Hey Zack, my dad and I want to start a youtube channel reviewing cars, but we want to know how you review cars without a dealer in the vehicle with you. When we went to try, a dealer sat in the car with us. I'm assuming you have to build a trust level with them, but I just wanted to know your process! Thanks
This drives so well and looks vintage because it's a lightly modernized MG MGB. Rover saw how successful the Miata was so they dusted off the old MGB tooling and gave it a little aerodynamic facelift. It's not just the old workers, it's the old platform too. This has the famous Rover V8 that can be traced back to the aluminum Buick V8 of the 60s. The Rover V8 was usually tuned for smoothness and reliability but they can be tuned up pretty easily to make more power. That door sounds so solid and old-school. The seats look very comfortable. I wouldn't mind having one. Japan loooves England and old British cars. The original Mini was tremendously popular over there and was kept in production all the way until 2000 pretty much just for Japan.
Right. Prepare for a lore dump: What you drove was an MGB with a body kit. That's why it has leaf springs. Rover (the remnant of British Leyland, the successor to BMC, which was a merger between Austin and Morris [MG stands for Morris Garage, or Morris's own speed shop]) just happened to have the old tooling laying around (and, as you said, the old workers laying around too) and somehow Britain's crash test laws permitted them to make a 1962 car with a body kit. The doors, for sure, are interchangeable. As you said, they threw together something special by FINALLY putting the Rover V8 (originally a Buick V8 and the cousin of the 3800... Rover bought that tooling because Americans were too dumb for an aluminium V8 that leaks a lot in 1962), something British Leyland couldn't have been bothered with back in the day because they had a dozen brands and a lot of weird brand loyalty among the workers and management of those brands (see the Triumph Stag and it's awful. awful V8). After the RV8, MG did produce the MGF (an actual successor to the MGB) for many years, which was a mid-engined, rear-drive roadster and rather loved by a lot of people in the UK. Never imported to the US, unfortunately (well, you can now, if you can manage to find one that isn't rusty...). In 2005 Rover/MG (the last two brands of BL) was bought by a Chinese concern and they're... pretty successful over yonder. As a random crossover-maker, as you say.
This car was really just a special run design exercise to show that the brand was worth reviving, which then led to the launch of the MG-F (and later TF) in 1996. That would be a great car to review if you can find one over the pond! After the divorce from BMW in 2000 MG-Rover launched 3 MG cars in 2001, the ZR, ZS and the ZT which were hot versions of their Rover counterparts. The final MG was a V8 too, MG ZT 260 which had a 4.6-litre Mustang V8 under the bonnet. I believe supercharged versions of the V6 and V8 cars was also in the works but sadly never saw the light of day after MG-Rover collapsed in 2005.
No you got numerous things wrong here. This certainly wasn`t the very end of MG, this reintroduced the brand and a little after this released MG brought out a brand new up to date sportscar roadster with the MGF and MG/Rover carried on until 2005. The MG F was a bit like a cross between an MX5 and MR2, being a small mid engined sportscar with various power output options. The MG badge also continued with a range of hot hatchbacks and even a sporty RWD Mustang V8 engined version of the Rover 75 called the MG ZT V8 (Clarkson and Top Gear were big fans as it was a true UK muscle car! Although the engine used was the 4.6ltr with 260bhp) MG were even on the verge of releasing a supercar called the MG XPower SV again using Mustang engines with a choice in powers of 320bhp, 385bhp (0-60 in 5.3 or 4.9 top speeds of 165 and 175mph!) and talk of a supercharged V8 range topping version with 500+bhp! Alas only a handful of these cars ever saw production as Rover/MG went bust in 2005! The MG you mention selling cars today is NOTHING to do with real Rover/MG and is instead a Chinese car manufacturer.
This was not the final MG, the RV8 was the warm up for the MGF and I believe was before BMW owned MG Rover. RV8 is great though apart from not liking traffic when it is warm.
I sold these new and used in Japan, these MG’s were never intentionally made for the Japanese market but a snarky review in a UK motoring magazine describing these as a “cynical rehash” of the original MG V8 put the brakes on UK domestic sales Pretty much a hand built car and I saw and drove enough of these to know there were good ones and not-so-good ones made; one example was so poorly constructed I could get my fingers under the boot lid weatherstripping and into the trunk without opening the trunk… Poor panel gaps and indifferent construction on a few of these…. Nice to drive tho’
Hey Zack, my dad and I want to start a youtube channel reviewing cars, but we want to know how you review cars without a dealer in the vehicle with you. When we went to try, a dealer sat in the car with us. I'm assuming you have to build a trust level with them, but I just wanted to know your process! Thanks
I've never heard of, and cannot find reference to, old retired guys being dragged from their firesides and potting sheds to start building old MGs anew in the 1990s. It's a nice idea, but I've discovered nothing that says the 'special team' that Rover assembled to work on the RV8 were from a retired workforce. What I DO know is that a company called British Motor Heritage, that was set up by British Leyland way back in 1975, were from 1988, and still are now, making brand new replacement MGB bodyshells, so old MGs can be restored. So when 'Rover' wanted to compete with the Miata, they went to British Motor Heritage and used their new MGB shells as the basis of the RV8. With mods and a 'body kit', as somebody has already said. A BRIEF HISTORY OF ROVER - way back when the world was only black and white and had no sound, Morris took over Wolseley and also started MG (Morris Garages) for their sporty models. On the cusp of rock and roll, Austin and Morris joined and formed BMC. Around the time the Beatles released 'Hey Jude', the British government forced Triumph, Rover and Jaguar to join BMC and that formed British Leyland. British Leyland kept all the brand names they'd accumulated (including MG) and mostly, with some exceptions, kept making cars with those brand names in the same factories they'd been made in for years, under the umbrella of one massive, badly managed, under funded parent company. British Leyland was owned by the government, by British Aerospace, by BMW, changed names, dropped brands (but still owned the brand names), got whittled down to a company just known as MG Rover, and got dumped by BMW, who just wanted 'MINI' and wanted to learn about four wheel drive from Land Rover, so 'MG Rover' ended up for around five years just being owned and run by business guys known as the Phoenix Consortium, until the money ran out and then they got screwed trying to partner with the Chinese, who ended up with the MG brand to stick on their lardy electric SUVs, and also continued to make Rover cars in China but called them 'Roewe' instead. Between the RV8 and China gluing MG badges on their lardy electric SUVs, the RV8 served as a stop-gap sports car till MG Rover brought out a 'proper' modern sporty roadster in the 1990s, the mid-engined MGF (later MG TF) which was quite popular for many years and was a valid competitor to the Miata, even if a slightly different flavour of sports car to the Miata. So, the MG brand didn't really fade into obscurity after the RV8, MG was really quite visible on brand new cars up to 2005, and visible on sports cars. And on sports sedans and hatchbacks, with the pepped up MG ZR, ZS and ZT, based on the Rover 25, 45 and 75 models. Whatever MG is now.... well, they certainly are NOT British sports cars, and once, that's all the MG badge ever meant. When I see an MG SUV, I just see an SAIC. It ain't an MG.
Does this guy know much about MG? They didn’t fall back into obscurity, the launched the MG F which was one of the best selling roadsters in the UK ever!
Mein Bruder hat seinen RV8 in British Racing Green neu in Deutschland gekauft. Nach Deutschland kamen um die 50 Fahrzeuge. Das Fahrzeug wurde wenig gefahren und hat erst etwas mehr als 30.000 km auf dem Tacho. Der Wagen hat eine Klimaanlage, welche den Fussraum für den Beifahrer sehr eingeschränkt. Der RV8 hätte unbedingt mit einer Servolenkung ausgestattet sein müsse, da die Lenkung beim rangieren sehr schwergängig ist. Der RV8 ist bei höheren Geschwindigkeiten gerade bei Querrillen mit Vorsicht zu genießen, da er hier ziemlich stark versetzt. Er ist aber ein schönes Auto.
I'm not really much of an enthusiast compared to when I was a car-obsessed teenager, but that is one glorious machine! Would it be the ultimate evolution of the MGB?
A green car for St. Patrick’s day! Celebrate safe everyone! 🍀
I would love for you to come down here to Fort Myers fl. To review my r55 mini clubman jcw if you’re still here and happy st. Patrick’s Day!
You too
I was thinking the same thing!
Hey Zack, my dad and I want to start a youtube channel reviewing cars, but we want to know how you review cars without a dealer in the vehicle with you. When we went to try, a dealer sat in the car with us. I'm assuming you have to build a trust level with them, but I just wanted to know your process! Thanks
This drives so well and looks vintage because it's a lightly modernized MG MGB. Rover saw how successful the Miata was so they dusted off the old MGB tooling and gave it a little aerodynamic facelift. It's not just the old workers, it's the old platform too. This has the famous Rover V8 that can be traced back to the aluminum Buick V8 of the 60s. The Rover V8 was usually tuned for smoothness and reliability but they can be tuned up pretty easily to make more power.
That door sounds so solid and old-school. The seats look very comfortable. I wouldn't mind having one. Japan loooves England and old British cars. The original Mini was tremendously popular over there and was kept in production all the way until 2000 pretty much just for Japan.
A bit disappointing if he doesn't explain the history properly, I haven't got to the end though. The mgb gt v8 of the 70s used the same motor...
Right. Prepare for a lore dump:
What you drove was an MGB with a body kit. That's why it has leaf springs. Rover (the remnant of British Leyland, the successor to BMC, which was a merger between Austin and Morris [MG stands for Morris Garage, or Morris's own speed shop]) just happened to have the old tooling laying around (and, as you said, the old workers laying around too) and somehow Britain's crash test laws permitted them to make a 1962 car with a body kit. The doors, for sure, are interchangeable.
As you said, they threw together something special by FINALLY putting the Rover V8 (originally a Buick V8 and the cousin of the 3800... Rover bought that tooling because Americans were too dumb for an aluminium V8 that leaks a lot in 1962), something British Leyland couldn't have been bothered with back in the day because they had a dozen brands and a lot of weird brand loyalty among the workers and management of those brands (see the Triumph Stag and it's awful. awful V8).
After the RV8, MG did produce the MGF (an actual successor to the MGB) for many years, which was a mid-engined, rear-drive roadster and rather loved by a lot of people in the UK. Never imported to the US, unfortunately (well, you can now, if you can manage to find one that isn't rusty...). In 2005 Rover/MG (the last two brands of BL) was bought by a Chinese concern and they're... pretty successful over yonder. As a random crossover-maker, as you say.
This car was really just a special run design exercise to show that the brand was worth reviving, which then led to the launch of the MG-F (and later TF) in 1996. That would be a great car to review if you can find one over the pond! After the divorce from BMW in 2000 MG-Rover launched 3 MG cars in 2001, the ZR, ZS and the ZT which were hot versions of their Rover counterparts. The final MG was a V8 too, MG ZT 260 which had a 4.6-litre Mustang V8 under the bonnet. I believe supercharged versions of the V6 and V8 cars was also in the works but sadly never saw the light of day after MG-Rover collapsed in 2005.
I love how these look, especially with the factory mesh wheels, British racing green paint and cream leather interior, a proper British sports car.
This was back when MG was really British...now MG is owned by a Chinese company that makes PHEV crossovers and hatchbacks.
Not only by a Chinese company, but by the Chinese government. I believe they just maintained the name, nothing about MG is British anymore.
Excellent video my man!!
That's an awesome car. I've never seen an mg that new
No you got numerous things wrong here. This certainly wasn`t the very end of MG, this reintroduced the brand and a little after this released MG brought out a brand new up to date sportscar roadster with the MGF and MG/Rover carried on until 2005. The MG F was a bit like a cross between an MX5 and MR2, being a small mid engined sportscar with various power output options. The MG badge also continued with a range of hot hatchbacks and even a sporty RWD Mustang V8 engined version of the Rover 75 called the MG ZT V8 (Clarkson and Top Gear were big fans as it was a true UK muscle car! Although the engine used was the 4.6ltr with 260bhp) MG were even on the verge of releasing a supercar called the MG XPower SV again using Mustang engines with a choice in powers of 320bhp, 385bhp (0-60 in 5.3 or 4.9 top speeds of 165 and 175mph!) and talk of a supercharged V8 range topping version with 500+bhp! Alas only a handful of these cars ever saw production as Rover/MG went bust in 2005! The MG you mention selling cars today is NOTHING to do with real Rover/MG and is instead a Chinese car manufacturer.
it looks like a air cooled 9/11, met a tr6, and a miata joined in
This was not the final MG, the RV8 was the warm up for the MGF and I believe was before BMW owned MG Rover. RV8 is great though apart from not liking traffic when it is warm.
Enjoyed the review! (But please fold the top/hood correctly next time!😉)
"Close your eyes..." Hahaa!! This was a fun review Zack!! By the way, I pictured a 1929 Ford Roadster. Yea, I'm fairly certain that MG drives better!
Its my Car since longe Period, built 1994, still Running good with understatement, but souverän. Great.!
I sold these new and used in Japan, these MG’s were never intentionally made for the Japanese market but a snarky review in a UK motoring magazine describing these as a “cynical rehash” of the original MG V8 put the brakes on UK domestic sales Pretty much a hand built car and I saw and drove enough of these to know there were good ones and not-so-good ones made; one example was so poorly constructed I could get my fingers under the boot lid weatherstripping and into the trunk without opening the trunk… Poor panel gaps and indifferent construction on a few of these…. Nice to drive tho’
Mine is in Oxford blue and is one of the last built
Hey Zack, my dad and I want to start a youtube channel reviewing cars, but we want to know how you review cars without a dealer in the vehicle with you. When we went to try, a dealer sat in the car with us. I'm assuming you have to build a trust level with them, but I just wanted to know your process! Thanks
So cool!
The same slovenly Midlander that built my '73 may have built this one? Oh no.
Want.
Safety of a pinto
I've never heard of, and cannot find reference to, old retired guys being dragged from their firesides and potting sheds to start building old MGs anew in the 1990s. It's a nice idea, but I've discovered nothing that says the 'special team' that Rover assembled to work on the RV8 were from a retired workforce. What I DO know is that a company called British Motor Heritage, that was set up by British Leyland way back in 1975, were from 1988, and still are now, making brand new replacement MGB bodyshells, so old MGs can be restored. So when 'Rover' wanted to compete with the Miata, they went to British Motor Heritage and used their new MGB shells as the basis of the RV8. With mods and a 'body kit', as somebody has already said. A BRIEF HISTORY OF ROVER - way back when the world was only black and white and had no sound, Morris took over Wolseley and also started MG (Morris Garages) for their sporty models. On the cusp of rock and roll, Austin and Morris joined and formed BMC. Around the time the Beatles released 'Hey Jude', the British government forced Triumph, Rover and Jaguar to join BMC and that formed British Leyland. British Leyland kept all the brand names they'd accumulated (including MG) and mostly, with some exceptions, kept making cars with those brand names in the same factories they'd been made in for years, under the umbrella of one massive, badly managed, under funded parent company. British Leyland was owned by the government, by British Aerospace, by BMW, changed names, dropped brands (but still owned the brand names), got whittled down to a company just known as MG Rover, and got dumped by BMW, who just wanted 'MINI' and wanted to learn about four wheel drive from Land Rover, so 'MG Rover' ended up for around five years just being owned and run by business guys known as the Phoenix Consortium, until the money ran out and then they got screwed trying to partner with the Chinese, who ended up with the MG brand to stick on their lardy electric SUVs, and also continued to make Rover cars in China but called them 'Roewe' instead. Between the RV8 and China gluing MG badges on their lardy electric SUVs, the RV8 served as a stop-gap sports car till MG Rover brought out a 'proper' modern sporty roadster in the 1990s, the mid-engined MGF (later MG TF) which was quite popular for many years and was a valid competitor to the Miata, even if a slightly different flavour of sports car to the Miata. So, the MG brand didn't really fade into obscurity after the RV8, MG was really quite visible on brand new cars up to 2005, and visible on sports cars. And on sports sedans and hatchbacks, with the pepped up MG ZR, ZS and ZT, based on the Rover 25, 45 and 75 models. Whatever MG is now.... well, they certainly are NOT British sports cars, and once, that's all the MG badge ever meant. When I see an MG SUV, I just see an SAIC. It ain't an MG.
1st view, like & comment 🙌🏼
From Bangladesh 🇧🇩
This car looks gorgeous ❤️
Does this guy know much about MG? They didn’t fall back into obscurity, the launched the MG F which was one of the best selling roadsters in the UK ever!
Mein Bruder hat seinen RV8 in British Racing Green neu in Deutschland gekauft. Nach Deutschland kamen um die 50 Fahrzeuge. Das Fahrzeug wurde wenig gefahren und hat erst etwas mehr als 30.000 km auf dem Tacho. Der Wagen hat eine Klimaanlage, welche den Fussraum für den Beifahrer sehr eingeschränkt. Der RV8 hätte unbedingt mit einer Servolenkung ausgestattet sein müsse, da die Lenkung beim rangieren sehr schwergängig ist. Der RV8 ist bei höheren Geschwindigkeiten gerade bei Querrillen mit Vorsicht zu genießen, da er hier ziemlich stark versetzt. Er ist aber ein schönes Auto.
Superb road test and review of a car that i fell in love with back in the 90s!
Doug Demuro would go nuts for this thing.....
Please fold the hood (roof) properly…
I'm not really much of an enthusiast compared to when I was a car-obsessed teenager, but that is one glorious machine! Would it be the ultimate evolution of the MGB?
I’ve got one in Nightfire Red ! One of 152 in that colour ! It’s an awesome car to own and drive ! Trust Me 😍👍🙏🏻❤️
Yippee
The RV8 is a fantastic car. I will absolutely own one to compliment my MGBs one day