Is the MG Cyberster an electrifying sports car or a hefty grand tourer? In truth, it’s a bit of both

If you can haul yourself past the awful noughties futurism of the Cyberster name, MG’s new electric sports car has many strong points. Granted, this kind of vehicle is first and foremost a lifestyle choice, so many of the more outré design elements will swiftly make or break your opinion. But if you truly like what you see, there aren’t many downsides.

First up, the sector. This is an electric two-seater convertible sports car with scissor-style doors. It’s the fastest and most powerful machine ever to bear the MG name and, most notably of all, it’s the first true volume manufactured convertible electric sports car since the original Tesla Roadster way back in 2008.

So how has MG managed to steal a march on some of the biggest names in sports car manufacturing? From the outset, the reborn marque had very little to do with the original MG, a company known as Morris Garages, founded in the 1920s and eventually folded into the slow-motion, decade-spanning industrial catastrophe that was British Leyland.

For a while, MG flourished, particularly with popular roadsters like the MGA, Midget and MGB, all of which embodied the perversely stubborn British love affair with inclement weather, prosaic dynamics and the occasional breakdown. Even the badge’s latter years, when it was unceremoniously applied to lacklustre budget executive fodder like the Maestro and Montego didn’t manage to dim the hazy glow of nostalgia.

At the start of SAIC Motor’s ownership, it looked like modern-era MG would be little more than a continuation of these design doldrums, with inoffensive, efficient but ultimately forgettable cars like the ZS and MGS5, distinguished largely by their low price. MG is principally associated with small cars and SUVs, both EV and hybrid.

It’s a sector it has come to dominate, not least because of the affordable nature of its products. Then along came the MG4 bringing some design pizzazz that had been sorely lacking from small EVs up to that point. It was joined by a roadster concept in 2021, a design that eventually became the Cyberster.

It was a canny move, as the old octagonal badge was starting to lose its lustre. Aware that the consumer base who once held MG dear to their heart is fast dying off, MG’s current management know that the new generation has little to no cultural memory or nostalgic fondness for the brand. The Cyberster punches above all this, although it’s not the highest priced MG ever – that dubious honour goes to the MG XPower SV, a brawny Italian-built sports car made back in 2003 in a run of just 82 cars. These days, you can also spend six figures on an electrified MGB, courtesy of RBW Motors.

The Cyberster is no EV reboot of a classic MGB. Nor does it have anything else in common with the original compact roadster. Arguably, that’s already happened, thanks to the work of the team of Mazda engineers who set to translating the B’s compact brilliance into a modern classic way back in the late 1980s. That car was the Mazda MX-5, now on its fourth generation and still the gold standard for how to build a small two-seater sports car.

For now, the MX-5 is still petrol only. Does the Cyberster point the way towards the future of EV sports? For a start, the MG dwarfs the modern-day MX-5 both in size and weight. The design is finely proportioned and hides this heft well, but the car is wide and long, with a drooping nose that tucks away well out of sight of the driver. The rear extremities are a bit distant as well – parking cameras are the inevitable solution. There’s none of the human scale and manual simplicity you get from an MX-5, with its hand-operated hood and easily gauged size.

When it comes to straight-line performance, the modern MG knocks the MX-5 out of the park, as you’d expect, but it’s not entirely undistinguished in the corners, either. The low centre of gravity generates confidence, while the firm suspension soaks up the mass in the turns. It can be very quick but doesn’t offer the purity of a drive in the Mazda, which pairs its size and gait with a simple, unfussy interior and excellent ergonomics.

Not so the MG. The driver is confronted by an array of screens, all arranged at slightly different angles to each other. It’s like a war room in here – aside from an array of controls on the steering wheel, physical buttons are very much absent. It conveys a fussiness at odds with the image of a traditional roadster, a characteristic that is amplified by the scissor doors. Button operated, either via the centre console or a button on the doors themselves, they are initially striking and swiftly infuriating. The massive gas strut that supports each door is a visual reminder of the additional weight demands of elaborate engineering solutions.

Other design details also grate. Although the arrow-shaped rear indicators point in the right direction (a cheeky riposte to Mini’s Union Jack-style units?), the form is a bit unsubtle and garish. Likewise the front-end treatment, which is weirdly generic and distinguished only by that ageing octagonal badge.

Right now, the Cyberster is still in a category of one. MG is not exactly selling this as a purist sports car – it’s much more of a GT – it shows there’s still a gap in the EV market for something genuinely compact, lightweight and dynamic.

Nevertheless, MG wants to do big things. The recently announced Cyberster GT has twin motors and delivers 0-62mph in 3.2 seconds, thanks to a power output of just over 500PS (the original 1963 MGB produced just 95hp). The single-motor Trophy model gets the range crown, with 316-mile quoted, whilst the GT is rated at 276 miles. Both share the same 77kWh battery.

The Cyberster will undoubtedly lift the image of the company as a whole, but just don’t expect that historic badge to be around for ever.

MG Cyberster Trophy, from £55,245 (single motor), Cyberster GT, £60,245 (dual motor), MGCyberster.co.uk, @MGMotorUK