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There's a saying in Britain: "There is no such thing as bad weather, only inappropriate clothing." Or maybe it's Alaska. Or Michigan. Regardless, that saying is top of mind when driving a Morgan Plus Four. When I took delivery, the weather was great. They offered me the removable side curtains, but I said no thanks. Where would I put them? There's not much space in the car, and besides, the weather was gorgeous.
Cut to me meeting my photographer. He had a bright idea for a night shoot that evening. We wrapped up at 11:00 p.m., about 45 minutes by freeway away from home. By then, it had gotten quite cold. I swore at my decision to turn down the side curtains, and I cursed the Morgan for its narrow windshield that spilled the chill night air around the barely-there A-pillars into the cabin over its deep-cut doors. But ultimately, it was more a question of my poor choice of clothing. Still, the next morning, I picked up the side curtains.
What is the Plus Four, exactly? It's a replica of a classic design that Morgan has made since 1950. The word replica has a specific context, because this 2025 car does not meet all 2025 vehicle standards. It meets some of them, specifically emissions regulations, though it's not rated by the EPA. And it doesn't meet most crash standards. Yes, it does have driver's- and passenger's-side airbags, just not the full gamut. Morgan can sell it here under the replica car rule of the FAST (Fixing America's Surface Transportation) Act as long as sales are capped at 325 per year. And that's why my neighbors were so gobsmacked when they asked when it was made. It looks and feels like an antique.
One of the things Morgan has done is replace ye olde steel frame with a riveted and bonded aluminum monocoque, known as the CX-generation. This type of construction is very stiff and quite light. No doubt it is the reason why I noticed zero cowl shake during my time with the car, and it also provides solid mounting points for the nicely tuned control-arm suspension front and rear. But fans of Morgan's traditional ash wood need not worry because certain elements, including the cowl and the doors, are made from aluminum that is formed over an ash frame, with the ash plain to see at the door hinges and under the hood. This actually makes a certain kind of sense because the wood within quells the vibrations that might otherwise occur if the aluminum skin were to go it alone. It feels solid, not tinny, in other words.
On the roads in my neighborhood, driving the Morgan was sort of like piloting a first-gen Miata with half doors. Everyone was giving me a thumbs-up too, even jaded teens. I was listening to the BMW-sourced 2.0-liter four-cylinder under the hood, complete with a turbocharger that huffed and chuffed as it went about its business with the eight-speed automatic (the only transmission available in America). Through it all, the suspension thrummed and hummed a great tune, and the steering was rock solid. It was glorious.
For a prolonged trip on the freeway, though, the top goes up and the side curtains go on. Raising the top is not something you can do on the move, as in a Miata. It's a two-person job, and there's a knack to it. Getting the side curtains onto the doors requires a similar measured approach. Once you get them all in place, there's little reason to utilize Morgan's power door locks because the windows slide freely back. Locked doors are not going to save your stuff.
But you probably didn't bring much with you anyway, as there's little space for said stuff inside. Okay, there's a wee shelf behind the seats, but that's where the side curtains go if you are traveling with them. There's no cupholder (though you can option one) and no place for your phone unless you suction-cup it to the windshield with an aftermarket holder. The rest of the interior is sparse and functional. There are five buttons on the center of the dashboard, with one of them being the starter and another being the emergency flashers. The three remaining ones are for HVAC settings, with one for cooling, a second for floor heating, and a third controls a front defroster. But there is no temperature control, and even the defroster is merely buried wires in the windshield. One of two knobs on the dash is a fan control that blows varying amounts of warm air on your feet or cool air through two low-mounted central vents. The optional four-speaker Sennheiser audio system is like a big Bluetooth stereo speaker system, with always-on pairing on the car side. You simply pair your phone and select tunes from there, and then dial the volume up or down with the remaining dash-mounted knob.
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At our test facility in the California high desert, I resolved to keep the top up and the side curtains in place, as proper clothing can only do so much when you are doing speed runs in this beastie. It tops out at 149 mph according to Morgan, but I ran out of straightaway at just above 120 mph. As it was, the little Morgan was impressive, its 255-hp BMW engine knocking out 60 mph in just 4.2 seconds. It scooted on to 100 mph in 10.8 seconds and finished the quarter-mile in 12.9 seconds at 107 mph, with its bicycle fenders and leaky fabric side curtains swelling with trapped air. It is quite loud, as you might imagine. At wide-open throttle, it registered 88 decibels, and that only slightly dropped to 84 during a subsequent 70-mph cruise.
Like everything else on this car, its tires are almost from another era. When was the last time you saw 15-inch wheels on a car? Also, when have you ever seen Avon ZV7 tires on anything, in size 205/60R-15 no less? But these donuts did the business, thanks in part to our test car's feathery 2368-pound weight. Stops from 70 mph were dispatched in just 156 feet, which stretched to a still-solid 319 feet from 100 mph. With stability control switched off, orbiting the skidpad was pure hilarity at 0.87 g of grip, with a slight tail-out drift. More stick would have been fun, but these Avons are nothing like ultrahigh-performance summer rubber. That's probably for the best.
And that's just the thing. As much fun as it is to wring it out, the Morgan is better used as a Sunday drive machine or a close-to-home runabout. It's ideal with the top down, with not so much speed that you care much about tonsorial matters. It's all about seeing and being seen. About talking to the many interested folks you'll meet who want to know a little something about your car. It distills the driving experience down to these raw moments. No serious errands, no commuting, just pure driving pleasure. In the proper driving attire, of course.
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