On 4th June 2014, this appeared on the Car Talk BBS of the miata.net forum with the following notes:

(doane2u) -- "That's my mom, and dad with his shinny black MG in the 1950's where I grew up in Brentwood, California. It looks like that model with custom body work. .... Pretty amazing, and just think, it took another 20 years before the roadster was perfected as the Miata".

"My dad was a successful architect in his early career at this point. I believe he designed the mods for the car and had it done for him at a body shop in LA. I think it makes the car look way ahead of it's time, design wise. I love the big white wall tires with the steel rims. Also the rear tail lights removed and the fog lights in the front grill. Notice the VW in the last shot, looks like a early 50's "Zwitter" with the small rear window. Notice the MG TD parked behind it"?

(Mudpie) - "The styling is consistent with California customization trends of the 50s and early 60s, definitely not standard MGA bodywork".

(davisinla) - "Judging from the cars in those pics (I'm guessing circa 1958), it was over 30 years before the Miata was to make its debut".

(Pat Dolan) - "Looking at the reflections around the nose extension, I would rate the work as first class. Looking at the overall style, I would rate that a top drawer as well. That was a tasteful mod of a nice car".

There were may more positive comments from the Miata crowd. A very tasteful group?

Addendum September 19, 2021:
Here is another one-off custom nose job. Photo compliments of Matthew Hinson in Wilmington, North Carolina, USA. It is a picture of his recently deceased brother back in 1966. The general idea is fairly common. My best guess is a result of repair work after having the nose bashed, when a new grille may have been unavailable or prohibitively expensive for a young lad on a tight budget, in a day when the cars weren't worth much. I have never known anyone to do this kind of modification to a car that was otherwise in perfectly good condition.