Britain's MG Brings Back the Classic GT Layout

MG Expected to Bring New GT Concept to Life

MG, the classic British sports car firm which no longer sells cars in North America, has come up with a concept car intended

MG, the classic British sports car firm, has dug into its past and produced a concept car intended to whet the appetite of automotive enthusiasts around the world. (Photo: MG Rover Group)

to whet the appetite of automotive enthusiasts around the world by digging into the company's rich history.

America's love affair with the open-topped, lightweight sports car can be traced back through a lineage of British machines such as the Austin-Healey 'Bugeye' Sprite, and the Triumph TR-series, but it was MG's low-horsepower, minimalist TB and TC models of the mid-to-late '40s that provided levels of excitement few other vehicles could.

Today, MG offers a wide variety of vehicles, from the zippy ZR hatchback and ZS

While the next generation TF roadster is still a few years away, engineers and market analysts at MG wanted a model to bridge the waiting period. (Photo: MG Rover Group)

sports sedan, to the refined BMW-designed ZT midsize and the ZT-T sports wagon. MG also sells the SV, a high-horsepower, carbon fiber-bodied supercar with enough brute force to overturn the most powerful Porsches, Jaguars and Maseratis.

While this array of performance-tuned cars represents the bulk of the MG range, only one model has preserved the heritage of the "Octagon" and its two-seat roadsters -- the mid-engined, Miata-sized TF, a car that captures the essence of MG's glory days.