The MG Cyberster Concept Wants To Eat You Alive

Now here’s a face to haunt your sleep. The MG Cyberster, an oddly-titled two-seat sports car concept from the Chinese-owned British brand, has been revealed to the world with one hell of a first impression.

From the front the absolutely wild ‘grille’ (it looks like a painted panel, rather than a functional intake) and ‘magic eye’ hidden headlights give it an evil glare that would look right at home on a Batman villain. Coincidentally, the head of the design centre that produced the Cyberster is called Carl Gotham.

Framed by a mock front splitter and a transparent ‘mohawk’ panel running back along the centre of the bonnet towards the windscreen, this is a car that would have outside-lane hogs diving for cover.

It’s due to debut at the Shanghai Auto Show on 21 April. These are the first real-life images parent company SAIC has released of it after a render was shown last year, claiming that its design is focused on aerodynamic efficiency (but then why is it a convertible?). The interior is a striking blend of white, blue-grey and red with a yoke-type steering wheel, a digital display and an overarching feeling that it would have fitted right in on the set of ‘90s cult classic The Fifth Element.

Naturally it’s all-electric, with a battery fat enough to provide up to 497 miles of theoretical range linked to motors good for a 3.0-second sprint from rest to 62mph. There’s also 5G connectivity. Design cues have apparently been taken from past MGs, but you must have to squint harder than we are in order to see them.

There’s a nod to the brand’s British past in the rear light cluster shape, where a design mimicking part of the Union Jack flanks a bulky but sculpted posterior that chops short the one-volume wedge. Ground clearance would be a concern for anyone driving this on roads any less smooth than a world championship snooker table but hey, this is only a concept.

Carl Gotham, design centre chief, said the Cyberster is “a bold statement that looks strongly into MG’s future, touching on our heritage but more importantly building on our cutting edge technology and advanced design.”

We know at this stage that it’s a bespoke BEV-specific platform and we have the basic performance and range stats above. We expect to hear more when the formal launch comes around in 11 days’ time.