At what point does respect for tradition cross over into pig-headed obstinacy? Buying and driving a Morgan is definitely a statement. The price tag of this new Morgan Plus Four suggests that likely owners could easily consider many other cars, a Porsche 718 Boxster, for example. Or an Alpine A110. While both those brands thrive on their connection to a long design heritage, the Plus Four is a cut above when it comes to paying homage to the past.
To the layperson, the 2024 Morgan Plus Four might as well be a car from the 1950s. If you visit Morgan’s Malvern factory – as the company very much encourages you to do – you’ll discover equipment, methods, buildings and even the odd worker who have put in the decades shaping these idiosyncratic little sports cars in a very time-honoured way.
Again, the Plus Four updates might not be immediately apparent over the car we drove earlier this year, but if you place the two side by side you’ll see the newer car is cleaner and less fussy, with new lighting front and rear, tweaks to the interior and trim, as well as updates to the aluminium chassis. There’s even a modern style car configurator with which to explore the options, including these rather smart door roundel details.
There’s the belief that although modernity is all well and good, some things just work and shouldn’t be changed for the sake of change
None of this detracts from Plus Four’s ambience and attitude; this is still unlike pretty much anything else on the (modern) road, and no-one is stepping into a Morgan expecting an aesthetic and ergonomic revolution. Instead, it’s all about the feels and they are plenty. The aluminium underpinnings are still mated to the traditional hand-crafted ash frame, around which the bodywork is formed.
You have to admire Morgan’s commitment to this antediluvian way of working, even though it causes legislative headaches in certain markets. That wooden frame holds the key to the car’s character, the belief that although modernity is all well and good, some things just work and shouldn’t be changed for the sake of change.
To sit behind in this car is to time-travel. Our final journey with the Plus Four was an early morning dash across a misty Wiltshire, Gloucestershire and into Worcestershire to return it to the factory. With thick fog blotting out any identifying indicators of modernity, the car thrummed along tight country lanes that hadn’t changed for 70 years. Finally, a Kia EV6 pulled out of a junction up ahead and shattered the illusion with its LED-bedecked rear end.
When the heavens opened in true Biblical style, the Plus Four felt like a small boat adrift in heavy seas. And yet it was all just fine
An uncharacteristically wet British autumn is not ideal Morgan weather, and the inclement conditions show up a few of the issues that result from building cars by hand the old-fashioned way. There are gaps, through which wind whistles and spatters of rain can penetrate, keeping you in tune with the elements regardless of whether the hood is up or down. The letterbox-shaped windscreen is shallow and wide, requiring three stubby wipers that struggle valiantly against torrential rain. When the heavens opened up in true Biblical style, the Plus Four felt like a small boat adrift in heavy seas.
And yet it was all just fine. It’s hard to imagine a Porsche owner living uncomplainingly with even the mildest of these compromises, yet Morgan owners are a determined breed. This is their commitment to motoring, and they are going to stick with it. For the truly dedicated, a rear-mounted luggage rack is a £915 option (plus the cost of period-correct, rain-resistant suitcases).
Weighing in at just over 1,000kg, the Plus Four is a featherweight by modern standards. Under the slatted bonnet is a BMW-sourced 4-cylinder engine, producing 255bhp to give the car more than adequate performance. It handles deftly, with those long front wings signalling the road ahead.
The company has dabbled in electrification, mostly via prototypes like the Morgan XP-1. You can be fairly sure that electrifying the Plus Four’s eventual successor is being considered in some form or another, and when we met with Morgan’s Jonathan Wells, he was kind of enough to show secret sketches of future ideas that show every sign of sating brand loyalists for generations to come.
Enthusiasts maintain that a sports car is something you rock up in feeling a little bit crumbled and broken, rattled by the suspension, exhausted by the concentration required to drive on just the right side of prudence, and caring not about the comfort or distress of your passengers. You can have this experience in the Morgan Plus Four if you’re the type that drives anything and everything at a hell-for-leather pace. But exercise a little restraint, lean in to the car’s idiosyncrasies, and you’ll find that motoring heaven can exist at a far more comfortable pace.
Morgan Plus Four, from £69,995, Morgan-Motor.com, @MorganMotor
