Our Story

When you break five Spridget gearboxes in 18 months, the cause can be considered more than heavy-handed driving. Tim Fenna started racing soon after he passed his driving test and the standard MG 'box couldn’t cope. So, the young engineer converted a Toyota gearbox to use instead. It worked a treat, the press loved it, orders flooded in and Frontline was born.

The robust gearbox then showed up the weakness in the rest of the car. Tim sought more power, better suspension, handling and brakes, and over time, he delivered. Essentially, Tim and his team made the car the original MG engineers always wanted to make, but using more modern, exacting and high-performance technologies. In fact, when reviewed by the late Don Hayter the original Chief Engineer of the MGB, he stated, "This is the car we always wanted to build."

Frontline was born in 1991 to develop MG drivetrains for race-proven reliability. By 1997 Frontline was a fully established performance parts supply operation and thirteen years later the company relocated to Abingdon and the former Benetton F1 factory where the Company is based to this day. It was in Abingdon that the restoration services flourished, many incorporating upgraded Frontline components. Ultimately, the aim was to build complete 'Restomod' MGBs - to offer an MGB without comprise. It took 10 years of hard graft, but the result was the LE50: an ultimate MGB of their own. And it was an instant hit.

Despite the LE50's performance prowess, some customers wanted even more performance. The result was the Abingdon roadster: an ultimate, optimised version of the Mazda-powered LE50. BBC Top Gear presenter and show host/DJ Chris Evans voted it the finest car he had driven during the whole Top Gear season. So, the Abingdon sold out very quickly, demonstrating the demand for MGBs that could perform as well as almost any modern car. And so the Abingdon factory grew.

During these expansion years Ed Braclik was partner to Tim Fenna, masterminding the sales and promotion aspects to the business from 2008 to 2021. Ed had been an early Frontline customer and 'bought in' to such an extent that he ended up a pivotal influence in the Company's growth. With Maggie Patston running the office and admin since 1995, staff loyalty has played a core role in the Frontline story.

Customer relationships are close at Frontline and such a personal service fuelled international sales which grew majorly, Frontline LE50s, Abingdon Editions and Bespoke Editions being sold all over the world. By the time the LE50 and Abingdon were sold out well over 100 Frontline MGs had been made.

Today Frontline enters a new era, presenting the LE60 V8 GT and the Electric Edition 'BEE' - two very different cars. The LE60 is the ultimate vision of a MGB Grand Tourer with pace, agility and character in abundance; the BEE is an electric B (B Electric Edition) and shows how electric cars can be thrilling to drive, too.

Over 30 years on, Frontline has built a formidable reputation for building classics that are beautifully engineered, exquisitely made pure drivers' cars. Every Edition is created with passion and in full pursuit of perfection.