- Yes, the venerable British automaker Morgan is still around and still making sports cars.
- Both the Plus Four and Plus Six now ride on a new bonded aluminum platform.
- Model year 2022 will see those cars get some very minor improvements.
Morgan is still making cars over in Jolly Old and still selling them here in the U.S. In fact, it has just released the new 2022-model-year version of its Plus Four and Plus Six roadsters, with a small smattering of minor improvements throughout each model.
But before we get into that, first maybe we’d better remind you of all that Morgan is and has been. The company was founded in 1909 when H.F.S. Morgan built his first car, a three-wheeled sporty thing called, appropriately, the Three Wheeler. Morgan still makes a Three Wheeler—two in front and one driven wheel in back—that is legal for all U.S. roads.
The company still has Morgan family members involved, too, with the fourth generation now of age. But the majority shareholder is a company called Investindustrial, with holdings in everything from water parks and chocolate to health care and . . . sports cars. Through it all, Morgan has managed to remain true to its roots promising products made of “ash, aluminum, and leather.” (Sounds like that bumper sticker you had on your custom van in the ’60s.)
In 2019, when Investindustrial took over, Morgan introduced a new bonded-aluminum platform called CX-Generation. The first model to get it was the Plus Four, so called because it has a four-cylinder engine. The following year the Plus Six got the CX-Generation platform. The Plus Six has, obvs, a six-cylinder powerplant. Both powertrains are from BMW, a power source for Morgan for the past two decades.
The Plus Four gets a 2.0-liter TwinPower Turbo good for 255 horsepower at 5500 rpm and 258 pound-feet of torque between 1000 and 5000 revs. You can choose between a six-speed manual or an eight-speed automatic transmission. Get the automatic, since it gets to 62 mph quickest, in 4.8 seconds.
The Plus Six gets a BMW B58 TwinPower Turbo inline-six making 335 hp at 6500 rpm and 369 pound-feet, with 62 mph coming up in a brisk 4.2 seconds.
Which leads us now to the updates for the 2022 model year. Okay, they’re not a lot of updates, but they’ll make for a more comfortable Morgan:
- A new hood keeps the water out of the engine compartment and eliminates the need for those hood rail fasteners
- “Vastly improved” seals around the windows and doors, again to keep the rain out, along with some noise
- A new Morgan “wings” badge, the first new badge in 10 years
- Active sport exhaust lets you set the sound level of your four- or six-cylinder
- New seats offer more comfort and better bolstering
- Lockable storage
- More lights inside
- USB ports!
Morgan is also working on a special project involving several “found” Plus 8 GTRs.
“The Plus 8 GTR gives Morgan designers and engineers the opportunity to reignite one of the marque’s heroic legacy models with a ‘gloves off’ special edition,” Morgan said in a release.
The project will produce no more than nine examples, and it marks the first in a line of Morgan special projects set to commence this year.
“The Plus 8 GTR has only been possible because of the recent availability of a number of Plus 8 rolling chassis, which have been reacquired from a third party following a discontinued project,” Morgan said. Does that sound like a certain Shelby Cobra project from decades ago?
“These were all built by Morgan before 2018, and were never used for their intended purposes. All are to be recommissioned and will benefit from the upgrade of selected mechanical components.”
Okay.
Power for all nine Plus 8 GTRs will come from a 362-hp BMW N62 4.8-liter V-8 engine, mated to your choice of six-speed manual or ZF six-speed automatic gearbox. The catch may be in whether you can import one of these stateside. Morgan states that “the transformed special project will be available in certain worldwide markets, subject to local rules on the importation of European vehicles.” So who knows?
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There are 12 Morgan dealers in the U.S., as well as one in Mexico and another in Costa Rica. So get to one of those and buy one or two of these. You’ll be doing your part to keep a now-113-year tradition alive.
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Source: Motor - aranddriver.com
