Uber Morgan

With An All-new – Though Still Partly Timber – Chassis And Power From A Modern Bmw Straight-six, The New Plus Six Is The Most Well-rounded Morgan Yet

- James Taylor

WE TURN LEFT IN THE middle of nowhere, then right at the back of beyond, and by magical coincidence stumble upon a classic car rally. MG and Triumph owners’ heads whip-round to rubberneck the Morgan. Their senses are very finely attuned to old British car-spotting, and they know before they can see us that this isn’t an old car, nor an entirely British one. The smooth straight-six BMW engine may sound peculiar in a context of pushrod rattlers, and the lack of leaking hot oil may leave their nostrils under-employed, but their sixth sense correctly tells them they’ve been joined by a kindred spirit. An MGC owner recognises it as the new Plus Six immediately. He approves.

This brief encounter is an unplanned bonus extra dimension to a blissfully relaxed westerly meander from Morgan’s Worcestershire HQ in the UK into the Brecon Beacons and up through mid-Wales. Nowhere in particular is a great destination on a summer’s day, roof down, in a sports car.

After leaving the factory in Malvern – a designated ‘area of outstanding natural beauty’ – we’re soon zig-zagging along hedge-lined lanes, with one question in mind: how to judge the Plus Six? As a serious performance car, or as a leak-free classic?

Traditionally, it’s been easiest to think of Morgans as novelties. They’ve always been charming, and many have been very quick too, but they haven’t necessarily been the most well-resolved dynamically. But the Plus Six stands the best chance yet of being a Mog you would buy for its substance as well as its style. Despite its old-as-the-Malvern-Hills appearance, this is the most well-rounded car yet to roll out of the Pickersleigh Road factory, with an all-new chassis and electronics. It even has central locking, and puddle lights under the doors.