Uncategorized Archives - Morgan West - California's Morgan Sports Car Dealer New-Used Morgans https://morganwest.net Morgan West, located in Southern California, is one an elite group of authorized Morgan Sports car dealers. We carry a selection of new and used Morgans cars. Tue, 10 Mar 2026 16:15:52 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.0.12 https://morganwest.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/cropped-morgan_Icon-1-32x32.jpg Uncategorized Archives - Morgan West - California's Morgan Sports Car Dealer New-Used Morgans https://morganwest.net 32 32 Morgan Explores https://morganwest.net/?p=7202 Tue, 10 Mar 2026 15:58:42 +0000 http://morganwest.net/?p=7202

Join us for an unforgettable adventure through the iconic landscapes of California. Together, we’ll cruise along the legendary Highway 1, winding past dramatic coastal cliffs and sweeping ocean views, before heading inland to explore awe-inspiring national parks and the rolling vineyards of Napa Valley, home to some of the finest driving roads in the state.

Your journey begins with a welcome dinner and briefing at our starting hotel. It’s the perfect chance to meet fellow crews, reconnect with familiar faces, and get a taste of what lies ahead. The next morning, we fire up the engines and hit the road, following the coast, venturing into breathtaking natural parks and the world-class wines and scenery of Napa Valley.

For More information: Click Here

11th – 16th October 2026

£15,950 ($21,550) per [...]

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Join us for an unforgettable adventure through the iconic landscapes of California. Together, we’ll cruise along the legendary Highway 1, winding past dramatic coastal cliffs and sweeping ocean views, before heading inland to explore awe-inspiring national parks and the rolling vineyards of Napa Valley, home to some of the finest driving roads in the state.

Your journey begins with a welcome dinner and briefing at our starting hotel. It’s the perfect chance to meet fellow crews, reconnect with familiar faces, and get a taste of what lies ahead. The next morning, we fire up the engines and hit the road, following the coast, venturing into breathtaking natural parks and the world-class wines and scenery of Napa Valley.

For More information: Click Here

11th – 16th October 2026

£15,950 ($21,550) per couple

£4,000 ($5,400) optional hire fee (Plus Four only)

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A Distinctly British Time Machine https://morganwest.net/?p=7050 Fri, 05 Dec 2025 17:37:38 +0000 http://morganwest.net/?p=7050

Don’t miss the Fall issue of Petersen’s Finish Line magazine which features an in-depth article on the Morgan 1993 Plus 8.

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Don’t miss the Fall issue of Petersen’s Finish Line magazine which features an in-depth article on the Morgan 1993 Plus 8.

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Morgan Plus Four marks 75 years of timeless design, joyful driving and coachbuilding excellence https://morganwest.net/?p=6913 Wed, 01 Oct 2025 16:33:11 +0000 http://morganwest.net/?p=6913 2025 Morgan Plus 4

Morgan Plus Four marks 75 years of timeless design, joyful driving and coachbuilding excellence
• The Morgan Plus Four marks 75 years in production this week
• The model first appeared in The Autocar on 29 September 1950 ahead of a public debut at Earl’s Court on 27 October
• The milestone will be marked by a year of activity and commemoration


Malvern, 1 October
— The Morgan Plus Four, one of the automotive industry’s longest-established nameplates, this week marks 75 years of production. First revealed in The Autocar on 29 September 1950, ahead of its Earl’s Court debut on 27 October that year, the model has become synonymous with lightweight, engaging driving and a delicate balance of modern engineering and time-honoured coachbuilding techniques.
Today’s Plus Four is the purest [...]

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2025 Morgan Plus 4

Morgan Plus Four marks 75 years of timeless design, joyful driving and coachbuilding excellence
• The Morgan Plus Four marks 75 years in production this week
• The model first appeared in The Autocar on 29 September 1950 ahead of a public debut at Earl’s Court on 27 October
• The milestone will be marked by a year of activity and commemoration


Malvern, 1 October
— The Morgan Plus Four, one of the automotive industry’s longest-established nameplates, this week marks 75 years of production. First revealed in The Autocar on 29 September 1950, ahead of its Earl’s Court debut on 27 October that year, the model has become synonymous with lightweight, engaging driving and a delicate balance of modern engineering and time-honoured coachbuilding techniques.
Today’s Plus Four is the purest expression of a Morgan sports car available today. Its design remains among the most distinctive and enduring in motoring, while its lineage is evident in the unique coachbuilt production methods still practised every day at Morgan’s historic Malvern Link home.
Every Plus Four – the pre-2020 models were written as Plus 4 – built since 1950 has been as individual as its owner, benefiting from an almost limitless palette of specification options and colourways.
To open the year-long celebrations, Morgan will offer customers of the next 75 unique Plus Four commissions the choice of any exterior paint colour, any interior leather, any carpet or hood and any wing beading. Each will carry a discreet 75-year rear badge and will be priced from £75,000 including VAT in the UK. Orders are open now for delivery in time for summer 2026.


A Winning Formula
When the Plus 4 was unveiled in 1950 it introduced a higher-powered, larger-capacity engine to Morgan’s successful line-up, which then included the smaller 4-4 and the three-wheeled F models. First launched with a flat radiator, by 1954 the model had evolved into the timeless design still produced today. Its sweeping wings, hand-louvred bonnet and folding soft-top roof have remained defining features, consistently paired with a two-litre inline four-cylinder engine and lightweight engineering to deliver pure driving enjoyment.
Echoing Morgan’s early motorsport success of the 1910s and 1920s, the Plus 4 achieved its crowning glory with a class victory at the 1962 24 Hours of Le Mans. The Plus 4 SuperSports, registration TOK 258, entered by the factory works team and driven by Christopher Lawrence and Richard Shepherd-Baron, secured victory in the 2.0-litre GT class, cementing the model’s sporting credentials for years to come.

Despite 75 years of continual evolution, the winning formula has never wavered. The Plus Four has been the catalyst for thousands of owners’ most enduring memories – time well spent in a car that is as welcoming as it is engaging. Its timeless appeal rests on a simple, irresistible trio: the purity of open-top motoring, the immediacy of true driver enjoyment, and a characterful design that invites connection – underpinned by traditional coachbuilding and handcrafted detail that give every car its own bespoke character.


Plus Four today
In 2025, the Plus Four’s formula remains faithful to its roots. The introduction of the CX-Generation bonded aluminium platform and BMW turbocharged two-litre, inline four-cylinder engine in 2020 brought greater refinement, performance and driving precision.
While the Plus Four’s driving experience remains distinctly analogue, it is subtly enhanced by discreet technology: a Sennheiser audio system for richer sound; selectable Sport and Sport+ modes for sharper response; and Electronic Stability Control (ESC) that helps drivers unlock more of its performance.
The model has undergone successive model year updates in 2022, 2023 and 2025, each one subtly refining and introducing new technology and features.
An almost limitless palette of colourways and options, combined with its coachbuilt production, ensures every Plus Four is as individual as its owner. This expression of individuality weaves each bespoke car into its owner’s story, becoming an enduring companion over many years of ownership.
Matthew Hole, Managing Director, Morgan Motor Company – “At seventy-five years young, Plus Four proves that enduring sports car character never ages. It remains as fresh, agile and rewarding as the day it was first introduced. As its custodians, we’re proud to mark this milestone with a year of enjoyable celebrations and engaging experiences for current and future Plus Four owners. Plus Four captures everything a great sports car should: a spirit of adventure, the purity of analogue driving and a vehicle that feels alive as if it were a companion. Above all, enjoying a Plus Four is about time well spent.”
Morgan customers and fans are invited to register for updates on activity and announcements for Plus Four’s 75th year at https://morgan-motor.com/plus-four-75/

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Introducing the inaugural Morgan Explores group driving tour! https://morganwest.net/?p=5732 Wed, 14 Feb 2024 22:27:03 +0000 http://morganwest.net/?p=5732

We are pleased to announce we will be launching an all-new driving tour event today to our global audience. Morgan Explores is a group driving tour, starting in Northern Spain and ending in the French Dordogne region.
The inaugural Morgan Explores event ‘Pyrenees Pursuit’ will take place from Tuesday 24th – Friday 27th September 2024.
Working in partnership with HERO-ERA, the first event will celebrate Morgan’s 115th year and is open to both Morgan owners and prospective customers who may wish to hire a car from Morgan Experience, or from our dealer network.
We would like to encourage you to speak to your customers about the event and share further details. Please Click Here to find out more or reply to this email to discuss further with the Morgan Experience team.

[...]

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We are pleased to announce we will be launching an all-new driving tour event today to our global audience. Morgan Explores is a group driving tour, starting in Northern Spain and ending in the French Dordogne region.
The inaugural Morgan Explores event ‘Pyrenees Pursuit’ will take place from Tuesday 24th – Friday 27th September 2024.
Working in partnership with HERO-ERA, the first event will celebrate Morgan’s 115th year and is open to both Morgan owners and prospective customers who may wish to hire a car from Morgan Experience, or from our dealer network.
We would like to encourage you to speak to your customers about the event and share further details. Please Click Here to find out more or reply to this email to discuss further with the Morgan Experience team.

For more information contact Dennis at (310) 998-3311



An aerial view, from the village of beynac-et-cazenac, dordogne, France.

Aerial panoramic view of Spanish coastline driving road

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Meet Morgan’s New Experimental XP-1 https://morganwest.net/?p=5561 Thu, 07 Dec 2023 19:16:24 +0000 http://morganwest.net/?p=5561

We are proud to reveal the latest vehicle to break cover from Morgan’s engineering department, a new all-electric development project, XP-1.

XP-1 will act as the forerunner to all future electric Morgan sports cars, the experimental prototype will provide key information to Morgan’s engineers and designers as they embark on the development of the company’s first production electric models. The striking prototype is not intended for production but has been created to enhance thinking in several key areas including driving characterisation, powertrain development, in-house EV competence and training, and new feature ideation and testing. Following 12 months of design and build, XP-1 will now embark on a comprehensive testing programme over the next 18-24 months.

For more information, photos, and videos visit. Click Here

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We are proud to reveal the latest vehicle to break cover from Morgan’s engineering department, a new all-electric development project, XP-1.

XP-1 will act as the forerunner to all future electric Morgan sports cars, the experimental prototype will provide key information to Morgan’s engineers and designers as they embark on the development of the company’s first production electric models. The striking prototype is not intended for production but has been created to enhance thinking in several key areas including driving characterisation, powertrain development, in-house EV competence and training, and new feature ideation and testing. Following 12 months of design and build, XP-1 will now embark on a comprehensive testing programme over the next 18-24 months.

For more information, photos, and videos visit. Click Here

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Bring The Colour To Morgan This Summer https://morganwest.net/?p=5232 Thu, 06 Jul 2023 18:56:25 +0000 http://morganwest.net/?p=5232

With the introduction of Morgan Plus models in November 2022, we provided even more ability for customers to tailor their dream Morgan. For decades, we have famously – and proudly – allowed customers to order vehicles in any paint colour imaginable, over 40,000 in fact. And with 40 different interior trim and carpet options on Plus models, there is an almost endless combination of colourways and options available, ensuring every customer can create a true “one-off”.

In a quest for colour, we are inviting new customers to embrace their inner creative when specifying a new Plus Four or Plus Six this summer, with a full choice of paint and interior trim options included as standard.

Until September 30th, all Plus Four and Plus Six orders will benefit from a range of options at no additional cost. [...]

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With the introduction of Morgan Plus models in November 2022, we provided even more ability for customers to tailor their dream Morgan. For decades, we have famously – and proudly – allowed customers to order vehicles in any paint colour imaginable, over 40,000 in fact. And with 40 different interior trim and carpet options on Plus models, there is an almost endless combination of colourways and options available, ensuring every customer can create a true “one-off”.

In a quest for colour, we are inviting new customers to embrace their inner creative when specifying a new Plus Four or Plus Six this summer, with a full choice of paint and interior trim options included as standard.

Until September 30th, all Plus Four and Plus Six orders will benefit from a range of options at no additional cost. Those options include any solid or metallic paint colour, any interior trim or carpet option as well as all seat piping and stitching options. To enquire about your own bespoke specification, please enquire at Morgan West.

Terms and conditions apply.

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The 2023 Morgan Plus Four is a surprisingly modern mountaineer https://morganwest.net/?p=4998 Fri, 17 Mar 2023 21:13:01 +0000 http://morganwest.net/?p=4998 Photo: Barry Hayden

Original Source Nik Berg Haggerty.com

It’s barely six degrees Fahrenheit at the summit of the Julier Pass. Visibility is zero, a full-blown whiteout. The edges of the road are practically invisible with the blizzard sending horizontal sheets across the windscreen. Snow ceaselessly accumulates onto the asphalt.

I’m the first person outside of the factory to be allowed behind the wheel of this updated 2023 Plus Four, and I briefly wonder whether perhaps we’re both a little too far out of our comfort zones. It may well be the most extreme test the roadster has ever been through. At the very least I suspect it is a situation in which precious few owners of Morgan’s latest Plus Four will find themselves.

This is, after all, a machine meant for pleasure [...]

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Photo: Barry Hayden

Original Source Nik Berg Haggerty.com

It’s barely six degrees Fahrenheit at the summit of the Julier Pass. Visibility is zero, a full-blown whiteout. The edges of the road are practically invisible with the blizzard sending horizontal sheets across the windscreen. Snow ceaselessly accumulates onto the asphalt.

I’m the first person outside of the factory to be allowed behind the wheel of this updated 2023 Plus Four, and I briefly wonder whether perhaps we’re both a little too far out of our comfort zones. It may well be the most extreme test the roadster has ever been through. At the very least I suspect it is a situation in which precious few owners of Morgan’s latest Plus Four will find themselves.

This is, after all, a machine meant for pleasure drives and holidays. For meandering English country lanes, pausing for a pint and a ploughman’s lunch, or perhaps an ice cream by the coast. At an elevation of 7500 feet, the ice isn’t in a cone. It’s everywhere.

It’s the fifth and final Swiss high alpine pass that I’ve driven in as many days. Once I’m out of the mountains it will be a long haul across the autoroutes and routes nationale of neighboring France to the U.K., back home. But before we come to the end of this 2000-mile test drive, let’s go back to the beginning.
2023 Morgan Plus 4 on Julier Pass 2
It’s well below freezing at 7500 feet, thus the top is up. For now. Barry Hayden
Scaling new heights

In what has been the biggest shake-up in the boutique British sports car maker’s 110-year history, Morgan redesigned its four-wheel sports cars from the ground up in 2019. The process breathed new life into the Plus Four and replaced the long-running Plus 8 with the Plus Six. Morgan’s stalwart, steel ladder-frame chassis was retired in favor of a superformed aluminum structure dubbed “CX.”

The benefits of the CX chassis are extensive. Instead of having to measure, cut and fit Morgan’s trademark ash wood frame and aluminum body panels to each one individually, the company can now produce identical chassis and pre-cut frames with incredible accuracy. The process streamlined production and created a significantly stiffer structure—all while maintaining Morgan’s hand-built traditions.

Morgan has always relied on external engine suppliers, including Ford, Fiat, Rover, Coventry Climax, and others. Continuing a relationship that began in the early 2000s with the V-8-powered Aero 8, Morgan turned to BMW for the Plus Four and Plus Six engines. The former uses a 2.0-liter, 255-hp turbocharged four-cylinder, while the latter uses a 335-hp 3.0-liter turbo straight-six. With BMW power came more sophisticated engine management, automatic transmissions, and even a digital dashboard.

For 2023 those engines remain unchanged, but the power now comes with even better control. Suspension dampers and bushings have been finessed. There are AP Racing brakes, new calibrations for the automatic gearbox and, for the first time ever in a Morgan, electronic stability control and dual airbags. These significant updates mean that the Plus Four will meet U.S. federal regulations (under the Low Volume Motor Vehicle Manufacturers Act) and join the Super 3 in America before the end of the year.

Meanwhile, the interior has been enhanced with a wider choice of fabrics, a single-piece aluminum dash, wonderful wooden marquetry for the center console, and a Sennheiser audio system which uses the uses the chassis structure to resonate bass.

These changes, on paper, should make the modern Morgan quite the grand tourer. That’s exactly what I plan to put to the test.
Road-trip ready

My destination is the Swiss town St. Moritz, home of The ICE, a gathering of some of the world’s most exotic classic cars on a frozen lake. The Plus Four may be a new car, but Morgan hasn’t much changed its styling in 80 years. I reckon it will fit in.

Storage space has never been a priority for Morgan. There’s room behind the seats for a couple of soft bags and a box of snow chains, but everything else will have to go in waterproof duffels strapped to the Plus Four’s chrome rear carrier.

One area where technology has noticeably progressed: paint. The Volcano Orange finish looks sensational. I’m a sucker for bright colors, and the first time I set eyes on the Plus Four I adore how the orange accentuates the cars’ classic curves.

The run down to Folkestone through a still-sleeping London is easy and remarkably efficient, the ZF-sourced eight-speed automatic gearbox maintaining an engine speed that’s barely above idle for most of the journey. At the 70-mph motorway speed limit wind noise isn’t too bad, but one issue rears its head that will plague the entire trip: winter chill seeps through the door seals. Naturally, it only gets worse as the temperature drops. Despite the heated seats and cranking heater, the next five days will be spent either too hot, too cold, or, somehow, both at the same time.

The car is a pre-production model, and Morgan assures me that customer cars won’t suffer in this way. But the new Sennheiser audio system isn’t quite behaving, either. In order to get it to pair with a phone via Bluetooth, the unit needs a complete reset only achievable by disconnecting and reconnecting the battery. Again, Morgan says, a pre-production glitch.
The French connection

I meet photographer Barry Hayden near the Channel Tunnel to France. We play a short game of packing Tetris, filling the meager available space with luggage, photo equipment, and other road trip odds and ends. “It could be worse,” says Barry. “You could have got a Super 3.”

Soon enough we pass through the Chunnel and under the sea that separates Britain and its nearest European neighbor. We reach France and waste no time, motoring south at 80 mph.

The extra 10 mph that France permits on its autoroutes brings a rush of wind noise into the cabin, despite the closed soft top. Dialing up the volume on the stereo, with the bass vibrating through the bulkhead, just about overpowers the drone but reduces in-car communication between Barry and me to hand gestures. Sennheiser’s Calmo noise-cancellation system would be a welcome addition (and may come later, says Morgan).
Morgan Plus 4 on autoroute
Making rapid progress through France. Barry Hayden
2023 Morgan Plus 4 filling up
At the pump, people ask questions. Barry Hayden
2023 Morgan Plus 4 driving
A fine driving position and comfy seats help the hours fly by. Barry Hayden

The run down to Lucerne is forgettable—around 500 miles whisking us past Reims, Metz, and Strasbourg. This is not the most picturesque part of France, being largely flat, and the grey winter sky is doing nothing to enhance the aesthetics. Fortunately, the cabin of the Plus Four is surprisingly comfortable. The seats are excellent and even after four hours or so behind the wheel Barry and I experience no back twinge or muscle ache.

Toll booths prove a challenge in a car this low and uncommonly shaped. It takes a few runs to accurately assess where the front corner of the car is, but by the time we reach the Swiss border we’ve just about perfected the teamwork required to collect or pay for a ticket without the passenger having to unbuckle and stretch out.

Despite the sustained high speed, we’re covering around 250 miles on a tank of fuel and averaging around 33 mpg.
Into the Alps

We overnight at a cheap pub/hotel on the banks of Lake Lucerne, slightly bemused by its English football theme, and the next morning make an early start for a day in the mountains. It’s still dark as we make our way out of the city through a series of tunnels, one of which is so long that the sun has actually risen by the time we reach the exit.

Soon we’re climbing up and over the Brünig Pass, which as far as alpine views does not quite reflect the spectacle it appears to be on the map. One section looks like a toddler’s scribble on paper, and is indeed a delightfully dizzying series of hairpins, but rises to only 3000 feet or so. Staying below the treeline means views aren’t of the Swiss postcard variety I’d hoped for. We drop down to lake level, running parallel with the frosty blue waters of Brienzersee and Thunersee before cutting due south for our approach to Alps.
2023 Morgan Plus 4 on Julier Pass
When the blizzard clears, the Julier Pass is pure joy. Barry Hayden

Driving in Switzerland during the winter takes a little pre-planning, as many of the country’s most famous mountain passes are closed for the season. The handy AlpenPasse website will tell which are open at any time. Right now the Grimsel Pass I had been hoping to take is … unpassable.

The alpine anticipation is building as we head toward the base of the Bermese Alps. Abruptly, in the village of Kandersteg, the road simply stops. In its place is the rickety Lötcschberg tunnel railway that takes us through the belly of the mountain. It’s only a 15-minute ride, at the price of 27 Swiss Francs, but it takes place in pitch darkness; the only illumination comes from my fellow travelers’ cell phones which, as a testament to Swiss efficiency, retain a strong 5G signal throughout.
Morgan Plus 4 in Switzerland
Entering the Lötcschberg tunnel as if the Morgan is on rails. Barry Hayden

Emerging into the light, we unload and immediately begin to ascend. The road is sufficiently twisty to begin experimenting the Plus Four’s various engine and transmission modes. Nudge the slightly incongruous BMW shifter over to Sport and gears can be selected manually by pushing and pulling the lever or using the steering column-mounted paddles. Keeping both hands on wheel seems prudent as the curves come thick and fast, so it’s paddles for me here and, although the shifts are rapid I do feel the lack of a physical connection. The paddles themselves would certainly feel nicer in aluminum instead of plastic, and if they had just a bit more movement the whole shifting experience would be elevated.

We’re the ones rising rapidly, as we discover ourselves quickly getting above the trees and into proper snow for the first time. The beginning of the Simplon Pass is marked by the grand Hotel Külm-Bellevue, which majestically overlooks the route. It’s also home to one of the most strikingly designed public toilet buildings I’ve ever seen.

It’s here that we drop our roadster’s roof for the first time. It’s not quite a Miata mechanism, as you need to release a couple of external poppers before unlatching it and carefully folding the fabric as you stow the top behind the front seats, but with practice it only takes a minute or so.

“Brace yourself,” I warn Barry, but we soon find that with hat and gloves in place and heat on full it does not really feel much colder than with the roof up. It helps that by now the sun has burned through the clouds, and we’re also some 6000 feet closer to it. The cozy, slightly claustrophobic feeling of the Plus Four’s cabin is replaced with a wonderfully open sensation: that elemental connection with the environment that makes driving a roadster so invigorating.

The road, too, is exciting, with plenty of fast third or fourth gear corners and more than a handful of hairpins thrown in. By the time we reach the end of it we’ve crossed into Italy, passing through a seemingly unmanned border crossing.

Over the next few hours we follow the valley and battle through poorly-surfaced Piedmontese autostrada, diving in and out of tunnel after tunnel, with local drivers seemingly glued to our rear bumper. It’s a relief to escape and get back onto less busy roads, skirting the glamour of Lake Como and heading north again to Chiavenna and the mountains.

At the border the Swiss guards stop us, check our papers, and then seem to get bored. They send us on our way to the simply marvelous Maloja Pass. In the space of just a couple of miles the pass climbs over 2600 feet in a spectacular sequence of switchbacks.

The Plus Four doesn’t have the best turning circle, but there’s another, altogether more entertaining way to steer it: on the throttle. I press the Sport Plus switch, disengage the ESC, and find I can adjust the attitude of the car with a lift to tighten my line or stab the throttle to slide the rear a little. Shifting rapidly back and forth between second and third gears, the Morgan reveals its previously-hidden hooligan side, with pops, crackles and bangs from the exhaust and a screech of the Avon winter tires singing through every corner. It’s the sort of behavior one might expect of a Caterham 7 more than a mature Morgan, and it’s wonderful. While Barry flies his drone overhead I make repeated and progressively swifter and noisier runs up and down. Oh how I must suffer for the photographer’s art.

The pass spits us out just a few miles from St. Moritz where The ICE concours is taking place over the next two days and, as we pass through the town, we get a sense of the kind of clientele it attracts. We see an Aston Martin DBX 707, a Lamborghini Urus, numerous 911s, even a Ferrari 296. We attract just as much, if not more attention, from the sea of camera phones.

Staying in St. Moritz is way beyond our budget, and our hotel in Poschiavo just happens to be over the Bernina Pass. It’s getting dark by the time we reach it and the clouds have also rolled in. Visibility is near zero, so Barry is calling out upcoming curves like a proper rally co-driver from what he can see on Google Maps. Behind me all I can see is a blaze of headlights and, at the merest sign of a straight, a scrappy VW Passat powers past. For a couple of corners I try to keep up, but there’s no beating local knowledge.

Over the next two days we travel back and forth to St. Moritz, and I get to know the road pretty well amid ever-changing conditions. There’s fog, snow, sunshine, and showers sometimes all within the space of the same trip. It’s a brilliant road, a good 30 minutes of full-concentration driving through tight hairpins and speedy sweepers, never knowing exactly how much grip will be available on any of them. As such, the ESC stays on and, without being aggressively intrusive, it adds a welcome layer of safety. In the one instance we switch it off on an open, snowy section it elicits a lurid third-gear slide, proving just how effective the system is. “Please don’t do that again,” quips Barry.

Before I set out I wasn’t quite sure how I’d take to a modern Morgan. Could it really offer a 21st century sports car experience with such old-school styling, and would that combination actually be appealing anyway? Would it be up to such an extreme cold-weather task on harrowing mountain passes?

Yes, yes, and yes. The Plus Four is both capable and entertaining beyond expectation. It wouldn’t be a match for a modern Porsche Boxster in objective terms, but it edges much closer than one would think given the vintage aesthetics.

In the media tent at The ICE I hear people talking about the “crazy Brits” who drove all the way in a Morgan mid-winter. I turn my head and have one more look at the orange Plus Four cooling its heels on the snow. Somehow it all seems perfectly sane.

Specs: 2023 Morgan Plus Four

Price: £70,195 (U.S. price TBD)
Powertrain: 2.0-liter turbo I-4; eight-speed automatic (six-speed manual available)
Output: 255 hp @ 5500 rpm, 295 lb-ft @ 1000–4300 rpm
Layout: Rear-wheel-drive, two-seat roadster
Suspension: Double wishbone front/rear
Weight (dry): 2224 lbs
0–62 mph: 4.7 seconds
Top speed: 149 mph

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Morgan Super 3 interiors https://morganwest.net/?p=4620 Thu, 13 Oct 2022 16:12:06 +0000 http://morganwest.net/?p=4620 Morgan has announced a wide selection of interiors for the new Super 3 Wheeler.

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Morgan has announced a wide selection of interiors for the new Super 3 Wheeler.

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DRONE FLIGHT GIVES NEW PERSPECTIVE OF THE MORGAN FACTORY https://morganwest.net/?p=3879 Sat, 26 Feb 2022 20:14:03 +0000 http://morganwest.net/?p=3879

For the first time ever, a drone has taken flight around the historic home of Morgan at Pickersleigh Road. The 108-year-old factory – which welcomes around 30,000 visitors each year – is famed for being home to the production of the Morgan Plus Four and Plus Six, and will shortly be the site where the company’s all-new three-wheeled model will be produced.

Click image to take a video tour

Viewers are transported in a one-take shot of the production line, moving through the Chassis, Assembly, Sheet Metal, Wood, Trim, Final Finish and Paint shops, before [...]

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For the first time ever, a drone has taken flight around the historic home of Morgan at Pickersleigh Road. The 108-year-old factory – which welcomes around 30,000 visitors each year – is famed for being home to the production of the Morgan Plus Four and Plus Six, and will shortly be the site where the company’s all-new three-wheeled model will be produced.





Click image to take a video tour



Viewers are transported in a one-take shot of the production line, moving through the Chassis, Assembly, Sheet Metal, Wood, Trim, Final Finish and Paint shops, before finishing in the Pre-Delivery Inspection department. Eagle-eyed viewers will spot a special project or two, watch the video to identify the special project cars for yourself.

Of course, there is no substitute for an in-person visit to the factory. After you’ve watched the video, you can book a tour at https://www.morgan-motor.com/factorytour/.

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“Aero Van” aka The Porta-Pub https://morganwest.net/?p=1812 https://morganwest.net/?p=1812#respond Thu, 22 Nov 2018 16:52:09 +0000 http://morganwest.net/?p=1812 Anyone who has been in this Morgan World for any length of time knows that its orbit will sweep in great circles but end up back where it started; again and again….and again. I bought my first Morgan in 1972 in Los Angeles, California. LA is a funny place in many respects. South Pasadena, where I lived at the time, is way out to the north east of the city and Long Beach is a bazillion miles to the south west; but miles in LA don’t seem to matter. A 50 mile drive to go to a movie was not uncommon so it seemed perfectly reasonable for me to drive from Pasadena to Long Beach for Morgan Plus Four Club of Southern California meetings. Unfortunately that first Morgan, and the several that followed it, were not paragons of reliability so I never really integrated with the club. But I did meet people; Morgan people, like [...]

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The Aero Van sporting the Morgan West graphic

Anyone who has been in this Morgan World for any length of time knows that its orbit will sweep in great circles but end up back where it started; again and again….and again. I bought my first Morgan in 1972 in Los Angeles, California. LA is a funny place in many respects. South Pasadena, where I lived at the time, is way out to the north east of the city and Long Beach is a bazillion miles to the south west; but miles in LA don’t seem to matter. A 50 mile drive to go to a movie was not uncommon so it seemed perfectly reasonable for me to drive from Pasadena to Long Beach for Morgan Plus Four Club of Southern California meetings. Unfortunately that first Morgan, and the several that followed it, were not paragons of reliability so I never really integrated with the club. But I did meet people; Morgan people, like Gerry Willburn; and I saw Morgans, like a van bodied Super Aero three-wheeler. I would be hard pressed to say exactly where I saw the van trike in my LA days but I had a clear picture of it in memory when Gerry, in one of our re-acquaintances years later said that he was the current owner. Jump way ahead in time to 2006 and my wife Kathi and I live in Hull Massachusetts, the opposite side of the country from LA. She has a brand new Roadster that we acquired by part trading my 1934 Super Sport three-wheeler. The Roadster blew a fuse on its first road trip, to LobsterMog, an annual gathering of Morgan folks in Maine. Some might say it was appropriate that the newest Morgan arrived at the event on a trailer. Gerry and Barbara Willburn were there on holiday and so participated in the fuse changing ceremony. Several bottles of wine later Kathi, feeling guilty because I sacrificed my trike for her roadster, button holed Gerry and said:” You should sell your three-wheeler to Ron”. And so the next circle began.

Period photo of the original livery by Alexander Frazier

According to the records from the MTWC registrar, Steve Lister, OF 7062 has an eclectic lineage. It has the straight bottom tubes on the front typical of a Super Aero from 1927 to 1929 but with other features, like the M type bevel box and oil tank more appropriate to 1929-1933. Pictures from Mike Andrews, a previous owner (1964-1966) show it with a Blackburn radiator and JAP engine. The Birmingham registration number OF7062 was issued in late 1930 but the chassis number M326 (a Deluxe Family model) wasn’t dispatched from the Morgan factory until December 1930. What is known for certain is that in 1968 Alexander Frazier owned it. It was Mr. Frazier who fitted the van box to promote his vintage auto parts business.

He also swapped the JAP for a Matchless MX 4 engine, added front hubs and wheels from a later three speed car and converted to Morris hydraulic front brakes. Period pictures show a four wheeled gypsy caravan hitched to the back.

Kathi and I flew to Los Angeles just after Christmas 2006 to collect the car we now refer to simply as OF. Gerry was the third American owner yet the car was never titled in the United States. Very early on, a previous US owner disassembled the car intending to restore it to “original” specifications. The restoration languished. When the door of the Willburn’s storage shed opened we saw the disassembled body, chassis, engine and innumerable corrugated cartons of various sizes chockablock with parts. I remember thinking: “This is my first stupid act of 2007. What can possibly come next?” We built a crate, put in all the bits and shipped it home by truck freight.

For me the decision was easy; I had no interest in returning the car to whatever the original configuration might have been. The charm and character was in the amalgam of eccentricities, for better or worse, that was Sandy Frazier’s vision. And so I began.

Sheet metal ready for paint

The first step was to inventory, clean, and trial assemble what we had. The Van Body with its lift-up roof door was in excellent condition so it got put aside. The wood body frame was typically worm eaten and rotten but much of it forward of the rear bulkhead was salvageable. I duplicated what was not reusable in ash and poplar and by March of 2007 had the new frame finished. There was no radiator. I was told the owner that began the restoration left it with a shop for repair and was upset when he called for it several years later and it was gone. Original three wheeler radiators use gilled tubes for the cooling matrix. The gills are thin, wrinkled metal washers that are soldered to copper tubes. I bought several thousand gills from Vintage Wings and Radiators and using a jury rigged press made the 100+ tubes required. When the tanks and dome were completed and the whole soldered together I started feeling more confident. Just maybe I will finish this thing. The sheet metal went smoothly but wasn’t completed until late 2008. During this period I had other Morgan projects as well as a day job. Remember Uncle Ron’s maxim: The likelihood of completing any project is inversely proportional to the number of projects in work.

Body wood, sheet metal, chassis, paint and assembly are tasks that I pretty much have to do myself but Morgan projects need help from other sources. First for me is our family. Daughter Robin and son-in-law Mark are hands-on help and make long hours in the shop bearable. Kathi is the pillar that supports the enterprise. She makes sure we stop for a civilized lunch.

Dash panel with instruments and accessories added by Sandy Frazier

But what does one do with a van bodied Morgan three-wheeler? Sandy Frazier sold auto parts we don’t. But… Robin and Mark do brew beer. Outfitted with two 5 gallon kegs, dry ice, scones and a picture of Queen Vic the Morgan Aero Porta-Pub is always a people’s choice favorite at gatherings. Proof indeed that you can buy votes.

Much of what Morgan made can be duplicated by an experienced craftsman but some parts require specialized machining and/or engineering expertise. Without the many people and shops in the Morgan community this car would never have been finished. I am particularly indebted to the Morgan Three Wheeler Club’s Mogspares team of volunteers for their high quality replacement parts. OF7062 rolls about on bits made by Alf Gapper, Pat Bastock, Terry Foxen and others. They are all welcome to stop us for a pint anytime

Ron Garner
Hull, MA, USA
first published in Morgan World September 2014

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