Last year marked the 50th — and final — year of the Morgan Motor Co using a V8 engine. The Plus 8 and Aero 8 were iconic models for Morgan; the company’s latest video celebrates their significance and the engine that powers them.

It features Keith Dalley, chief test driver at Morgan and the person responsible for test-driving every aluminium-chassis Morgan V8; it follows him on his final V8 test drive around the Malvern Hills, looks at some notable Morgan V8s from the last half century, then closes with a hint of what will power the next ‘performance Morgan’.



This year, Morgan will launch an all-new ‘Wide Body’ sports car for the premium end of its product range, “positioning it above the Roadster, Plus 4 and 4/4 in performance terms”.

The car is not designed to be a direct replacement for the outgoing Plus 8 and Aero 8, but it will fit into the space in the Morgan product range left by both.

This new model will use an all-new Morgan-designed ‘bonded aluminium fabricated’ chassis that will be twice as stiff as the aluminium chassis used on previous ‘flagship’ Morgans.

The company says this chassis, combined with a performance powertrain never before installed in a Morgan, will result in “the most dynamically capable production Morgan ever.”

Graham Chapman, Morgan’s technology director (www.morgan-motor.co.uk), said: “We are excited to be launching the ‘Wide Body’ car in Morgan’s 110th year, and, we will be releasing further details over the coming weeks and months.

“The launch of this car is the culmination of several years of unprecedented investment in design and engineering.

This has produced the most advanced development programme in Morgan’s history, the results of which we cannot wait to share with our customers world-wide.”

Morgan is family-owned and is the oldest privately owned motor manufacturer in the world. It built 850 vehicles in 2017, of which 70% were exported — through 60 dealerships in 32 countries.