For the love of Morgan cars

[Mystery Machine]

After posting up a photo on there the other day (in the 'hot rod' thread) which also had a Morgan in the shot, there were quite a few comments from people about Morgan cars, so I thought it might be good to have a thread about them? A lot of you seem to have time for these hand built slices of traditional England.

As part of one of my jobs, I get to photograph them on a fairly regular basis to thought I'd share some of the shots from various shoots I've done.


I'll start with my first shoot which was on one of the slightly more modern Morgan interpretations: the Plus8 powered by a 4.7l BMW V8 which really sets the rear tyres alive at any given opportunity!

My colleague and I had to cover 8 different 'environments' over a weekend. Speed, track, open road, ascent....I can't actually remember the rest. I was there to take pics, not write the story.

We started at Shelsley Walsh hill climb ('ascent', I think?) just before sundown after collecting the car from the factory.












Once we'd lost light, it was early Jan so daylight hours weren't exactly ideal, we headed down the M5 and M32 to Bristol to tuck the car away on my drive ready for an early start the next morning:

[Mystery Machine]

6am the next morning we headed over to Brean Sands from Bristol to catch the sunrise on the beach. I cannot for the life of me remember what this 'environment' was supposed to be? Freedom?? Please make your own conclusions....


















This was followed by a swift drive back up the M5....







...and into Castle Combe:













Of course, if you have the track to yourselves, you have to have some fun! (although time was quite limited...)










Thanks to the editor making a right hash of the schedule, the next leg saw us heading back down to Somerset. We'd been crossing over ourselves a LOT, but I guess putting lots of miles on one of these is never really a chore....any excuse to have more fun.

Next up....a big hill and some rocks.

[Nige]

Great images, is it still a wooden chassis on that model?

[Mystery Machine]

Cheddar Gorge - only a handful of miles from the beach, yet we'd managed to clock up an extra 100 miles in the meantime and the day was wearing on....










Next up was supposed to be something to do with ice, which usually isn't a problem in January. Except there was none to be seen this time, just our luck, so we had to make a cheeky improvisation.





Then as the darkness drew in, we headed into town for some 'city' shots. I'm guessing that means one of the previous environments must have been countryside? Who knows?

[Mystery Machine]

Great images, is it still a wooden chassis on that model?

I think the 'new' Plus8 (like this one) is mainly aluminium with just a few bits of ash for the door frames and a couple of other token parts. Please don't quote me on that though, I'm still learning all the differences and multiple model variances....which is a real minefield with no rhyme or reason to the average petrolhead like myself.

[Mystery Machine]

Very early the next morning I manage to get some shots of the car under street lights while the sun was painting the still dark sky a lovely purple colour.










After grabbing a bacon roll on our way into town, we park up for the final part of the weekend, a classic car meet in Queen Square, Bristol. Only a few minutes from my house it's a great way to see some cool cars and chat to other petrolheads.

I also took the opportunity to grab some detail shots of the car, complete with all the dirt and grime from the past few days.

























....and just like that, my time with the Plus8 was over. My first encounter with a Morgan and a great weekend in a wonderful car. The start of my growing passion for these cars....

[jamie]

Oh god. I just spent the last three days with a Morgan Plus 8 and, having never had -any- interest in them, I'm totally in love.

Not sure why - it's definitely not the looks, the image, or anything the marketing bods put in the sales brochure. I think it just delivered all the things I enjoy most about driving. Great fun.

[hot66]

would love a new plus8 .. just looked at their website because of these pics .. so yes you're right, full alloy chassis from the aero Not cheap mind !

[911hillclimber]

Steel chassis and wood body frame.
There are some very nice choices with engines and specs.
The older the look the better imho, but you do have a sweet choice.

I've hill climbed against +8's, and they are deceptively fast, easy match for me and my 73T/3.2
Get a bigger Rover engine car and you can fly.

Back in vogue again and the 3 wheeler has raised the image of the Company, nothing like it, nothing with the heritage either.
I think you can go and see your new car built too!

Classy.

Brilliant pics, so very alluring, you should do their pr pics!

[Lightweight_911]

I'll buck the trend & say that I don't see the appeal.

When the older 4/4 & Plus 4 models were just cheap used cars maybe (if you were attracted to that type of out-dated engineering) but nowadays I don't get it.

I can appreciate the workmanship that goes into producing them but they're not for me ...

Some great pictures in this thread though !

[mrk]

Love them!

Those seats are very cool looking....comfy?

[squirejo]

Aero max = bugsy Malone cool with German V8. There must be a better way than the mini headlights tho? Sorry, Mini.

[911hillclimber]

Yep, that is why the real shape is the best shape.
The original design is great, more modern underpinnings have improved them.
High days and holidays, wonderful.

[Mystery Machine]

Those seats are very cool looking....comfy?

I was sceptical when I first saw them, thinking they would be like the early Lotus Elise seats which were only good for an hour or so.

However, having spent pretty much three solid days in them, I can say they were probably the comfiest seats I've ever had the pleasure of sitting in. They are so supportive and hold you so well. No pressure points, no back ache I don't think I ever had that feeling where I needed to get out and stretch/adjust. I look at them now with a completely different light!

[King_Jut]

I've got one. And for me it is beautiful and quintessentially British car thats full of the idiosyncratic things that make it so.

It's handling at higher speeds are utter scary. its make a noise like a spitfire (its an old track car, with a fast road +8 blueprinted engine and straight through side exit pipes). It goes like stink and will spin up the Yokohama rubber in 3rd and.. I love acting like a hooligan in it — mostly because people just don't expect it. Its definitely got a big grin factor.

The view down the long bonnet (they are actually pretty small cars) at night, withthe louvers and the headlights are a work of art.

I really really like the Aero 8 too!