By Tiago Nova
In the 1990s, with the appearance of the Mazda MX-5 to revitalise a segment that had been somewhat forgotten - and being inspired by the small British sports convertibles - MG couldn't throw away the opportunity to revive its iconic models, thus replacing its MGB model and its most recent reincarnation, the MG RV8, which had had no direct successor.
With this in mind, the British brand designed the mid-engined, rear-wheel drive sports car it called the MGF, and production began for the British market in 1995. This was also the first MG completely designed by the brand since the MGB, which had been launched in 1962.
Taking advantage of the relaunch of a sports model, MG also wanted to revive the tradition of its speed records, set between 1930 and 1959 on the Bonneville Salt Flats. To this end, it began developing Project EX253 in 1997, later known as the MG EXF.
The MG EXF used most of the original components of the traditional F, including the Hydragas suspension. The exceptions were the aesthetic changes needed to make it more aerodynamic, such as the elongated rear, the removal of the windscreen, having only one seat and the passenger seat being covered.
As well as the aerodynamics, the engine wasn't original to the MGF either, as it used a Rover K-Series engine; however, instead of the 1.8L used in the road model, the 1.4L equipped with a turbo was chosen, developing 334hp of power at 7000rpm and 336Nm of torque. The turbo is a Garrett T2, while the water-cooled intercooler comes from the Aston Martin DB7. The engine was developed with the help of Janspeed. Mated to the engine was a five-speed manual gearbox taken from a Rover 220 Turbo, with modifications.
With an aerodynamic coefficient of just 0.25, the MG EXF reached a speed of 349.8 km/h with Terry Kilbourne at the controls, during SpeedWeek at Bonneville on 20 August 1997, in category F (1100 to 1500cc), far exceeding the target of 321 km/h.
