History of Morgan

Early cars: three-wheelers and 4-4s

The early cars were two seat or four seat three-wheelers, and are therefore considered to be cyclecars. Three-wheeled vehicles avoided the British tax on cars by being classified as motorcycles. Competition from small cars like the Austin 7 and the original Morris Minor, with comparable economy and price and better comfort, made cyclecars less attractive.
V-Twin three-wheelers (1911-1939)

1912 Morgan Runabout Deluxe

H.F.S. Morgan's first car design was a single-seat three-wheeled runabout which was fabricated for his personal use in 1909. Interest in his runabout led him to patent his design and begin production. While he initially showed single-cylinder and twin-cylinder versions of his runabout at the 1911 Olympia Motor Exhibition, he was convinced at the exhibition that there would be greater demand for a two-seat model.

Morgan Aero 2-Seater Sports 1926

Morgan built his cars' reputation by entering them in competitions. One of his racing cars won the 1913 Cyclecar Grand Prix at Amiens in France. This became the basis for the Grand Prix model of 1913 to 1926, from which evolved the Aero, Super Sports, and Sports models.

These models used air-cooled or liquid-cooled variations of motorcycle engines. The engine was placed ahead of the axis of the front wheels in a chassis made of steel tubes brazed into cast lugs.

The V-Twin models were not returned to production after World War II.r

Beginning in 1932, a new series of Morgan three-wheelers began with the F-4. The F-4, and its later siblings the F-2 and the F-Super, used a pressed-steel chassis and the four-cylinder Ford Sidevalve engine that was used in the Model Y. Production of the Ford-engined three-wheelers would continue until 1952.

Morgan's first four-wheeler was the 4-4, for four-cylinder engine and four wheels. The first production 4 wheeled Morgan was released to the public in 1936 and is known as the Morgan 4-4 Series 1. Three-wheeler production continued alongside the 4-4 until 1952.

The Morgan +4 was introduced in 1950 as a larger engined ("plus") car than the 4-4. The +4 used the 2088 cc Standard Vanguard engine, while the 4-4 used a Standard Special 1267 cc engine (1950-58). Later +4s used Triumph TR2 - TR4 engines (1954-1969). +4 production was suspended in 1969 but brought back in 1985 with a Fiat engine (1985-1988) and then a 4 cylinder Rover engine (1988-2000). Production was again suspended and the Plus 4 returned once more in 2004 with a 155 bhp (116 kW; 157 PS) Ford 4 cylinder.


A version of the +4, designated the +4+, was made from 1964 to 1967 with a contemporary fibreglass coupe body. The light weight and reduced drag characteristics improved the performance of the +4+ over the regular +4 in every aspect. However, the traditional Morgan enthusiasts did not embrace this departure from Morgan custom, and mainstream enthusiasts did not embrace the seemingly archaic +4 chassis. Only 26 +4+ cars were built.

The 4-4 was replaced by the 4/4 in 1955. The 4/4 now uses the +8 chassis and a Ford engine.

Faced with the decreasing availability of large four-cylinder engines for use in their +4 models, Morgan began to install the recently-available Rover V8 engine in their cars in 1968, giving these cars the model designation +8.

The engine displacement jumped from the 2.3 L of the Triumph TR4 engine to 3.5 L, then 3.9L (1990), 4.0 (1998-2004) with an optional 4.6L (1996-2000) all based on the same Land Rover block. However, the V-8 was no longer than the Triumph. These features made the +8 accelerate much more quickly than the early +4 and also improved its road-holding capability.

Horsepower (143-204 bhp), weight and performance varied with emission and structural laws through its history. In its final form, the GEMS Land Rover V8 produced 190 hp (140 kW). Thus powered, the car could accelerate from 0-60 mph in 5.6 seconds. Many enthusiasts work on the engine, exhaust, carburettors or EFI systems and improve this figure.

In 2004, Morgan came out with a trad model to replace the departing Plus 8. The new model, named the "Roadster" is powered by a Ford UK Mondeo V6 producing 212 bhp (158 kW; 215 PS). In 2007, the Mondeo engine was replaced by a US version of the same engine in the Roadster II.

In 2000, the Morgan Aero 8 was introduced and, as always, the wooden body substructure was ash. (Contrary to popular myth, however, the chassis is metal; aluminium for the Aero 8). The Aero 8, with a BMW V8 engine in a car weighing less than a BMW Z4 and considerably less than a BMW M3, is even faster than the Plus 8, delivering what Autoweek magazine termed supercar performance. The newest Aero 8 (Ser. IV) puts out 367 hp (274 kW) at 6100 rpm giving it a top speed of over 170 mph (270 km/h). Due to the Aero 8's light weight it can do 0-62 mph (100 km/h) in 4.5 seconds.[5]


The Morgan Aeromax is a coupe variation of the Aero 8. Production was limited to 100 cars, each costing £110,000. Customers have included Richard Hammond, Rowan Atkinson and Paul O'Grady.


The Morgan Aero SS is a mix between classic Morgan design and the technology of today. It is in production in the UK and Europe. It came to America in 2009 and debuted at the 2009 Pebble Beach car show in Florida, but it will not go on sale until early 2010.