My copy sent to The Sunday Times for my motoring column of 14 May 1989 (below) was a lament for the MG EX-E shown as a prototype but never made. MG Rover was in decline but the MG’s example was followed by Nissan with the 200SX.. EX-E is included in a full account of MG, model by model, MG Classics, Books 1, 2,and 3.

Monday, 8 May, 1989, 15:05

SUNDAY TIMES: 14NIS200

PICTURE DESK: Photograph of MG EX-E from the Frankfurt Motor Show, September 10, 1985 or Rover Press Office 0203 70111.

It is four years since Austin-Rover wheeled the MG EX-E in to the opening day of the Frankfurt Motor Show. It was an impressive display of bravura in the very heart-land of the European motor industry, from a manufacturer regarded as in deepest tribulation.

"Would it ever be made?" Austin-Rover were displaying it as a prototype; they were going through the painful process of re-establishing their credibility. The designer, the talented Roy Axe, formerly with Chrysler, conceded that in order to forge the completely smooth upper portion of the car, they would need to invent a new way of making it.

The roof and the flush windows were entirely of glass, the curved panels bonded to the bodyshell, darkened to conceal the roof pillars, giving the effect of satin-black metal. Axe was aiming at a shape that had defeated a generation of designers, the tear-drop profile of the jet-fighter canopy.

Rover's accomplishment was short-lived. MG EX-E was never seen again. Company spokesmen mouthed excuses; it had never fitted into their strategy, and it has been quietly forgotten.

It was not forgotten at Nissan. There, they mastered the technique of bonding glass flush with the doors, curving it into the smooth body line. Nissan's 200SX is not mid-engined, it is front-engined and practical, with two small rear seats and not a lot of luggage space, but enough for a small sports car.

It was not brandished as a prototype and then shelved. It was designed, developed, and put into production, to sell for Stg.17,000 in Britain, where the tradition of cramming regular production-line engines into small sports cars was established by Cecil Kimber of MG in the Twenties.

Yet the Nissan transcends the middle ground that used to be occupied by MG. Its top speed of 140mph takes it into Porsche territory. It matches the speed and power of the Porsche 944 for Stg.9000 less and although it does not have a galvanised, effectively rust-free bodyshell, nor the smoothness and refinement of a Porsche, it has the appearance and pace and many of the other assets.

The Japanese make the best-looking engines in the world, and the Nissan 200SX, 1.8 litres, four cylinders, double overhead camshafts with four valves per cylinder, - this would have been the specification of an out and out racing engine of a few years ago, looks the part. It has fuel injection and a turbocharger, with an intercooler to lower the temperature of the ingoing charge after it has been pressed through the red-hot turbo, so that it burns more efficiently in the engine.

What a tidy engine. No plug leads dangle across it. Instead, a direct ignition system puts a tiny ignition coil directly above each plug. Each firing is triggered electronically at low voltage, so conventional, troublesome high-tension leads are eliminated.

The 200SX (1994 test car below) has exemplary handling and roadholding, and a smooth ride. Against a European thoroughbred, the only quality it lacks is the elusive one of feel. The steering is a little inert; it does not notify the driver of the bumps and the surfaces and the slippery patches the way a Porsche or a Lotus would. Yet this is trivial; the 200SX is one of the best-handling sports cars ever to come out of Japan, matched only by the formidable MR-2 from Nissan's great rival Toyota. But this is a more practical car, plain inside, but businesslike. The boot space would be larger if the British market would only accept a space-saver spare wheel, - perfectly legal and eminently practical, but inadmissible on account of suspicion encouraged by the AA among others.

The (1989) test car was an automatic, not very satisfactory for a sports car at the best of times, but insufferable in the 200SX (1994 test car below). It kept hunting up and down the box for a suitable gear, the engine revving wildly one moment, then slogging at low revs, below the speed where the turbo boosts the power, the next. It is not a particularly agreeable-sounding engine, and progressing by short, noisy leaps made the manual gearbox seem a much better, as well as much cheaper alternative.

The test car's brakes were likewise unsatisfactory, heavy use left them fading badly, wreathed in smoke and smelling; I should not have liked to rely on them while dashing down an Alpine pass. Nissan said the car may have been used for brake testing, wearing out the friction pads.

These caveats apart, this is a masterpiece of a sports car. What a shame it was never made by MG. ENDS 806