I know what you’re thinking – that’s still just the same old Morgan, what’s new about that?
Well apparently it’s ‘the most revolutionary advancement in the model’s 70-year history – 97% of its components are new’.
For a start – hold onto your flatcaps – they’ve changed ‘Plus 4’ to ‘Plus Four’ – Gosh! Okay, okay, joking aside this still utterly gorgeous and evocative little roadster, now has the new bonded aluminium CX-Generation platform – CX because it was debuted in Morgan’s 110th year in 2019. What? Still don’t get it? CX is Roman numeral for 110. You savages!
It’s more rigid than the old steel ladder chassis and lighter, so it’s said to ride and handle better. But wait a minute, we don’t want it to be too modern – it still needs to feel like a classic 40-50s roadster!
Morgan insists it still does – I’d love to find out for myself of course! The platform is shared with the Morgan Plus Six, but the four-cylinder Plus Four remains narrower by 78mm overall.
In fact it’s actually smaller than the car it replaces and yet serves up more interior passenger and luggage space – sorry I just burst out laughing then, isn’t that just an antique case strapped to the back?
More importantly, Morgan claims it’s easier to get in and out of, hence making it more daily driveable. And that’s great, but again, it still has to be a little eccentric- that’s just a Morgan personality trait.
It has a 2.0-litre TwinPower Turbo BMW – the first time a four-cylinder turbocharged engine has featured in a Morgan car, and produces 255bhp along with, in the paddle-shift 8-speed automatic variant (there’s an automatic? Arrgh!), 295lb ft (400Nm) of torque.
Since it only weighs 1009 kg, it’ll reach 62mph from rest in just 4.8 seconds and top speed is 149 mph – which is a bit scary quick for a Morgan – now you really will have to glue on your flat cap!
The 6-speed manual variant (whoopee!) develops 258lb ft of torque and is a tad heavier at 1013 kg, so 0-62mph is down fractionally to 5.2 seconds – though I don’t care, that’s what I’d have. Power and top speed match the automatic model.
While power and torque levels have risen by more than 65% compared to the outgoing Plus 4, it has a similar fuel economy of 40mpg (7.0l/100km), and a reduction in CO2 to just 159g/km for the automatic variant (manual car: 39mpg (7.3 l/100km); 165 g/km CO2).
The all-new Plus Four is available to order from today (3 March 2020), with customer deliveries commencing during Q2 2020. Prices start at £62,995 inc. VAT in the UK. From launch, the car is available to build to your exact specification on the Morgan Car Configurator at configure.morgan-motor.com/plusfour/ – I’m heading there now, to fantasy shop!
Brown Car Guy 
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