THE future of the MG TF roadster sports car could be guaranteed by virtue of its sheer desirability as a niche market model.
Despite the collapse of parent company MG Rover and the uncertainty surrounding the future of the ageing Rover and MG saloon and hatchback models, the sports car is regarded as an altogether different proposition.
Unlike mainstream models with their remarkably short shelf lives, the enduring desirability of successful sports models can last for many years.
The deciding factors are that they are affordable, fun to drive and have the right looks and image.
Like the celebrated Mazda MX-5 which has been around largely unchanged for more than a decade, MG's three-year-old TF model remains a sports car icon.
Several companies and consortiums are known to be interested in saving the brand by buying the tools and machinery necessary to restart production.
They include among others, Chapman Automotive, which is a company formed by a former designer and colleagues from the specialist sports car company Lotus.
In the past, Lotus sports cars have disappeared and then reappeared with the help of outsiders including companies based in Asia.
A revival of the MG TF model would involve acquiring the rights and manufacturing equipment from the Rover administrators PriceWaterhouseCoopers.
If this can be done and production begins again later this year, the bidding consortium believes it would be relatively easy to create a scaled-down dealer network to handle sales on a global basis, including the lucrative American market.
Typically, niche market models such as Lotus, TVR and Porsche survive on just a fraction of the dealers required by mainstream brands such as Ford, Vauxhall or Rover.
At this delicate stage in negotiations, Chapman Automotive and the administrators are remaining tight-lipped, other than to acknowledge that talks are talking place.
It is also possible that the Rover 75 model will re-emerge at some stage in the future, possibly manufactured more cheaply in China or other low-cost countries.