One of the many unfortunate consequences of the MG-Rover Group's demise was the curtailment of an ambitious competitions programme that had re-established the famous MG marque as a major force in international touring and sports car racing.

The basis of this resurgence was a series of high-performance road models, at the pinnacle of which was the sensational MG XPower SV Coupé.

The basis of MG's new supercar was the shelved Qvale Mangusta project.

MG entrusted exterior design to Peter Stevens, the renowned Royal College of Art designer responsible for the McLaren F1, the last Lotus Elan, Jaguar's XJR-15 and BMW's 1999 Le Mans winner.

Unveiled at the UK Motor Show in 2002, MG's new high-performance XPower SV flagship was styled in the modern idiom yet retained sufficient styling cues from MG Rover's production cars to remain recognisably related.

It can have surprised few onlookers when Stevens won the Autocar 'Designer of the Year' award in 2002.

The MG XPower SV was powered by a...