Description

1960 Morgan Sports

Professionally built Morgan for International Rallies; 4.2-litre JE Developments engine; special suspension; air conditioning!; hard top; hard fitted luggage; massive spec and just 3,900 miles from build

Built from the remnants of a 1960 4/4 by one of the most prominent Morgan dealers, racers and engineers for his own use, MOG 800 represents the ultimate specification of a traditional chassis'd Morgan Plus 8.

The plan all along was to use this car as a chassis/development car for the business and to end up with a machine which would be comfortable, fast and perfectly suited to compete in long-distance international rallies. This brief was fulfilled to perfection.

Work started with a Morgan factory-supplied brand-new chassis which was then heavily modified both front and rear. The racing engineer in him pushed the owner to update the front and rear suspension with his own design. Up front we now see a pair of unequal wishbones and coil spring/damper units which have banished the limitations of the original sliding pillar design. The key parameters such as roll centre location, camber change with bump and camber correction with roll/deflection have been optimised for a fast road car - coupled with supple springing and long suspension travel - ideal for those 'observed sections'.

The chassis was stiffened in key areas and at the rear, the live axle was retained but the leaf springs replaced by a four leading link setup with Panhard rod. The rear spring mounts have been designed with a rocker system to emulate rising spring rates - essential in a car of this type with so much variation in weight carried over the rear wheels (luggage, occupants and fuel)...

The result is an extremely compliant and comfortable ride, with dynamics well able to cope with the considerable performance on offer.

This comes thanks to a JE Developments supplied, 4.2-litre Rover V8 with a Walkinshaw crankshaft, serpentine front end and refurbished heads. Fitted with SU carburettors and a compression ratio of 9.35:1, power peaks at 252bhp at 5,500rpm and peak torque piles in at just 3,000rpm for devasting on-road performance.

Everything has been thought through, with vented discs up front with four-pot callipers and solid discs at the rear. The exhaust system includes stainless manifolds and comes from Librands with large 2 1/4" silencers and side pipes.

Another of this car's hidden secrets is its air conditioning system, complete with dash-mounted vents. This was added to keep the occupants calm and collected and works a treat. The list of other detailed features is long and comprehensive, from the fully-lined fibreglass hard top colour-matched to the car in Azure blue to the door mounted passenger cup holder - yes a cup holder in a Morgan!!

Along the way we see load adjustable front and rear master-cylinders for brake adjust, polished stainless roll bar, black leather sports seats with lumbar adjust and extra padding.

A lockable Librands foot locker is fitted to hide away passports and valuables and a Kenwood radio CD fitted to the dashboard. Other extras include a fire extinguisher, special cooling ducts, huge locking tool box under the bonnet and mohair cover to the small spare wheel which allows the luggage carrier and Hills Alive fibreglass luggage box to be fitted, again colour-matched Azure blue. A full-size spare is included when this is not in use.

A large file of information on the car is included, referencing the build and main elements of the car which was completed and in use by 2009. Since then, just 3,900 miles have been covered, making this effectively 'new build' Morgan barely run-in.

If you are looking for a highly original, matching numbers Morgan, then this car really is not for you - but if you fancy some long-distance International rallies or simply an extremely rapid and competent A-B road car, then this should be at the top of your shopping list. The icing on the cake is the lovely MOG 800 number which is included in the sale.

For more information - contact matthew.parkin@brightwells.com