New MGBs for sale.

[2slo]

I've just been reading that a company called Frontline engineering are remaking the MGB with a Mazda engine and a price of £49500. Ouch.



http://frontlinedevelopments.com/content/le50.shtm...

They reckon on a power to weight ratio of 240bhp/tonne from a 215bhp engine. That sounds reasonable. They also reckon on a top speed of 160mph. That sounds a little optomistic.
Looks interesting but a bit more than I'd want to pay for an MGB.

Edited by 2slo on Saturday 20th August 19:56

[MG CHRIS]

Why would anyone pay that much money for a mgb if it had a LS7 engine and modern suspension exc yea someone would buy it but a mazda engine why.

[davepoth]

MG CHRIS said:

Why would anyone pay that much money for a mgb if it had a LS7 engine and modern suspension exc yea someone would buy it but a mazda engine why.

So it drives like an MGB, not a kit car?

[VeeFour]

That's not cheap - but bear in mind you'd pay £15k for an RV8, and really nicely prepared / restored Bs can come in at even more....

The quality of that build looks amazing - and with limited numbers available, I can't see it depreciating by a lot.

[MG CHRIS]

davepoth said:

MG CHRIS said:

Why would anyone pay that much money for a mgb if it had a LS7 engine and modern suspension exc yea someone would buy it but a mazda engine why.

So it drives like an MGB, not a kit car?

Where did i mention a kit car?

[na]

personally I know that company and wouldn't buy at any price

[midgeman]

I'v heard before that you can build one new for about 15-20k that was the last time I hear talk about this subject on the MGOC forum.
Everything is available, shell from heritage, spares from the likes of the MGOC shop etc so it can be done alot cheaper than that, with of course your own choice of running gear.

[Pistom]

I like MGBs but that looks a bit - crap. I can understand and accept the £50K price tag for the engineering and attention to detail but the whole concept misses the point of an MGB.

The RV8 on the other hand got a lot closer to what it should be.

A modern day Triumph GT6 would be nice to see but not as easy to do as an MG as there is insufficient tooling for the GT6.

What about a modern day TR6. Now that would be something.

[2slo]

Pistom said:

A modern day Triumph GT6 would be nice to see but not as easy to do as an MG as there is insufficient tooling for the GT6.

What about a modern day TR6. Now that would be something.

They would sell too. But not at £50k. How many people would buy an MX5 if they were twice the price they currently are? That's the stumbling block for the 'new' MGB. I'd far rather have a Caterham.

[davepoth]

MG CHRIS said:

Where did i mention a kit car?

You didn't, I did. An MGB has:

Front engine
Rear wheel drive
4 pot engine
Live rear axle.

That's what, in the main, makes it an MGB. Bunging stuff on it to make it "better" will make it less like an MGB, and by the time you've gone so far as to replace pretty much everything about it that made it an MGB in the first place you might as well just have built something from scratch to avoid all of the compromises. Ergo kit car.

HTH.

[MG CHRIS]

davepoth said:

MG CHRIS said:

Where did i mention a kit car?

You didn't, I did. An MGB has:

Front engine
Rear wheel drive
4 pot engine
Live rear axle.

That's what, in the main, makes it an MGB. Bunging stuff on it to make it "better" will make it less like an MGB, and by the time you've gone so far as to replace pretty much everything about it that made it an MGB in the first place you might as well just have built something from scratch to avoid all of the compromises. Ergo kit car.

HTH.

But thats what they are doing bunging new stuff like different engine, 6 speed box, different brakes ext.

[varsas]

Pistom said:

What about a modern day TR6. Now that would be something.

I always thought the Z4 was pretty close in spirit. Perhaps not the current one, but the previous one with a 3.0 litre engine (or 2.5 I suppose is closer)?

[grumpy]

It must be a joke. £49500 for that?

Just go to the classified section and see what you can get for that sort of money.

You'd have to be insane to pay that.

[davepoth]

MG CHRIS said:

But thats what they are doing bunging new stuff like different engine, 6 speed box, different brakes ext.

But it's still a 4 pot engine, Overdrive was on 3rd and 4th which makes a total of 6 gears anyway, and it really does need better brakes if you are putting more power in. By sticking with a 4 pot it's closer in character to the original than a massive hi-po V8.

[mph]

Buy a new heritage shell, stick a Mazda engine in it along with all the readily available aftermarket goodies and hey presto.

They obviously have good PR or is that BS ? I don't see much substance.

[//j17]

Pistom said:

A modern day Triumph GT6 would be nice to see but not as easy to do as an MG as there is insufficient tooling for the GT6.

You have 2 options - build it based on a fiberglass Le Mans body shell from T6 Fabrications
(http://www.triumphspitfirelemans.com/)

Or buy it's natural descendent - (well BMW do still own the Triumph name...)

[Herman Toothrot]

//j17 said:

You have 2 options - build it based on a fiberglass Le Mans body shell from T6 Fabrications
(http://www.triumphspitfirelemans.com/)

.)

I like this option, how would you go about getting one on the road? Buy a donor and swap the bits and say it's just been reshelled?

[//j17]

Herman Toothrot said:

I like this option, how would you go about getting one on the road? Buy a donor and swap the bits and say it's just been reshelled?

More or less - yes.

From memory you can just bolt it to a standard Spitfire/GT6 chassis.

[Pistom]

//j17 said:

Pistom said:

A modern day Triumph GT6 would be nice to see but not as easy to do as an MG as there is insufficient tooling for the GT6.

You have 2 options - build it based on a fiberglass Le Mans body shell from T6 Fabrications
(http://www.triumphspitfirelemans.com/)

Or buy it's natural descendent - (well BMW do still own the Triumph name...)

Yes, I've got one of those and a GT6. I love both of them.

[grumpy]

//j17 said:

You have 2 options - build it based on a fiberglass Le Mans body shell from T6 Fabrications
(http://www.triumphspitfirelemans.com/)

Now that I like.