Watch: Morgan bids farewell to use of the V8 engine after 50 years
After 50 years Morgan is ceasing to use the V8 engine in its cars, to pave the way for its all-new ‘wide body’ sports car.
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. The final Plus 8 is the 300th Plus 8 to be fitted with BMW’s N62 engine.
The ‘Wide Body’ 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.
Graham Chapman, Technology Director, Morgan Motor Company, said: “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.”