The Morgan Plus 8 is celebrating its 50th anniversary. Although looking at it, you’d think it never really left 1968. To celebrate the achievement of building the same car for half-a-century, the Worcester company rolled out a special edition Plus 8 and Aero 8 for the Geneva Motor Show.
Sadly, this Plus 8 50th Anniversary model represents an end of an era for Morgan. This is the last of the V8 Morgans.
Due to regulations getting more stringent each year, Morgan is finding itself struggling to keep up. However, it certainly knows how to make an electric car given its recently introduced EV3. So in the event of the loss of the V8, not all hope is lost.
However, let’s gloss over this potential turning of a page at Morgan and instead focus on the glorious V8.
Sporting a 4.8-liter, BMW-sourced V8, this special edition Plus 8 is all about brute power. With 367hp and 370lbft of torque on tap, the Plus 8 rockets to 60mph in just 4.5 seconds. That’s up there with both the Mustang GT and Camaro SS, both of which pack way more power.
To achieve this performance, the Plus 8 is incredibly lightweight. Foregoing the traditional Morgan wooden frame for an all-aluminum chassis, this Plus 8 tips the scales at just 2,425lb. According to Morgan, this makes it one of the lightest V8 cars on sale today.
On the exterior, the 50th Anniversary model draws inspiration from previous Morgan models. However, it updates them to the 21st century all without compromising the classic looks.
Paying homage to the very first Morgan Plus 8, the rear of the car gets an aluminum dome. This replaces the spare tire other Morgan models typically get in its place.
Other details that nod to the model’s history include leather-wrapped wing panels and a set of driving lamps.
While the light looks 1960s it’s actually very modern. To bring the car into the present, instead of the halogen lamp setup of the past, it employs LED lighting.
The wheels are also a classic-meets-modern feature. Cast to look like the original wheels from 1968, they’re actually fairly wide and light. Even the rubber is a set of sticky Yokohama Advan Neova tires.
The 50th Anniversary model will come in two Plus 8 flavors with bespoke colors. The Speedster will get a blue exterior while the soft-top gets the classic British Racing Green.
Numbers are limited though. Only 50 of these cars will come out of Worcester. At £107,500 ($150,000) they won’t come cheap.
If the 50th Anniversary Plus 8 is to old school for you, Morgan does have another choice. Limited to just eight examples, Morgan is also building a special edition of the Aero 8.
Certainly more modern than its older brother, the Aero 8 has always seemed like a 1940s vision of a modern car, at least from the outside.
These bespoke Aero 8 cars each will be built to exact customer specification by the Morgan Special Projects division.
Like the Plus 8, the Aero 8 also gets that BMW 4.8-liter engine.
The biggest change is the bodywork. In an effort to get as much aerodynamic advantage out of the Aero 8, Morgan worked to sculpt the body to cut through the air. Also, an array of vents and channels helps give the Aero 8 more downforce to help it stay glued to the road.
Unfortunately, if this special Aero 8 interests you, you can put away the checkbook. All eight of the cars are already sold.
The potential end of the Morgan V8 is indeed sad. However, we can’t think of a better way to send it off than with these two old-school meets new-school cars.
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