Initial four of 20 limited-run cars completed before coronavirus forced temporary factory closure
The first four Morgan Plus Four 70th anniversary roadsters have rolled off the production line at the company’s Malvern factory, ahead of customer deliveries later this year.
Limited to just 20 uniquely specified cars, priced at £60,995 each, the 70th anniversary marks seven decades since the model’s 1950 debut. It also celebrates the switch from the steel ladder chassis it has always used to the new CX bonded aluminium platform, which was introduced in the Plus Six and is set to be used in the new-generation Plus Four.
The four cars were completed before Morgan closed its factory for one month in order to help fight the spread of Covid-19 – the first time it has closed for an extended length of time since World War 2.
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The 20 cars, painted in platinum metallic in honour of their ‘platinum’ anniversary, have all already found homes. Each car will also have its chassis painted gold, with a motorsport-inspired front valance and an exterior blackpack, and will roll on Satin Grey wire wheels.
Inside, each car will carry an individual numbered dashboard plaque. Heated ‘performance’ seats will be trimmed in black leather (with monogrammed head restraints) and fascias will be finished in Ravenwood, a wood so dark that design boss Jon Wells describes it as “almost piano black”.
The 70th anniversary cars will come with a special engine map configured by Morgan’s in-house performance arm, Aero Racing, and a new exhaust from the same source. These lift power from the standard 154bhp to 180bhp, shaving around a second off the 0-62mph time, to “less than seven seconds”. More important than the stopwatch time, Morgan experts say, is the fact that the engine revs much more freely.
Although Morgan’s 4/4 and Roadster models have also used the steel ladder chassis, the 70th Anniversary Plus Four will be the company’s only move to mark the chassis change across its range.
Morgan bosses had planned for the whole batch to be ready for delivery during April, but with the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic forcing a temporary shutdown, those orders are expected to be completed once restrictions are lifted.
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Morgan ditches traditional ladder chassis for next-gen frame
Source: Autocar
