(2004) MG XPOWER SV-R VS MG4 XPOWER (2023)

The 429bhp Chinese hot hatch meets its troubled, V8-engined namesake. Is there any relation?

- GREG POTTS

OH MY WORD, I'D FORGOTTEN ALL ABOUT THE XPOWER SV...

How could you? This is Britain's own muscle car. A TVR-rivalling flagship MG that was all set to fire the company into a new and prosperous era in a blaze of V8 noise and fury. It's the car manufactured in Modena and finished in... Longbridge. It was built to take on the Porsche 911. It, erm, didn't quite go to plan.

AND WHAT'S THAT BRIGHT ORANGE THING NEXT TO IT?

Ah yes, that's the MG4 XPower - the new-age flagship (at least until the two-door Cyberster sports car arrives on UK shores) that has resurrected the old name. You'll know that MG is now owned by the state-owned Chinese megacorp SAIC, and by all accounts is doing rather well too, with well-priced family EVs its bread and butter.

REMIND ME OF THE OLDTIMER'S STORY...