MG has unveiled a new prototype race car as part of the firm’s 90th anniversary celebrations.
The MG Trophy Concept is based on the MG3 built in Longbridge but bears little resemblance to the production car.
The Trophy was produced in just three months by a specialist engineering team in Birmingham.
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Fitted with a 1.5-litre petrol engine producing 204bhp, almost double the engine’s normal power output, it was unveiled at the MG 90 celebrations taking place at Silverstone last weekend.
The circuit, which hosts the Formula 1 Santander British Grand Prix in a fortnight, proved the perfect setting for the Trophy to be put through its paces by Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship drivers Jason Plato and Sam Tordoff.
Plato and Tordoff are the drivers in the MG KX Clubcard Fuel Save Racing team, now competing in the series for the third year in a race car based on the MG6 GT.
MG said it had produced the Trophy Concept to gauge the level of interest in it from the motor racing world.
Adrian Guyll, who led the team of seven who worked on it, said: “We designed it, procured the parts, built it and tested it in just three months - a record. Given the timescale it is a thrill to get it here.”
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The Trophy utilises the company’s 1.5T NSE engine and produces a blistering 260 Nm of torque.
It also features all the adaptations one would expect in a fully-fledged race car.
It is fitted with a roll cage and safety harnesses and has had its rear seats removed to save weight.
Further weight-saving measures also feature, along with a chassis that has double adjustable springs and dampers, an uprated front anti-roll bar and a specially made rear anti-roll bar.
It also has a limited slip differential, upgraded brakes and bushes and 17 in race wheels.
MG said the project was also about continuing the MG tradition of ‘club’ racing with its latest product to come to market.
Further that it demonstrates the firm’s engineering capabilities and shows the potential of the MG3 platform.
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