In the early days of MG Rover Group Ltd., a new-found optimism ran through the company as its engineers looked in all directions to find new ways of making the MG brand great again, including the unlikely but welcome adoption of the Ford Mustang 4.6-litre V8 engine. At the time, Kevin Jones was the company press and PR chief. Here, he recalls both models in turn, how they came about and what they meant…
MG ZT V8, a quite formidable interpretation of fun
For the MG ZT press launch at St. David’s hotel in Cardiff, in 2001, it was as much about the promise of what was to follow as it was about the cars we were launching.
While the new ZT captured the spirit of the time, the prospect of the press getting their sticky-mitts on the ZT XPower 500 show car we had created was even more tantalising, with its large 4.6-litre V8 up front, driving the car’s rear wheels.
Consequently, the attending journalistic audience was so pumped-up on adrenaline (and free alcohol) that
