MG’s modern-day Pantera
Your article comparing the De Tomaso Pantera GTS and Lamborghini Countach ( CCW, 17 March) reminded me of something when you mentioned the natural home for a Detroit iron-block in a car is up front behind a gaping grille to disperse heat. It dawned on me how there were parallels with another ultra-rare and rarely mentioned supercar, notably the MG XPower SV. In fact not just parallels, but a shared gene pool, as a later De Tomaso product known as the Bigua morphed into a Qvale Mangusta, which in 2001 provided the basis for the MG.
Like the Pantera, the SV uses a Ford Mustang V8 engine in either 4.6- or five-litre guise, although now with an aluminium block and in a traditional position up front. Plus there are many other products from the parts bins of Rover, Ford, Fiat and Maserati.
Like the Pantera, this gives the SV an ease of maintenance with relatively low costs and an almost bulletproof engine that is still relatively cheap to replace if needed. Where the SV differs from the Pantera is in using carbon fibre technology for its body, which raised eyebrows at the time.
In terms of performance, the SV has a superb chassis designed by Giordano Casarini who learned his trade at De Tomaso. The SV has also ended up being the much rarer car, with only 80-85 examples known to exist post-MG Rover’s demise in 2005.
Of course, I’m naturally a big fan – I’ve got an SV-R sitting in my garage!
▪ Colin Withers, Somerset