Quote from Motortrend: -
You have to sympathize with Charles Morgan. He inherited a quaint little English carmaker that the 20th century had somehow passed right by. The rest of us experienced world wars and women's lib, Sinatra and the Sex Pistols, television and the internet, but at Morgan's red-brick factory in Malvern Link, England, they still built cars the way they were built before Henry Ford figured out mass production.
Morgan sports cars used a front suspension designed in 1913, and had hand-shaped aluminum panels attached to a frame made of wood. But Charles Morgan wanted a modern Morgan; a car that combined the company's glorious heritage with 21st century technology.
Launched in 2000, the Morgan Aero 8 featured an aluminum-intensive frame, all independent suspension, and a BMW-sourced quad cam V-8 under the hood. It was very light, and very fast. Designed in-house, the Aero 8 looked just like the quaint 1930s-style roadsters Morgan has been building since... well, the 1930s.
But technology and tradition collided head on with Charles's choice of headlights, taken from VW's New Beetle. Once placed in the Aero 8's fenders they made the car look completely crosseyed. At the launch of the Aero 8 at the Geneva Show, a stunned designer, horrified that a once-in-century opportunity to remake a British icon had been so cruelly botched, gasped: "I wish he'd come to me. I would have done the car for free!" Charles, I have his number. It's an offer you shouldn't refuse.
End quote
Well, let me start by saying: it's Motortrend and they are a total and utter waste of time. Probably one of the worst automotive rags in print.
However, I would also say that the Aero 8 did cause a lot of controversy when it was launched - mainly due to the headlights and their inward facing nature - so it doesn't surprise me to read some negative reviews based on the aesthetic design of the car.
I know there are people who like the inward facing lights but they are a bit like Marmite, you either love them or hate them and they will always divide opinion as such.
