A review of The Morgan Plus Four Plus Sports Car,
covering development, important features, and technical data of this the fourth
model in the Morgan range.
In this Article, I offer a nostalgic look the Morgan
Plus Four Plus, one of an elite group of classic cars, which was manufactured
during the period 1964 to 1967.
In order to stimulate the market for Morgan sports
cars, it was decided to venture into an area not previously considered by the
company - grass fire
.
Furthermore, the new model would no longer
incorporate a wooden frame made of Ash, as had been the case in all previous
models.
The body styling finally agreed was based upon a
fixed head coupe design, with additional touches of luxury including, for the
first time on a Morgan, wind up windows, a curved windscreen, and locks on the
boot.
Without doubt, this was a bold move by the company,
since it represented a complete departure from the philosophy of the previous
half century.
The prototype was subjected to rigorous testing,
including entry into a number of trials, in order to assess its dependability
and driving characteristics.
Consequently, the Plus Four Plus was introduced to
the market, in 1963, at the Earl's Court Motor Show, and backed up by an
advertising campaign.
This was the first fixed head coupe that Morgan had
built in its long and illustrious history.
The body styling was fairly advanced for its time,
and consisted of a glassfibre body on a Plus 4 chassis, which had been duly
strengthened.
In general terms it was, mechanically, not unlike
the Morgan Plus 4, and its specification included:
Powered by a straight, 4-cylinder, pushrod, 2.1
litre Triumph TR4A engine, developing 105 bhp at 4750 rpm
Compression ratio of 9:1
Five bearing crankshaft
Four speed manual gearbox with synchromesh on the
top three gears
Two SU carburettors
Same suspension as the Plus 4, with a solid axle and
leaf springs at the rear, but with stiffened coils springs at the front
Disc brakes at the front, drums at the rear, but no
servo assisted braking
As a result of the hard suspension, there was
minimum body roll even when subjected to demanding driving.
The two seater, fixed head body was made of
fibreglass, which greatly reduced the cars' overall weight.
As a result of its aerodynamic shape, the
performance was slightly better than that of the Plus 4.
Furthermore, due to the body styling, the interior space
was increased which produced, amongst other things, ample leg room, even though
it was a little noisy inside.
Initial reaction from the market did not meet the
company's expectations, possible due to the fact that it was such a departure
from the accepted norm.
Unfortunately, it did not appeal to the traditional
customer of Morgan sports cars.
In a most unexpected quirk of fate, although the
market had, in reality, shunned the new car, sales of the existing models
experienced a boost.
This left the company in no doubt as to the most
appropriate course of action to take.
Accordingly, after a production run of three years
in which only 26 units of the new model were built, the car was finally phased
out.
Following its demise, the company withdrew from
producing such "out of character" models, and reverted back to its
roots of building traditionally styled classic cars.
Subsequent to the ending of production in 1967, the
car was regarded, for some time, as not a true member of the Morgan family.
However, time is a great healer, and the car is now
regarded as highly desirable, not only for its advanced styling at that time,
but also for the fact that it was, quite literally, a limited edition model.
This marked the end of the Morgan Plus Four Plus
Perhaps this stroll down memory lane might have
answered, or at least shed light on, a possible question:
Which Morgan Sports Car is Your Favourite?
However, should this question still remain
unanswered, I will be reviewing, in some detail, in future articles within this
website, the entire range of Morgan sports cars which were featured in the
memorable era spanning 1911 to 1996.
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