Talk Morgan Forums Morgan Sports Cars Morgan Plus Four, Supersport & Plus Six (CX & CXV Generation Vehicles) New 4cylinder car

Better than having "no option" though Stewart?

The manual will be a deal maker for a lot of prospective customers even if it does cost a few pennies more
As Soleng said 190 bhp will be spot on power wise.

I agree but that it will be an ‘option’ makes me think that A) it will be expensive B) a less than ideal and possibly a problematic mating of a manual gearbox and engine that probably wasn’t designed to be mated with a manual box

I must confess to being a wee bit confused about the aversion to auto boxes. Don't they have an option to select gears manually any more?

The only auto box car I ever drove regularly was a Vauxhall Cavalier back in the early 1990's and you could just take it out of drive and use the box manually. Made an otherwise tedious car a bit more interesting to drive on twisty bits. I did have a short drive in a mate's BMW 5 series and that seemed so competent in auto mode I didn't bother to try and use it manually.

I can well understand not wanting the complexity of a modern car, but in that case why consider buying a new Morgan in the first place? There are loads of used ones about to give that authentic classic vibe.

I have had both over the years and prefer autos for lazy town driving without doubt but not in a Morgan for me, I shall be very interested to see the "manual" uptake as one of the complaints about the Plus Six was the gear lever and box, we shall see in time what the customer wants.

It's nice to have the choice in a bespoke car so well done MMC.

Hopefully the engine and box will come from a tried and tested combination, I take your point though.

I am wondering if they will offer a 4 seater Stewart ?

Perhaps that will be the big Geneva reveal and could explain the higher stance of the Burkah car

Yes - Williams have about 25 Morgans, including an Aero Coupe....

Why would someone consider buying a new Morgan? An interesting question

Morgan could have updated the chassis in the 50s. At that time everyone else was moving away from an underslung chassis and were arching the chassis rails above the rear axle. The benefit was simply greater suspension travel for the rear axle - ie less bottoming out or topping out over bumps.

Morgan could have moved to double wishbone suspension in the 60s. By then the few other manufacturers that were using some variant of sliding pillar suspension had moved to more modern front suspension systems that did not require regular greasing. In effect the commonly used MacPherson strut could be seen as a cross between a wishbone and sliding pillar suspension but a double wishbone is probably more suitable for the Morgan.

Morgan could have moved to independent rear suspension by the 90s. By that stage only big American cars, light trucks and utility vehicles were not using independent rear suspension.

Until the development of the Aero series Morgan left themselves behind in chassis and suspension technology. If they had made small advances over the years many buyers could easily be satisfied by the existing trad range. Most people who buy a trad don't even know that the kingpins need to be greased regularly.

Now we are making a quantum leap, not to the future, but to 2020. This is why someone would want to buy a new Morgan. To have a vehicle that looks like a classic but rides and handles like a modern sports car, to have a vehicle that has ABS (just in case) and at least the option of aircon, to have a vehicle that looks like a classic but you don't have to get your hands dirty, you don't even have to think about servicing it until you take it to the dealer every 20,000 km.

For those who want a brand new vintage car there are still plenty of trads at dealers and the final Plus 4 can be ordered. When they have gone, and unless the current production complies with Euro 6D they will have to be registered before Jan 2021, it will be used only.

The B58 4 cylinder is sold with both auto and manual transmissions, this is the list for the 248 bhp version

2016–present G30 530i
2016–present F22 230i[10]
2016–present F32/F33/F36 430i
2018–present G01 X3 xDrive30i
2018–present G02 X4 xDrive30i
2020–present G01 X3 xDrive30e (PHEV Version)

And the 228 bhp version...2014–present F56 MINI JCW Hardtop and JCW Cabrio (320 Nm)[9]
2017–present F56 MINI JCW Clubman and JCW Countryman ALL4 (350 Nm)
2015–present F22 225i
2016–present F48 X1 25i/28i
2017–present F39 X2 25i/28i
2019–current F44 228i Gran Coupé xDrive

So I don't see any problem for MMC to offer a nice, slick BMW manual box.

This is exactly my point. I completely understand why someone might want a traditionally-styled car but with up to date underpinnings, and that's what a modern Morgan delivers.

I also understand why someone would want a traditional Morgan with none of those fancy modern fripperies. The thing is, you can easily buy one of these for far less money than buying new, so why worry that you can't get them new any more? £30k will buy a completely mint +4 with relatively few miles on it, you could throw another £10 or 15k at it getting it set up and personalised exactly to your specification, stick an ageless plate on it so nobody would know how old it actually was and still have £15k left over the price of a new one.