The Cyberster roadster, due on sale before 2024 as an affordable halo car for MG, has been officially previewed by the brand – suggesting an unveiling is finally on the horizon.
In a video posted to social media (below), MG showed off the roadster’s sleek, long-nosed silhouette, electric folding canvas roof, yoke steering wheel, two-tone sports seats and distinctive LED headlights. Other definitive design cues visible at this early stage include a subtle ‘ducktail’ rear spoiler and a rear lighting design modelled on the Union Jack – a nod to MG’s British roots.
Tellingly, MG captioned the video ‘return of the legend’, which strongly suggests the final production car will resurrect a sporting nameplate from the brand’s illustrious past; earlier this year, the brand trademarked the name MG C EV – a name which references a lesser-known, straight-six-powered version of the brand-defining MG B from the late 1960s.
Return of the legend#MGMotors #MGCars #MGCarLaunch #GetMoreWithMG pic.twitter.com/06VUhlcOyi
— MG Motor UK (@MGmotor) August 1, 2022
The two-seat electric sports car was previewed as an outlandish concept in 2021, which company bosses said was given the green light for production after receiving more than 5000 expressions of interest from potential buyers.
The official preview and recently filed design patents show just how far the design has come since that concept and indicate that the Cyberster – which will essentially serve as an electric rival to the likes of the Mazda MX-5 – is nearly ready for an official unveiling.
While the production car’s silhouette bears a visual relation to that earlier concept, it’s all change elsewhere, with a total redesign bringing the car into line with MG’s production models and rendering it compliant with global homologation rules. It sits higher than before, for example, the wheels are smaller and wrapped in chunkier tyres, the headlights are now uncovered and the gaping front grille panel has been swapped for what looks to be a subtler, decorative item, perhaps housing an array of sensors.
It still looks to be a two-seater, though features a folding roof rather than sticking with the concept’s open-cockpit arrangement, and the prominent streamliners running from the headrests to the trailing edge of the boot lid are gone.