When the liquidation sale of MG Sport and Racing was held in 2006, the Trust was able to purchase MG EX255, the last of the factory record breaking streamliners. Unfortunately, the car did not come with its engine. Recently the Trust has been able to reunite the two, acquiring the engine from race preparation experts Janspeed. The 4.8 litre engine, based on the venerable Rover V8 block, is a highly engineered piece of work. With the help of twin turbochargers, the power developed is a massive 960bhp.
MG EX255, with an MGF silhouette over a spaceframe, first appeared on the Utah salt flats in 1999 – the intention, to break the 255mph class record set back in 1959 by Phil Hill in MG EX181 (which is also in the Trust’s collection). This time, MG was out of luck and a series of technical hiccups prevented a proper record challenge.
Work has begun at Gaydon on installing the engine back into the EX255, with the aim of having a running car in the future.
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