• The MG GO! concept has been shown at the Goodwood Festival of Speed, and it looks like a fun little hatch.
• MG is fully owned and produced by China's SAIC, but the brand has been having some success in the U.K. market.
• The GO! will join more conventional EV crossover offerings in the MG lineup, along with the Cyberster EV roadster.

The last new MG officially sold in the United States was the 1980 MGB, which exited the market feeling actually quite old and a bit outdated. The rubber bumpers looked silly next to the chrome of past versions, the performance was leisurely, and the ride height would have qualified it as the MGB Dakar. Which, to be honest, does actually sound like fun.

Across the Atlantic, MG soldiered on as part of the Rover group, building cars that might have done reasonably well in the U.S. to an Anglophile audience, but they were never brought across the pond. The MG ZT 260, for instance, might have interested more than just the tweed enthusiasts in the audience, by dint of its having a Ford Mustang's 4.6-liter V-8 under the hood, rear-wheel drive, and a manual transmission. That's a strong cup of tea.

However, as far as MG enthusiasm in America was concerned, the cars were fun little open sportsters that tended to oil-stain the driveway and require frequent mechanical fettling. Owning one was a bit like having the automotive version of an elderly and slightly incontinent dog. Lots of love, but also lots of putting down newspapers.

However, in modern times, MG has been snapped up by Chinese automaker SAIC and turned into a properly modern manufacturer of efficient electric cars. The MG4 crossover, sold in the United Kingdom, seems to be well received as being affordable and cheerful in the best British traditions (even if it's not actually built there). The Cyberster roadster has a silly name but also a convertible top and nearly 500 horsepower on tap.

Now, at the Goodwood Festival of Speed, MG's taken the wraps off two new models, one of which looks quite fetching. The larger Cyber crossover EV looks a bit like a more polished Ford Mach-E and should probably do well if its production form keeps the curves. More exciting, perhaps, is the feisty little MG GO! hatchback. We didn't put that exclamation point there, MG has made it part of the car's name.

Styled up as a hot hatch, the GO! joins a bit of a resurgence of the breed, with the likes of the Renault 5 Turbo 3E already giving North Americans a bit of forbidden-fruit pangs. Strip away the just-for-show aerodynamics, and this is a very sensibly packaged hatchback, and it's likely to be as affordably priced as the MG4.

Whether a Chinese-made hatchback with a British badge could do well in the U.S. market is up for debate, but there is some precedent from an unlikely corner. It's just past the 25th anniversary of BMW rebooting Mini as a brand, and that certainly was a success. The MG GO! could very well be a credible rival to Mini on U.K. soil.

Even if MG isn't poised to return to America any time soon, perhaps your planned 2027 trip to the Goodwood Festival of Speed will find you behind the wheel of a fun little rental EV. Even if these modern MG incarnations don't leak oil or prompt Lucas, Prince of Darkness, electrical jokes, it's nice to see that the cars of Morris Garages aren't completely forgotten yet.

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Brendan McAleer is a freelance writer and photographer based in North Vancouver, B.C., Canada. He grew up splitting his knuckles on British automobiles, came of age in the golden era of Japanese sport-compact performance, and began writing about cars and people in 2008. His particular interest is the intersection between humanity and machinery, whether it is the racing career of Walter Cronkite or Japanese animator Hayao Miyazaki's half-century obsession with the Citroën 2CV. He has taught both of his young daughters how to shift a manual transmission and is grateful for the excuse they provide to be perpetually buying Hot Wheels.