Yes, I had a feeling that was going to happen. Very frustrating as now with the internet there are articles from newspapers around the world that have articles pop up from a google search. Each one seems to think you want to subscribe for a nice low fee of $15 a week, but if I subscribed to all the Australian newspapers that pop up I would spend close to $100 a week or $5,000 a year. When I used to get paper newspapers the local one for a week was $4 for the whole week and I would get a major one on the weekend for another $2. So $150 a year plus I got a lot of paper to use in the garden mulching. Seeing they don't have to print anything so have less costs I don't understand why they charge so much for a subscription.
Funny thing is I need a stack of newspaper to redo my mums place. I knew people in nursing homes so got a fair bit of newspaper from there but my last supplier disappeared. I probably need to go back to getting paper newspaper, cheaper than subscribing and I get the paper I need. Anyway here is a cut and paste of the article.
And now for a classic MG with mod cons, the $200k MGA restomodAuthenticity with modern conveniences and bespoke touches comes at a price. But MG aficionados will doubtless think it’s one worth paying.
Tony Davis Motoring writer Jan 24, 2024 – 5.00am
The MGA, possibly the prettiest of the postwar MG roadsters, has been reborn – in a small workshop in suburban Sydney.
With the injection of modern tech, including a new 2.5-litre Mazda engine, the “restomodded” MGA now claims acceleration in the Porsche Boxster league and other such modern conveniences as the ability to start every morning and not cover your driveway with oil.
![[Linked Image]](https://tm-img.com/images/2024/01/26/MGA-5.png)
Feel the wind in your hair and enjoy the lively acceleration without the hassle of running an old car.
David Dyer, head of the company responsible, Modern Classic Cars, says the restored-and-modified – or restomod – trend has taken off for a good reason: “They don’t get used if you don’t modify them.”
He says today’s drivers have been spoiled by how well-equipped even cheap new cars now are. “If you want to go for a small drive, or nick down the beach or go for a cup of coffee, an old car can be a hassle. There’s getting it started, then it’s uncomfortable, it’s hot.”
Dyer sticks to certain restoration principles, including keeping the exterior largely unchanged. “It is like wanting to live in a federation house in Paddington [a heritage suburb in Sydney’s inner-east]. You want the old house, you want the look, but you want air-conditioning, you want internet, you want all the mod cons and new plumbing.
![[Linked Image]](https://tm-img.com/images/2024/01/26/MGA-4.png)
The look is authentic, even if many components and the mod cons are not.
“Everything we do is in period. So if we change a wheel, it is a period wheel, not a low profile 22-inch wheel. When it drives past it looks like a nice MG. When you sit in it, you still feel as if you’re sitting in an old car, the gauges look the same, the stereo still looks old [even though it has Bluetooth] and the switches are still old toggle switches.
“The seats look like the originals, though they may have seat heaters in them and adjustable lumbar support.”
Modern Classic Cars has already produced an MGB restomod, the Abingdon, and has completed seven examples, despite a price exceeding $200,000. Another four have been ordered and are under construction.
Dyer, a mechanical engineer by training, owes his obsession with English cars in general, and MGs in particular, to his father. There was always at least one MG in the house, and sometimes several, and the Dyer children all learned to drive on Minis. David Dyer owned his first Mini at 16, his first MG at about 20.
“This restomod thing started with a car I built for myself. It was an MGB GT, the coupe. It had a 4.3-litre Chevy six, Toyota gearbox, air-conditioning and changed rear suspension, which I did all myself.”
![[Linked Image]](https://tm-img.com/images/2024/01/26/MGA-3.png)
Savour the view of that gently curved bonnet and those bulbous guards...
Dyer, now 56, agrees that a couple of decades ago it was considered sacrilege by many to modify classics – but says it is now widely accepted.
As for the A, the company sources an Australian delivered car, which is taken back to bare metal, as the shell is all that gets used. It is repainted and re-chromed, with various modifications including seatbelt anchorages and a collapsible steering column included.
“The old wooden floorboards are taken out and we fit a honeycomb aluminium section, which is screwed and bonded in to make it ridiculously rigid.”
The buyer has a near-unlimited choice of colours, leathers, woods, carpets and other finishes. Then there are the new mechanicals, which include a 2.5-litre four-cylinder Mazda engine, five-speed gearbox, updated suspension front and rear, modern electricals, a limited slip diff and four-wheel disc brakes. There’s also the option of modern electronics, including stability control and launch control, and the customer can choose the power output, ranging from 160 kW through to about 225 kW.
![[Linked Image]](https://tm-img.com/images/2024/01/26/MGA-2.png)
Bespoke paintwork and upholstery are among many possibilities...
Although Dyer claims the performance is similar to a Porsche Boxster, thanks partly to its relatively light weight, we were going to have to take his word for it. Our drive was a weekday jaunt in Sydney traffic. What we noticed, however, was a beautiful engine note, lively acceleration, greatly improved handling (the original was pretty sketchy) and very direct steering. There’s a quirky indicator lever and a far-from-perfect driving position but that, and even more, can be forgiven when you drive along with a forearm on the cut-away door and enjoy that delightful view of the gently curved bonnet and bulbous guards through the windscreen.
One thing I can confirm to be Porsche-like is the price. Inclusive of the donor car, which Modern Classic Cars would prefer to source themselves for quality reasons, the MGA Twincam restomod starts at around $200,000, rising to about $270,000 if all the options are ticked.
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Will it have more appeal than the same company’s MGB Abingdon? “It’s a different appeal. The MGA isn’t as usable a car as the B. It’s prettier but has less internal cabin space and less weather equipment. It doesn’t have wind-up windows.”
The restomod boom has taken off in recent years, allowing well-heeled enthusiasts to have their tired but much-loved machines modernised, or to buy an old-but-new classic while customising every aspect from the colour of the seat stitching through to the boost of the turbocharger. Or indeed to get rid of the petrol engine altogether in favour of new EV drivetrain.
![[Linked Image]](https://tm-img.com/images/2024/01/26/MGA-1.png)
If you have money to spare, what’s not to love about this fun car’s beautiful engine note and improved handling?
The hundreds, or often thousands, of hours of intricate work involved in restomodding each vehicle, coupled with the cost of often rare or exotic materials, tends to make it a very expensive business.
Cars from California-headquartered Singer – which specialises in updating aircooled Porsche 911s – can easily exceed the million-dollar mark and that’s before the customer has supplied the donor car. Yet the Singer company is expanding. Other notable restomodders include England’s Eagle, which specialises in Jaguar E-Types, and Germany’s Mechatronik, which squeezes a modern V8 and other technology into the Mercedes 280SL “pagoda”.
Meanwhile, Modern Classic Cars has been going for about a decade, originally selling componentry. It started building the MGB Abingdon just before COVID-19, after a long process to ensure legal compliance in all Australian states. Now, it has the MGA Twincam – and is working on an electric 1960s Mini Minor, but that’s another story.
MGA Twincam
• Price | From $200,000 (excluding on-road costs)
• Engine | 2.5-litre inline Mazda four-cylinder (petrol)
• Power | 160 kW/225 Nm (optional: 210 kW/298 Nm)
• Fuel economy | 8.2-9.0 L/100 km (estimate)
• C0₂ | 190-205 g/km (estimate)
