Morgan bids a fond farewell to the V8 paving the way for its all-new ‘wide body‘ sports car
Phil Ledgerwood, Ledgerwood Morgan, 3 Ross Lane, Scunthorpe DN15 9UD, tel: 01724 733228, email phil@ledgerwoodmorgan.co.uk
Words by:
Graham Chapman, Technology Director, Morgan Motor Company
Featured in:
May 2019
This vehicle will be built upon an all-new bonded aluminium fabricated platform and use a powertrain never before installed in a Morgan.
This year marks the 50th – and final – year of Morgan using a V8 engine. The Plus 8 and Aero 8 are unquestionably iconic models within the Morgan range and Morgan’s latest video celebrates their significance and the engine that powers them.
The short film features Keith Dalley, Chief Test Driver at Morgan and the person responsible for test driving every aluminium chassis Morgan V8. Following Keith on his final V8 test drive around the Malvern Hills, the video ends with a beautiful look at some notable Morgan V8s from the last half century, before closing with a hint of what will power the next performance Morgan.
Coming in 2019, Morgan will launch an all-new ‘Wide Body’ sports car to the premium end of the Morgan 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 naturally fit into the space in the Morgan product range left by both.
This car will use an all-new ‘bonded aluminium fabricated’ chassis designed by Morgan. The chassis will be twice as stiff as the aluminium chassis used on previous flagship Morgans. This chassis, combined with a performance powertrain never before installed in a Morgan, will result in the most dynamically capable production Morgan ever.
The development programme for the ‘Wide Body’ has spanned several years and has been delivered by Morgan’s highly skilled, world class Design and Engineering teams. These teams now total close to 30 members and are based at the Morgan Factory in Malvern, UK.
“We are excited to be launching the ‘Wide Body’ car in Morgan’s 110th year, and over the coming weeks and months, we will be releasing further details. The 2019 launch of this car is the culmination of several years of unprecedented investment in Design and Engineering for Morgan. This has produced the most advanced development programme in Morgan’s history, the results of which we cannot wait to share with our customers worldwide.”
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