MORGAN PLUS FOUR ‘CLUBSPORT'

Prototype gives us an early insight into the next generation of competition Morgans

- RICHARD LANE

TESTED 4.11.21, LLANDOW CIRCUIT

ON SALE TBC

Don’t be deceived by the twee(d) aesthetic: Morgan is no stranger to motorsport. It won its class in the 1962 Le Mans 24 Hours, visited La Sarthe again in the 2000s, and has its own one-make series. Competition-prepared Morgans are in action most weekends at venues around Europe and the US because Morgan and its clients like to race.

But never in its 111 years has the company been better positioned to go racing than it is today. For that, you can thank the new CX chassis, which is the basis of the latest road cars and so will underpin any track-related progeny they spawn. It’s an aluminum monocoque, and in terms of stiffness, the old steel ladder frame doesn’t compare. Think dry spaghetti versus cooked. The CX is also lighter. It should therefore bring big benefits not just in inherent responsiveness and agility but also in respect to the increased precision with which the new double-wishbone suspension can be tuned and controlled.

To see what’s possible, Morgan has turned two Plus Fours – one with a six-speed manual, the other with an eight-speed auto – over to students on the Motorsport Engineering BEng course at Wolverhampton. They will explore the capabilities and limitations of the CX chassis and develop the Plus Four for club level and endurance racing.