Morgan Plus Four review

The latest generation of Morgan Plus Four is the pastel-coloured, chrome-handled Smeg fridge of the car sphere: olde worlde aesthetic on the outside, up to date technology underneath. And no, ‘up to date’ isn’t a typo. This is the second of many Morgans, following its big bro the Plus Six, to be based on the bonded aluminium ‘CX’ platform.

What about the wood?

Look, Morgan’s have never, ever had a wooden chassis. The ash was always used – and still is – for the frame that sits on top of the chassis and has the body panels mounted to it. You can see the grain of the wood if you open the bonnet and look at the front bulkhead.

While you’re there, have a look at the 2.0-litre, four-cylinder turbocharged BMW engine. That develops a very useful 255bhp and 295lb ft at only 1,550rpm. The Plus Four only weighs 1,040kg. So it’s properly quick, not just ‘hold on to your dog collar vicar, I’ll have you at the village fete in no time’ swift. 4.8 seconds to 62mph. And the promise of 45mpg. The only trouble is it’s not very charismatic.

Let’s stick to tech for now. What else’s going on?

We have such wizardry as LED headlights, central locking, puddle lighting and Bluetooth connection to a Sennheiser stereo. This is nothing short of a revolution for the now 115-year old company tucked away in the Malvern hills.

We also get annual model-year updates like younger whipper-snapper carmakers offer. So just 12 months on from the Plus Four's 2020 launch came the MY22 update (yep, Morgan's even borrowed the out-of-kilter naming structure of its foes) which fixed a handful of the quirks we found from living with our Plus Four. The seats were made wider and more supportive, the roof less leak-prone and easier to fold, the exhaust more boisterous and the 12v socket was swapped for a pair of USB ports.

And now there’s been an MY24 update?

There has and the whole car looks cleaner as a result. New LED lights mean no ancillary indicators or spot lights front and rear, the wings have been reshaped, other elements have been tidied. The cabin in particular is more welcoming and attractive, the LCD dash screen comprehensive, yet not distracting.

Morgan expects around two-thirds of the thousand-or-so cars it builds per year to be Plus Fours. Anyone not okay with dragging Morgan kicking and screaming into the 21st century, may we invite you to drive a pre-CX steel ladder chassis car in earnest. While fantastic fun, it’s also a bucking muddle of twist, shudder and axle tramp. By comparison, this new model is the very byword in sophistication.

Is it good to drive then?

It’s good… for a Morgan. Just don’t go expecting BMW Z4 levels of refinement, insulation, accuracy, packaging etc. This is a retro wind-in-the-hair experience and although the CX chassis with its double wishbones at each corner was a big step forward, the experience is still pretty period. More on that in the Driving tab. You can – and should – have a six-speed manual gearbox, though. The auto is decent, but the manual suits the car better.

Really that up to date though?

Further down the line, this CX platform will host electrified powertrains and self-driving tech: Morgan really is living in the 21st century now. However, it’s a car of two halves. The engine and gearbox feel modern, the cabin and driving experience are caught in a mostly happy middle ground. But the styling lags. Yes, the new headlights have helped clean the visuals up a bit, but to attract new buyers it feels like all Morgans need a proper steampunk makeover. There’s nothing wrong with retro sports cars, but it would be great if they appealed to buyers of less than pensionable age.

What’ll it cost me? And what are the alternatives?

Handbuilt cars cost. That’s the end of it. Part of purchasing a Morgan must include a visit to the Malvern factory to witness the craftsmen at work. Seen alongside that the £74,406 asking price for a four-cylinder sports car doesn’t seem expensive.

Values hold up and there’s nothing else quite like it, but if you’re flying towards retirement and looking for a treat you might want something easier to get in and out of, something easier to live with. And there’s quite a lot of options out there from Porsche’s soon-to-go-electric 718 Boxster to MG’s very-much-already-electric Cyberster. Then there’s the aforementioned BMW Z4, Mazda’s MX-5 for those on a budget, a Caterham for those with very youthful hips… but yeah, we’re clutching at straws a bit. For the money there’s nothing else like a Morgan.

Whereas before a select group bought a Morgan because they wanted to be different, to revel in its overtly old-school character and let everyone know that technology was spoiling all the fun, the new Plus Four casts its net a little wider. Not a huge amount wider, although some areas are more up to date; the bodywork, roof mechanism, bolt-on door uppers and resulting refinement issues remain throwbacks and make the Plus Four challenging to live with.

But throw back the roof, toss the windows and hang your elbow out over the thoughtfully padded door and all is forgiven. No, it still doesn’t have the precision of a Porsche, nor would you expect it to, but in a two-seater roadster every journey should be a special event. And in the Plus Four, it is.