Page 38 - Cool Britannia

4039I’ve been on the road for just over a year now in my MGB using it pretty much every day for the college run and the odd blast down to Thame or the Hopton Waffers. In all honesty I’m fairly impressed with how well she’s survived the elements, maintenance aside I wouldn’t want any other car (that’s a lie, give me a ‘65 Shelby GT350 any day), the MG just gives me this sense of enjoyment, passion and character that I think you’d struggle to fnd in a modern equivalent. Having said that, what if you could have an MGB, without the risk of rust, without the fear of losing your clutch, without having to wear a thick coat behind the wheel? Perhaps most desirable of all, what if you could keep up with the Nissan Micra that leaves you for dust at the traffc lights? Well I’ve discovered, you can. Frontline Developments in Abingdon can give you all that and more. The company has been about since 1991 (the time when MG had lost just about all of its character), Frontline take classic British cars, strip them completely and acid dip them before completely rebuilding the car with modern equipment and parts. The fnished product is a stunning, bespoke sports car in it’s original classic livery. I was invited to visit the Frontline’s work shops, so I set off in my orange MGB GT to see the set up and compare the cars. Their facility was like a mechanics paradise, multiple MG’s occupied the ramps in mixed conditions all either being carefully dismantled or rebuilt.Perhaps that’s a slight exaggeration, I’ve only really gone through, one release bearing, two slave cylinders, one clutch plate, one clutch assembly, a pair of stub axles, a choke cable, a set of carbs and even a washer bottle… Yet, all that work is only to be expected on a car that has endured 44 years on the road (which is my usual frst defence when it effects my punctuality). People do complain that it’s noisy and seemingly unreliable, but I say that’s character - its retro bucket seats, its wire wheels, blaze orange paint and chrome bumpers. My MG certainly turns heads as I come prowling down the high street towards the college gates. While most of the faces are impressed or reminiscent of their youth, others look on with disdain, although I can’t entirely blame them, with no centre box in the exhaust and a pair of K&N performance air flters the car does possess a beastly, fuel guzzling roar.38