There is never a time when I am not fantasizing about the wonderfully weird MG Metro 6R4. It’s easily the coolest car ever to be sold under the MG brand, and arguably the coolest car to come from the British Isles in history. Don’t fight me on this, I’m right. While ostensibly based on the best-selling city car of the era, the 6R4 featured a Cosworth DFV-based 3-liter V6 mounted out back, driving all four wheels. It was a Group B special, and it did pretty okay in rallycross, but was ultimately quite dismal in World Rally competition.
These days, this red example spends its time absolutely dominating hillclimb competition. Of course it has a whole lot more than the 410 horsepower the car competed with in-period. Taking from the lessons that Jaguar learned by stuffing this engine with a pair of turbochargers into the XJ220 supercar in the late 1980s, owner and racer Dr. Ian Rowlance has boosted this 6R4 to high heavens. These days the car is said to be capable of 800 horsepower on high-boost settings, and the engine revs all the way out to 9,800 rpm. Yowza!
While the car here still uses its original engine, it has been seriously updated with modern electronics and boost controllers and advanced fuel injection. On this particular day at Shelsley Walsh in Worcestershire, the road was still a bit on the damp side, so the good doctor had the boost turned down to around 600 horsepower. You can tell that the car and driver are working overtime to keep everything on the black stuff, but it was still stupid fast, setting the second best time of the day. Not in the classic category, but overall.
This is an onboard video that will knock you into next year!
You might think the MGB or TF or Magnette or RV8 is the coolest MG, but I think you’ll find after having watched this video that you were mistaken and the 6R4 is in fact the coolest. Now I challenge you to name a single car from Britain that is cooler than this from any brand. Nope, not even Aston Martin. And don’t you dare say McLaren, because that’s a lame answer and you know it.
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