Miata Is the Answer to Making This Frontline MG an A-mazing Restomod

Mazda’s motivation for making the Miata is well-known. British sports cars from the likes of Lotus, Triumph and MG were fun to drive, but troublesome to say the least.

Add Japanese dependability to the roadster recipe, and a winner was born. The original Miata is 35 years old and a classic in its own right, and Mazda has bravely maintained its commitment to open-air entertainment ever since. Arigato.

Now, just next door to the Abingdon site where MGs were once made, Frontline Cars has combined the very best of Britain and Japan in an MGA build that is quite simply the most impressive restomod I’ve experienced.

Known as the Frontline MGA Factory Edition, it’s no less than a total transformation of the driving experience. This is a near-70-year-old that drives as well, if not better, than a modern Miata.

Credit goes to Tim Fenner and his team, the engineers at Mazda—and one owner who first came to Frontline, drove one of its MGB restomods, and then asked for her A to get the same treatment.

It was not straightforward. The B has a monocoque for starters, while the A has a body-on-chassis design. Nonetheless, Frontline managed to fit the rear axle from a B, which then allowed the installation of the company’s five-link rear suspension. The A had an independent front end, but that, too, has been modified. Adjustable Nitron dampers are fitted all around. Gone are the original disc/drum brakes, with four-piston calipers gripping bigger discs up front and twin pots for the rear. The steering is now helped by an electric booster, which can be adjusted to the driver’s preference.

There’s also a choice for the power unit, with a 2.5-liter Mazda motor offering 294 horsepower at 7100 rpm or a two-liter with 228 hp at 7200 revs (as fitted to this first example). Both are mated to Mazda’s five-speed manual transmission, and a limited-slip differential comes standard.

MG’s A coupe or roadster can be updated, and for the open car, Frontline has developed a new fabric roof that more closely mimics the coupe’s lines. It’s a bit of a mission to put up or down, with the mechanism requiring assembly/disassembly, but it all fits neatly in the trunk.

Frontline has made few changes to the car’s look—removing the bumper over-riders and deleting the separate front indicators, which now sit within modern headlamps, are the only tweaks. You can have wire wheels or Dunlop-style steelies with Continental UltraContact tires.

As the sun is out for my journey, the roof stays behind at Frontline and I squeeze myself into the tiny cockpit. The interior has been custom-made for the car’s keeper, and she’s also rather small. The bucket seats are tight and don’t slide back very far, so my driving position is closer to the wood-rimmed wheel than I’d like. As every car will be built to its owner’s requirements, this obviously won’t be a problem for any of them.

Brown vintage-look leather trims the cabin, extending to the door pulls, the gear-shift gaiter, and a new center storage box. The instruments are new but retain a classic style. Hidden from sight are some USB charge points and heated seat controls.

Quite unlike any other 1950s classic, the Frontline MGA barks into life instantly with a pull of the starter. It’s a very healthy sound, too, courtesy of individual throttle bodies, hot cams, a remapped ECU, and a stainless steel exhaust system.

In a matter of moments, I’m grinning ear to ear, snicking that Miata shifter up through the gears and simply flying forward. Frontline claims 0-60 mph takes less than five seconds (4.1 seconds for the 2.5), and that’s very believable.

The engine redlines just under 8000 rpm and, while it’s fun to scream it to the limiter, the combination of minimal mass (less than 1800 lbs) and almost 180 lb-ft of twist mean you can upshift earlier and just ride the torque wave, much more so than in any MG—or Miata for that matter.

The playful verve of the Frontline MGA is way more than even the sum of its modernized parts would suggest. The steering is full of feel, the body control excellent, and the stopping power more than matches the go. It’s truly exhilarating to drive without being in any way intimidating. It’s so small that even England’s narrow country lanes open up for the MGA, and their notoriously broken surfaces seldom trouble the suspension. Only at one point over a series of undulations does the car feel a tad nervous, and being that bit too close to the steering wheel, I slightly overreact. Again, I can’t see this being an issue for owners with their tailor-made interiors.

So it’s crazy fast in a straight line and through the corners, but there’s another side to the Frontline MGA, and that’s just how easy it is to live with. The clutch is light, you can steer it with your fingertips even at low speed, and there’s the reassurance of all-modern mechanicals, so the chances of having to dirty your hands on any journey are very slim.

Exploring Oxfordshire lanes is one very enjoyable thing, but this MGA would be even more magical in California’s canyons or the lush driving roads of Appalachia. As the U.S. was by far the biggest market for the MGA that’s where most of the donor cars, and potential customers, are.

The conversion costs £140,000 in the U.K. That’s $186,000, which sounds like quite a sum for something that mashes up two everyman brands: MG and Mazda.

It’s the fact that Frontline does it so convincingly well that makes it worth every cent.