New MG TF LE500 two-seat roadster to cost £16,399
New MG TF LE500 might find Mazda MX-5 harder nut and bolt to crack
Author: Chris Barker
Published: 03 July 2008
Designed, engineered and now finally being built in the UK, the very British-looking new MG TF LE500 two-seater roadster can be swapped for a cheque, banker’s draft or good, old-fashioned cash totalling £16,399.
£16,399 will get you a 1.8-litre highly-specified sports car that’s breathed new life into the ailing MG marquee. Yet, it’s surprisingly £650 more than the entry-level Mazda MX-5 – the £15,750 MX-5 1.8-litre – and crucially the TF’s historic nemesis.
UK car buyers will have to look smart, as initially the MG TF LE500 is going to be a limited-edition sports car, limited to 500 units, as a sort of toe in the water popularity exercise for the rear-wheel driven two-seat roadster.
A 134bhp, 1.8-litre 16V four-cylinder engine will stir the TF LE500, which promises 121lb-ft of torque when it finds its hard revving feet.
A body-coloured hardtop shell, a unique piano black interior peppered with sports style leather seats, parking sensors, a Pioneer MP3-compatible audio assimilation and the unavoidable LE500 vinyl graphics scrawled across the coachwork, applied to badge work and sewn into the trim are the essential nods to 2008 that should strike some chords with those hankering after the great British motoring past.
Alloys can be requested in either chrome or matt black finish, whatever takes your fancy most.
With first deliveries due to commence in September this year, it will be interesting to see how the MG TF does this time round. When sprightly MGs were last seen zipping along the UK's A-roads, it was then basking in the knowledge that is was the country’s best-selling small sports car, giving the Mazda MX5 a fair run for its ‘as then’ money.
The number of pages filled in order books between now and September will give us some indication whether new MG can repeat the success of the MG of old.
Summer is in the air and a young motorist´s fancy turns to open-top driving. Never fear, we round up the best ten cabrios under £20K.
The British car industry: Who owns who; what names might return; and whatever happened to Austin, Rover and Morris?
Car production has restarted at the Longbridge plant in Birmingham, with the first of the new MG TF models leaving the production line.
MG has announced that production of the TF LE500 sportscar will commence at the Longbridge plant in Birmingham at the beginning of August, with the first cars delivered to showrooms in September.
SAIC - owners the Longbridge plant and the rights to produce MG-badged cars - has said that it is committed to restarting production of the MG TF sports car at Longbridge by July.
advertisement
Cow pats, coffee beans, deceased cats and dirty nappies might not sound the sort of stuff you want to fill your car with, but all have been posited as potential alternative fuels to oil. | 05/09/2008
As more drivers turn to all-road estate cars to fill the gap left by a gargantuan 4X4, MT scouts Volvo, Audi and Subaru to see how the leading lights shape up against one another. | 05/09/2008
Gas guzzling manufacturers suffer as high taxes and petrol prices bite, but bad news for manufacturers could be good news for buyers. | 05/09/2008
Toyota has revealed new images of the new ultra-small iQ city car, which will go on sale in the UK in January from around £10,000. | 05/09/2008
England spinner Monty Panesar becomes brand ambassador for Jaguar and collects a brand new XKR sports car from the Big Cat. | 05/09/2008
|05/09/2008
Toyota has revealed new images of the new ultra-small iQ city car, which will go on sale in the UK in January from around £10,000.
|05/09/2008
New-car and van registrations in August drop 20 per cent over the month, used car values are worst since early-90s recession. The recession hits the UK car market.
|04/09/2008
Volkswagen’s new Scirocco coupe arrives in UK showrooms this week, priced from a shade under £21K, yet can be yours for £259 per month courtesy of VW’s personal contract plan.
|05/09/2008
Cow pats, coffee beans, deceased cats and dirty nappies might not sound the sort of stuff you want to fill your car with, but all have been posited as potential alternative fuels to oil.
|04/09/2008
Hyundai rolling up to Paris Motor Show brimming with new models and concepts. Like the world debut-making Hyundai i20 supermini, and all-new Santa Fe petrol-electric hybrid SUV crossover and ix55 SUV.
|20/11/2007
Around 400 people a day risk damaging their car by misfuelling, and filling up with gas is a mistake that could cost thousands. So what do you do if you´ve filled up your diesel car with unleaded petrol?
|06/12/2007
Fuel protests similar to those that brought the UK to a halt in 2000 are being planned by a breakaway group of disaffected hauliers, according to press reports.
|14/03/2008
Jeremy Clarkson, James May and Richard Hammond will take the multi award-winning BBC TV Top Gear show on the road, as the live event goes worldwide.
|28/03/2008
Volkswagen has been forced to issue a statement on the Polo singing dog advert after complaints that the dog was mistreated. VW says the animal was not harmed.
|05/01/2007
Using new ´dust-to-dust´ scales that measure a vehicle´s environmental impact from construction to scarpping the Jeep Wrangler 4x4 surprisingly emerged as the greenest car on the market
Search Motortorque:
No readers comments
Be the first to write a comment on this article