Back when MG Rover was first formed, in 2000, a shift towards making its cars sportier, more youthful and more driver-focused was considered essential. The new MG Z Cars would be it, a marketing masterstroke, in fact, but behind its creation was a drive to achieve even more: halo car… a sporting flagship that would really make MG stand out. Nick Stephenson, one of the four Phoenix directors who negotiated the purchase of the Rover assets from BMW, was the driving force behind this project and the target was 500bhp.
Using the MG X10 as a basis (the car that would become the ZT), Stephenson set MG’s new Sports and Racing division, XPower, on a quest to develop the new range-topper. It would also be used as a launch pad for the new ZT 260, a rear-drive evolution of the ZT featuring a 4.6-litre Ford Mustang V8.
It was announced right at the start, just a week before the Z Cars arrived in showrooms in 2001. The first public unveiling of the XPower 500 took place outside the hotel engaged for the MG Z saloon range press launch on 2nd July 2001. It sat with its XPower Grey and Green colour scheme making a huge statement to all those arriving.
Opening the bonnet proved that it was ready to go, too, and, on several occasions, MG Rover’s engineers would firerunner. The ZT 500 might have been a long way from roadworthy but it was important to show that it worked.
