Frontline Modernizes The MGA With Mazda Power

After applying its restomod to MGBs by adding four-cylinder engines, V8s, and even electric powertrains, Frontline Cars is turning its attention to another vintage MG: the MGA. As you could probably guess, the MGA was the precursor to the MGB, and was built from the mid-1950s to the early 1960s. It offers a very different look, and in stock form, surely a different feel to the MGB. Once Frontline is done with the car, though, they should be right on par with the MGB, offering impressive four-cylinder performance and lovingly updated features.

The Student Helps The Master

Frontline has selected a modern four-cylinder engine and five-speed manual transmission for the MGA that could hardly be more fitting. It’s choosing transmissions and engines from Mazdas, basically Miata hardware. So the car that was so heavily inspired by British roadsters is giving some of them new lives. They’re the MZR-series of engines, also offered by Ford as Duratec units. The standard option will be a modified 2.0-liter making 225 horsepower and 178 pound-feet of torque, quite a bit more than the third-generation Miatas made stock. Frontline says the engine even weighs 132 pounds less than the stock engine. Opting for the bigger 2.5-liter engine nets 290 horsepower. Frontline fits a limited-slip differential, too. With a dry weight of just 1,797 pounds, it’s no surprise that the base engine will take the car to 60 mph in a claimed 4.8 seconds.

As for the suspension and brakes, Frontline uses double-wishbone front suspension and a five-link solid-axle rear suspension, with the rear switching to coilover springs and shocks instead of leaf springs. Frontline adds some impressive stopping power to match the MGA’s new-found power with four-piston front disc brakes and two-piston rears.

Subtle And Sophisticated

Although mechanically, Frontline’s modified MGA is dramatically different, it would be difficult to tell it was so different from the outside. The main changes to the outside are the removal of the bumper overriders, and the installation of LED projector headlights. The company will also install a cut-down plexiglass windshield if you’d like a look closer to vintage MGA race cars. The interior also looks very classic, but Frontline adds its custom aluminum bucket seats, complete with heat, and loads of leather. The colors for both the exterior and interior are entirely up to the customers. Electronic instruments in with vintage graphics dot the dashboard, and the aftermarket stereo has Bluetooth connectivity.

Frontline is taking orders now, and it estimates around 10 months to deliver a finished vehicle. Pricing is both surely high and variable depending on what the customer wants. But in the end, the customer should get a beautifully built, wonderfully fun classic that stays true to the ideas of the original.