the $55,000 MG4 XPower, an electric hot hatch.
The brand has been without a convertible in its local lineup since the TF of the mid-2000s, with the electric Cyberster bringing it into the modern age in more ways than one.
While the Cyberster is a far cry from the MGAs and MGBs of old, which provided relatively affordable open-top motoring, the classic models provide clear inspiration to the look of the modern roadster.
“The two cars that we kind of took most of the spirit from were the MGA and the MGB,” Mr Gotham said.
“We’ve got this more streamlined body – aerodynamics are playing a big effect on cars at the moment, especially EVs – so that kind of look and feel of the MGA with its very low nose and long front fenders and the rear haunches have played into the design of Cyberster.
“[With] the windscreen being still set back, we don’t have an engine obviously in this car, but we still wanted it to feel and be appealing of the sports car.
“I think we avoided some of the cliches [which have] established quite quickly for EVs where windscreens [have] got to be really far forward.
“On Cyberster we deliberately kept it a little bit more classic in terms of its look and feel, so it does relate a little bit more to the past, but then the way that the forms and the details are executed kind of brings it all really up to date.
“And things like the headlamps, we were trying to keep them more open and a little bit more soft and approachable because that’s always something that’s been important for MG as a brand.
“It’s not a super aggressive sports brand – it’s always been a relatively soft and approachable and easy sporting brand. We wanted to still capture some of that aspect.
“There’s a few good elements [of MGA/MGB] in there, but it’s not overtly a pastiche of the past. It does pay respect and brings it firmly into the future.”
Deliveries of the MG Cyberster have now begun in Australia.
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