Damian Jones, Head of Sales for H&H Classics comments: “Very much a wolf in wolf’s clothing, final styling was by Peter Stevens, responsible for the McLaren F1, and this spectacular bewinged rocket is undoubtedly a modern classic.”

The SV-R was released a year after the tamer SV and boasts a Roush tuned 5-litre 32-valve Modular V8 rated at 385 bhp which reputedly enabled it to sprint from 0 to 60mph in 4.9 seconds and on to a terminal velocity of 175 mph.

This stunning car has covered just 15,000 miles from new and averaged a mere 400 per annum for the last decade. Only used in sunny weather the two-seater has otherwise been kept garaged. It was exhibited at Salon Privé's Performance & Prestige event as a Top 10 finalist in the Super V8 category in September 2018.

Located in Surrey, the MG was purchased by the vendor in April 2010 and boasts a 'full service history' with maintenance carried out annually in accordance with the manufacturer’s guidelines at SV specialists Luffields Cars and Maidstone Sports Cars. MOT'd and Taxed every year, the vendor claims to have pampered the Coupe on a ‘no expense spared’ basis.

The SV and SV-R have their roots in the De Tomaso (later Kvale) Mangusta, a limited edition Italian-American supercar which was fully homologated for the US market, and were designed to be raw-edged drivers’ machines. Sadly with an asking price of £65,000 for the SV and £82,950 for the SV-R, the two MG models were competing against the likes of Porsche’s 911 and Mercedes-Benz’s SL55 AMG which both offered considerably more refinement and sophistication.

Nevertheless with its radical Peter Stevens styling, muscular American V8 engine, F1 engineer designed chassis and extensive use of carbonfibre, the MG XPower SV-R was always destined to be a classic; a status only cemented by its rarity.