1994 Morgan Plus 8 'Widebody'

Although Rover's attempts to acquire the Morgan Car Company in 1966 had proved fruitless, it nevertheless granted the sports car manufacturer access to its newly acquired, ex-Buick lightweight aluminium V8 engine with a view to cementing a supply contract.

Hired by the Malvern works to assess the powerplant's merits/suitability, race engineer Maurice Owen lost little time in shoehorning one into a Morgan Plus 4 chassis. With trials of the resultant prototype successfully undertaken in 1967, the Plus 8 debuted at the following year's Earls Court Motor Show.

Built along familiar Morgan lines, its ladder frame chassis was equipped with independent 'sliding pillar' front suspension, a leaf-sprung rear axle, and disc/drum brakes. Supported by an ash frame, its swooping bodywork looked as traditional as ever but gave no clues as to the new model's extraordinary performance potential. Backed by a four-speed Moss gearbox the 3.5-litre V8 unit was credited with some 160.5bhp and 190lbft of torque. In a car weighing comfortably less than 900kg, 'Autocar' magazine found that these outputs translated into 0-60mph in 6.7 seconds and 124mph. Later in 1977 the Rover LT77, 5-speed all-synchromesh manual gearbox was fitted. In 1990, the larger 3.9 L version of the engine was fitted fueled by a Lucas 14CUX fuel injection system resulting in one of the best driving Plus 8s ever made.

First registered December 1994, this particular example is a rare factory 'widebody' car, which featured the wider track (64") and wings needed for the fitting of wider wire wheels. Having had just four enthusiastic owners from new, the car has covered 41,000 miles and has been meticulously maintained with no less than 14 stamps in the cars original service book.

Presented in excellent condition all round the car is finished in the most traditional and fetching of Morgan colours, Connaught Green with a Magnolia Leather interior. The car also benefits from an uprated, costly mohair hood and frame, which from this consignors experience having spent much of my childhood inside Morgans being rained on even with the roof up, is a much need addition!

The Morgan Plus 8 really is the embodiment of the archetypal British sports car with its hand-built quality, characteristic flowing lines, tremendous handling and more power then you know what to do with. This example is sure to provide great enjoyment for its next guardian.