Classic British sports saloon speeds into Lakeland Motor Museum

The MG ZT 190 with a superimposed union jack flag on top

There’s a new star on show which experts say represents the last hurrah of the truly British mass production motor industry.

The twenty-one-year-old MG ZT 190 has been donated to the museum by a classic vehicle enthusiast from Folkstone in Kent, who spent years lovingly restoring the car to pristine condition.

MG Saloon on display outside with museum curator Chris Lowe

The classic sports saloon with a V6 2.5 litre engine, was produced shortly after the Phoenix Consortium bought the Rover marque from BMW in 2000 and relaunched the company as MG Rover. The plan was to expand the MG range with sporting versions of existing Rover models. But it soon collapsed.

Experts say the MG ZT represents the final chapter of the last domestically owned mass production car manufacturer in the British motor industry.

To the former mechanical engineer who donated it to the museum it is quite simply “a Gentleman’s car” and a vehicle he had always wanted to own and drive.

“It’s absolutely blooming magic to drive,” says Paul Hancock, the car’s owner. He acquired it around eight years ago.

“I bumped into a bloke outside a shop who was in one and I told him I had always fancied getting one,” says Paul. “He told me he had two and that the one he was in was for sale! I just snapped it up!”

📷: Photo - Paul Hancock, owner of the MG ZT 190

As much as he loved the MG ZT he was finding it increasingly difficult, because of ill health, to keep looking after it.

“After all the effort I put in I didn’t want to sell it on to someone who would run it ragged and undo all the work I had done to get it in this condition – so I thought it would be lovely to see it looked after by a museum.

“I contacted the Lakeland Motor Museum and they jumped at it. It’s great to know it will now be looked after and that lots of people will enjoy seeing it.”

Chris Lowe, Curator at the Lakeland Motor Museum, says: “We are delighted to add the MG ZT to our collection of classic vehicles and I’m sure out visitors will love seeing it. It’s a car that harks back to another era and it marked a turning point in British motoring history. We want to thank Paul for generously allowing us to put the vehicle on display at the museum.”

Photo Gallery & Slideshow

👁️ Where to find the MG ZT in the museum

Find this car in our ground floor exhibition hall 2