Concept Car of the Week: MG EX-E

The MG EX-E, developed by Austin Rover and unveiled in 1985, is the subject of our Concept Car of the Week.

Dubbed "The concept car that's too exciting to keep secret", it was a production-feasible project that would act as a blank canvas for all future Austin Rover creations. Roy Axe, Design Director of Rover, designed the car around the Metro 6R4 and had an aluminum chassis and plastic body.

It impressed on its unveiling at the 1985 Frankfurt motor show, partly because up until that point MG only offered the "M" cars - sporting saloons and hatchbacks.

Austin Rover's Managing Director for Product Development, Mark Snowdon, said that the EX-E could be the start of a competition car and could potentially be mass-produced in the near future, although these considerations were sidelined during the EX-E's development. Axe passed on the project to Gordon Sked who worked with Gerry McGovern, who would later design the MG F sportscar.

Despite not making it to production, the MG EX-E's design did influence cars towards the end of the 1980s and the 1990s, one example being the 1989 Honda NSX.

By Rufus Thompson