Born-again MG Midget
Might be a good time to dust off the stringback gloves and leather flying cap and gogglesWhy, you ask? Well, believe it or not, a modern-day version of the MG Midget could surface as early as next year, according to industry journal Automotive News.
Be aware, though, that the contemporary interpretation would be a far cry from the bone-rattling original -- media reports suggest it will be a rebadged version of the now-defunct smart roadster.
The smart roadster would be familiar to some Australian buyers, as it was launched here in November 2003, priced from $37,990. It was powered by a 698cc three-cylinder turbo engine with 60kW -- enough for a claimed 0-100km/h split of 10.9 seconds (not ballistic, but far quicker than the original MG Midget).
AN suggests the born-again Midget would be marketed by the UK-based Kimber consortium, which comprises former execs from Lotus, Jaguar, Mercedes-Benz and McLaren.
DaimlerChrysler earlier this year provisionally agreed to license the rights to the roadster to the British consortium, which is led by David James, one of the failed bidders for MG's parent company, Rover, which folded last year.
Kimber will work in tandem with China's Nanjing Automobile Corporation (which acquired MG Rover in mid-2005) to market and distribute the MG Midget-badged Roadsters.
It is believed the reborn Midget could debut at the Geneva motor show in March 2007, and Kimber is reportedly eyeing production volumes of 7000 cars next year and 11,000 annually by the end of the decade.
Although the basic architecture of the smart roadster will survive unscathed in the Midget, a conventional manual gearbox is tipped to replace the former's six-speed sequential unit.
A new three-cylinder powerplant supplied by Mitsubishi could also be destined for the two-seat convertible. This unit will also feature in the next-generation smart fortwo.
Meanwhile, an additional MG model, derived from the TF and targeted at the US market, is said to be under development, and a launch date of 2010 or 2011 is being bandied about.
Kimber is reported to have recruited Paolo Caccamo, former Bertone boss and design advisor of Turin's IDEA Institute, to lead the design team.
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