MG ZT-T 385

It was an obvious thing to do. MG had already shoehorned the 4.6-litre V8 Ford engine into the excellent BMW-developed 75 series with 260bhp on tap. Sales were stronger than expected and so there was only one course of action to take - install a supercharged engine with more power!

The board sanctioned the development department to build several cars with the 385bhp Roush supercharged Mustang engine and these proved sufficiently tempting for John Edwards, one of the controlling four directors, to order one as his company car. Although intended to be a regular production version, this turned out to be the sole production car built on line, and is documented as such with its own XPower certificate of Authenticity and is well known as such within MG circles.

Built using a manual MG ZT-T 260 SE as a base, the only differences were the removal of the cruise control and engine managed traction control due to differences in the electrics, and the fitting of slightly wider 245 section tyres on the rear. It was specified as a 'no sunroof' model and its current owner has more recently added factory roof rails and an XPower through-flow exhaust (well you would, wouldn’t you?). He has also upgraded the satnav to the series 4 DVD based system. Autocar magazine got their hands on the car for their 7th March 2006 edition and gave it a brief yet complimentary write-up. Following a period wearing a private number, it has been re-united with its original registration number which is non-transferable.

Reported to take just 4.8 seconds to reach 60mph, 12.8 seconds to get to 100mph and have a theoretical top speed of 178mph, yet still remain tractable and reliable, this package makes for a very tempting proposition. Apart from its subtle badging – nobody would guess what it’s capable of.

BX54 KJE has covered some 32,000 miles from new and has a full MG service history. It was last serviced at 29,500 miles and has had a recent set of new tyres. It comes with the remainder of its warranty which expires at the end of January 2011 and which can be transfered to the new owner. It is MOTd until October 2011 and taxed until March 2011. Dating from 2004, this is one leviathan that you can still afford to tax.

With supercharger conversions to existing ZT 260 models costing in excess of £7,000, this unique piece of history is not only a more cost-effective route, but a genuine MG produced car with a fascinating history as well as being a practical and reliable supercar to (with a) boot.