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The MG Two Seater/Open Top (care of the sunroof)*** But Not as you know it !! ***
>Yes the MG EXPRESS VAN is the official title. Launched in 2001 to catch a tax loophole of that time. The idea of the sales team at MG was to have a van on the ‘company’ instead of a car to produce some significant savings with the tax man. For example if you were a basic rate taxpayer and received ‘free fuel etc’. for your private motoring running a company car could cost you a lot more than driving a van, not a bad idea. Obviously Civil Servants did not fancy driving vans. Now if you were a young company van driver the vehicle was rated as a group 5 whereas the car would be Group 16, ouch!!
Unfortunately for MG not enough people caught onto this idea and only 317 sales were made in the four years of production . The sales were not helped by the motoring press stating that it had, A dated interior , rough ride and an old fashioned feel.’ Just my sort of van, I thought!
On a personal note I think the MG Express looks pretty good to this day, quiet stylish and different (that’s why I bought it).
Weight wise it is lighter than the ZR car as there are no rear seats. The rear part of the body shell is stiffer due to the load bed welded to the floor area to provide a flat floor area for goods in transit. Comfort features include air conditioning (when I get it working) and a full electric sunroof for those hot summer days.
Roadholding is very good due to uprated suspension, 17inch wheels with low profile tyres resulting in a comfortable but firm ride. Stopping is successfully achieved by the enlarged disc brakes all round, backed up with ABS. My particular van is a factory built special edition with a 1.8litre VVC engine which gets me to from 0-60 in 7 seconds and maybe a top speed of 130+. With a gentle foot on the throttle 37mpg is possible but usually a lesser figure is obtained but with much more fun!
This is not the perfect example of a second hand van (which was reflected in the purchase price), so I will have to get various tasks sorted to make it, ‘A decent motor Terry’ for everyday use. Well it keeps me out of mischief, well at least up to the speed limits, and my spanners in use.
Neil & Pammy Marks | |
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