I have had a fascination with old British sports cars for some time. They’re interesting to me because for a long time they were some of the neatest and highest performing machines in the world. They have their flaws, like all the old stuff, but maybe it’s just the romantic idea of driving something that represented the best of its era, no matter how long ago that was. Hell, loads of American legends loved their British sports cars over the years and one of, if not the most singularly iconic car of the 20th century, the Shelby Cobra was an AC Bristol on steroids. That brings us to this 1960s era Morgan Plus Four.
Morgans don’t exactly have a massive racing pedigree. Especially when we talk about the company in the 1960s. They are more traditional, road-going, fun to drive sports cars. This thing has been vintage racing for about as long as it has been privately owned and that’s really what makes it neat. The engine has been hot rodded, it has a fixed roof, a roll bar, and as evidenced by the six-footer driving it, not a whole lot of room inside.
This is not a big horsepower car. This is not a car with some magical racing heritage that was driven my Moss and Fangio. This an English sports car. An old creaking one with its ash wood framework, warmed up engine, and wailing exhaust note. In short, it is everything cool about cars.
Brian, if you like little British cars you should check out my sbc MGB, it’s on the green at the NHRA Somona race on Friday every year (already got my tickets/spot on the green for this year (hopefully!)
Morgan do factory tours, and if you can get on one they’re worth every penny. I worked at Vauxhall for 12 months over 20 years ago now, and the contrast between mass-market and custom built to order couldn’t have been more different.
Fascinating seeing how modern technology in the chassis meets 100 year old craftsmanship in the body. Awesome.