Frontline MGA Factory Edition

The MGB restomod specialist turns its attention to the B's pretty predecessor. The result is compelling

- by JAMES TAYLOR

PRETTY, ISN'T IT? THE MGA IS 70 YEARS old in 2025, and it looks as lovely as ever. Technologically, however, it's very much a car from the 1950s, leaf springs and all.

Unless it has been reworked by Frontline Cars. The Abingdon-based MG specialist has made its name both restoring and modernising MGBs into surprisingly potent packages over the last 34 years. (We drove two examples, the V8 LE60 and electric-powered BEE GT, in evo 316.) Now, for the first time, it's turned its hand to the B's predecessor too. This customer car is Frontline's first 'Factory Edition' MGA, and while its looks remain faithful to its origins, the underpinnings are very much 21st century.

It is offered with the choice of a 2or 2.5-litre Ford Duratec engine, the former with 225bhp and 178lb ft of torque, the latter offering 290bhp and 243lb ft. Both units are naturally aspirated and matched to a five-speed Mazda MX-5 gearbox, while a limited-slip differential is also fitted. Disc brakes are present at each corner - four-piston items at the front, two-piston at the rear - and the A's fly-off handbrake remains. There's also electric power steering with alterable levels of assistance, and adjustable Nitron suspension with a five-link rear layout replacing the original leaf-spring setup. The front axle, with telescopic dampers, is a development of the kit Frontline has supplied to more than 2000 MGs since 2005.

Whereas Frontline's Factory Edition MGBs use brand-new bodyshells, there is no such equivalent available for the MGA, so a donor car's body must be fully restored in-house. Shutlines are reset, blemishes removed, bumpers deleted or re-chromed according to taste. In the process, the body is stiffened and its weight reduced, contributing to the Factory Edition weighing only 815kg in its lightest spec, despite 17kg of sound insulation being added (although that's a dry weight rather than with fluids).