Fans of the MG SV have...

Fans of the MG SV have never had it so good! Even though production of the dramatic coupé ended officially in 2005, buyers can now pick up a brand new version at a knockdown price.

We found 17 models up for grabs, 10 of them brand new and unregistч­ered, at online auction house Wyles Hardy and Co. Included in the sale are a number of rare development cars, such as the supercharged SV-S, a Paris Motor Show stand model and at least one example used by former MG Rover boss John Edwards. They all represent the last remnants of the MG Sports and Racing Limited high-performance division that was forced into administration in April 2005.

While the seller won’t reveal exact figures, it is believed that prices will undercut those of the original car – which ranged from чЈ65,000 up to чЈ85,000 – by a long way. This could come as bad news for William Riley, who started assembling his SV-based MG X-Power WR earlier this month.

The Worcestershire-based businessman is related to the founders of the famous Riley car brand, and bought the remaining carbon fibre bodies and rolling chassis from the Italian coachbuilder employed by MG Rover at the time of its collapse.

Yet his versions are priced betч­ween чЈ75,000 and чЈ90,000, and so are likely to be considerably more expensive than the models on offer from Wyles Hardy and Co. Proч­duction of the Rileys is limited to only six a month at presч­ent, with seven examples having found homes so far.

But there’s good news for workers at MG’s old Longbridge factory in the West Midlands. The brand’s Chinese owner, NAC MG UK, has revealed production of the mid-engined TF LE500 roadster will start on 1 August, with the first cars on sale in September.

The announcement was made by boss He Xiao Qing, who also confirmed that assembly of a new family of cars will take place at Longч­bridge over the coming years.