Classic Morgan Sports Cars: Morgan Plus 8, Plus 4 Plus

What Is your Favorite Sports Car?

Morgan Cars

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Henry Frederick Stanley Morgan started out as a railway apprentice at Swindon, but in 1906, and with the blessing of his clergyman father, opened his own garage in Malvern Link. Three years later he designed a lightweight chassis for a three-wheeler to take an air-cooled vee-twin engine and commissioned Mr Stephenson Peach, engineering master at nearby Malvern College to machine components for him. The tiller-steered single-seater prototype became the forerunner of over 15,000 Morgan three-wheelers made until 1952. Four-wheeled production started in 1936 with the 4-4 (4 wheels, 4 seats) and in essence the cars have changed little to the present day. Still occupying its Pickersleigh Road, Malvern Link factory, Morgan has remained 100% family owned and is truly unique amongst British sports-car manufacturers. This guide features a selection of six classic Morgans from the F-type 4-cylinder model of 1933 to the V8-engined Plus 8 of 1968.

Morgan Three Wheeled Morgan 1912-1952

The Morgan three-wheeler arrived on the scene in 1912, before the cyclecar craze that hit its peak in the 1920s, and it outlasted every other make of cyclecar, for the last Morgan three-wheeler was built in 1952. It owed its longevity not only to ingenious design, which enabled it to combine low weight with high performance but also to the business acumen of HFS Morgan. The F4 model was introduced in 1933 and featured the car-derived Ford 8HP four-cylinder engine.

Morgan 4-4 Series 1 1936-1950

Called the 4-4, standing for four wheels, four cylinders, Morgan announced their first four-wheeler in "The Light Car and Cyclecar" in 1935. The prototype was based on the Morgan F-type chassis and powered by a Ford 993cc side valve engine, although production models would be fitted with the more powerful and sporty 34bhp Coventry Climax 1122cc engine and later the 39bhp Standard "Special" engine, retrospectively known as the Series I.

Morgan 4/4 Series 2-5 1955-1968

In 1954, after a gap of four years, Morgan re-introduced the 4/4 as a lower powered more economical model to run alongside Plus 4. The new 4/4 was a fully cowled model whereas the last 4/4 had been a "flat-rad" and the engine was a Ford, rather than Standard Triumph product. This revived ties that went back to the days of the three-wheelers. As Ford changed its engines, Morgan followed and the 4/4's performance improved as it went through the 105E Anglia (Series III), 109E Classic (Series IV) and 116E Cortina (Series V) engines.

Morgan Plus 4 1950-1969

The Plus in Plus 4 stands for extra power, provided in the first instance by the four cylinders of the 2038cc Standard Vanguard engine and then by the engines of the Triumph TRs. Introduced in 1950, the two-seater reached production first, followed by the four-seater and the coupe within the space of a year. By 1954, after some experimentation, the classic "high-cowled" style was achieved.

Morgan Plus 4 Plus 1963-1966

The 1960s was a difficult time for the company. Morgan's old-fashioned styling was out of vogue and competition was fierce with an ever increasing array of new sports cars on offer from the likes of MG, Triumph and Lotus. In an attempt to modernise the Morgan, the Plus 4 Plus was introduced in 1964. It used a Plus 4 chassis, with the same TR4/TR4A engine, exhaust system, gearbox and back axle as the standard Plus 4 of the time. The body however was a fixed-head coupe, with two doors and an externally opening boot. Only 26 were made in two years.

Morgan Plus 8 1968 on

The introduction of the Rover V8-engined Morgan Plus 8 in 1968 added a genuine high-performance model to the company's range. Retaining Morgan's traditional design, with styling as the Plus 4, the Plus 8 addressed the needs of the Morgan's sporting customers. Enthusiastically received by the motoring press and tested by Autocar in September 1968, a prototype Plus 8 achieved a maximum speed of 124mph and 0-60 mph in 6.7 seconds.

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Classic Lotus Cars: Elite, Eclat, Esprit S1, Turbo, Excel

What Is Your Top Car Of All Time?

Lotus Cars - Part 2

This is one of many illustrated classic car guides I've created for the community. I hope you enjoy it. If you wish to find out more about the classic Lotus sports car art featured in this guide please click here.

Lotus began developing a new generation of road cars in the early 1970s and launched two entirely different models, the front-engined Elite/Eclat and the mid-engined Esprit in the 1974-1976 period. As was almost traditional by this time, these cars all used the backbone chassis allied to a fibre-glass body-shell and featured the new 16-valve type 907 engine. For the 1980s engines were enlarged to 2.2-litres and the Esprit was offered in turbocharged form. It offered great value-for-money with standards of roadholding, and performance matching many Italian supercars but at a considerably lower price.

Lotus Elite 1974-1982

Introduced in mid-1974 was the new Elite, sharing its name with the 1957 classic. A very stylish looking car with angular lines and a well appointed interior, it continued with the concept of a backbone chassis and fibreglass body. It featured the new 1973cc front-mounted engine. From 1980 the Elite adopted the larger 2174cc engine as the Elite S2.2.

Lotus Eclat 1975-1982

Released in 1975, the Lotus Eclat was a derivative of the Elite featuring a restyled rear body. Aimed at the US where the hatchback style failed to find much favour, the Eclat name was later revised to the Sprint. This broke with the Lotus tradition of model names beginning with the letter E. From 1980 the Eclat moved to S2.2 form with the fitment of the 2174cc engine in stock form.

Lotus Esprit SI 1976-1978

In 1976 the mid-engined Esprit replaced the Europa. It combined all the expected Lotus virtues - a backbone chassis, all-independent suspension, razor sharp handling and an unmistakable glass fibre body. SI features include 14in Wolfrace wheels and the period Lotus bonnet badge. A total of 714 SI models were produced.

Lotus Turbo Esprit 1980-1986

Introduced in 1980, the 210 bhp Turbo Esprit took Lotus into the supercar class around £20,000. With a 2174cc four-cylinder engine in turbocharged form the early cars were built in the major race team sponsor's Essex colours. For the final year it received a revised, high compression engine and became known as the Esprit Turbo HC.

Lotus Esprit S2, S2.2 and S3 1979-1993

By late 1977 the Esprit was improved to become S2, with subtle styling revisions, a different instrument cluster, revised seating and wider-rim wheels. This in turn was replaced by the Esprit S2.2 in 1980, which had a 2174 cc/160 bhp engine. From 1981 the Esprit S3 was introduced. It used the chassis and suspension of the Turbo and ran until 1993.

Lotus Excel 1982-1992

In late 1982 the Excel was introduced as a replacement for the ageing Eclat. It used a Toyota gearbox, disc brakes and drive-shafts but retained the original 2.2 litre engine. In 1985 the Excel was updated to SE, with the addition of the 180bhp HC engine and a large rear spoiler. A year later came the Excel SA, with German ZF 4 speed auto transmission.

Thank you for reading my guide and I hope you found it interesting!