It’s one reason why they are so cheap now: there are plenty of them, they have long been cheap enough to be used as a household’s second or third car, receiving minimal maintenance, and this in turn has accelerated the race to the bottom and a quickening attrition rate.
There are other reasons, of course, most infamously the head gasket troubles of the all-alloy K-Series engine, which will almost certainly undergo at least one off-with-its-head moment during the car’s life. The MG F and TF are more prone to this failure than the front-drive Rovers for which the engine was designed. That’s largely a result of the challenges of cooling a power unit deliberately designed to run with less coolant, to save weight and speed warm-up, being amplified by sandwiching it in the middle of the car. This failing certainly depresses prices but also means there are bargains to be had because people are put off, despite there being plenty of specialists who can fix MG Fs for sensible money.
The K-Series is worth the trouble, too. It’s keen, revvy and powerful for its size and it delivers unexpectedly strong high-rev zest in VVC form. Perfect for a sports car, in fact, which is why Lotus used it for the Elise. The TF still produces a great drive even by today’s standards, the unusual balance of both the F and its update making it one of the safest-handling mid-engined cars ever built. Which is why the post-MG-Rover-collapse SAIC reissue of the car in 2007 did not mean that it was totally outclassed, dynamically at least. SAIC improved and updated the car during its life, tweaking the suspension, updating the instruments and painting it in bolder, more modern colours. There was a sought-after limited edition, too.
That wasn’t enough to arrest its decline, though, the ageing, cramped interior taking it out of contention for most buyers. Production finally ended in 2011, after an impressive 16-year run, less the two-year pause following MG Rover’s collapse.
The late, SAIC-built cars, of which there are far fewer, command the highest prices and very low-mileage examples are nudging £7000. But shop carefully and you can have yourself a thoroughly enjoyable sports car for the price of a few PCP payments.
