2000 Morgan Plus 8 4.6

Description

Only 13,180 miles from new; few owners, the current for 13 years; rare 4.6 model, one of only around 300 made; loads of extras; MOG number plate; splendid condition

Premiered at the 1968 London Motor Show, the Plus 8 was developed by race engineer Maurice Owen and was such an instant and enduring success that it is widely credited with saving the company. It remained in production until 2004, although the Plus 8 name was revived in 2012 for a new model, based on the Morgan Aero chassis and fitted with a 4.8-litre BMW engine, which was on sale until 2018.

Hand-built in familiar Morgan fashion on a strengthened version of the Plus 4 chassis with an ash frame, its swooping bodywork looked as traditional as ever but gave no clues to the new model's extraordinary performance. Weighing only 1,300kg and with some 160bhp and 190lb/ft of torque on tap from its Rover 3.5 V8, the Plus 8 immediately became Britain’s fastest-accelerating production car, sprinting to 60mph in a shade over 6 seconds with a top speed of 125mph.

Constantly improved over the years, it received the Rover LT77 5-speed all-synchromesh manual gearbox in 1977 and in 1983 gained Bosch L-Jetronic fuel-injection which raised power to 190bhp and made it quicker to 80mph than the contemporary Porsche 911 Turbo. Combining Vintage-era charm with Cobra-like grunt, it was in such high demand that at one point the waiting list was over six years long.

More was to come though: in 1996 the 4.6-litre version of the Rover engine was offered as an option with GEMS fuel injection. This was a stroked version of the 3.9 with a redesigned block, crank and con rods which allowed the original water passageways to be retained and raised the power to 220 with 260 lb/ft of torque. This made the Plus 8 devastatingly brisk but also an easy car to drive thanks to the torque. With a revised rear axle and a 5-speed manual gearbox it could sprint to 60mph in 4.8 secs with a top speed of 132mph. Exact production figures are uncertain but it seems likely that no more than 300 were made.

First registered in March 2000, this wonderful Plus 8 4.6 was acquired by our vendor from Morgan dealers Allon White of Cranfield in August 2011 at which point it had covered just 11,600 miles. Finished in Mercedes Pearl Grey with green leather Sports seats, walnut dash and white-faced instruments, other features include aluminium Superform wings; long doors; extra bonnet vents; deep-dish chrome wire wheels; period round door mirrors; 'Easy-Up' Mohair hood, hood bag and tonneau cover; fully trimmed and padded sidescreens; walnut central cubby box; rear luggage rack; high level brake light; clear front indicators; Cibie front fog/spot lamps; Sony CD/radio etc. The original leather bonnet straps are also present, along with a spare wheel cover, not currently fitted.

Used lightly in fine weather only during our vendor’s 13-year ownership, it has always been kept garaged when not in use, the odometer currently showing 13,180 miles which is correct, as backed up by the MOT history.

A competent engineer with a stable of exotic Vintage-era machines, our vendor has maintained the car himself with regular servicing and greasing of the front suspension, some of which is documented in a notebook on file. He tells us that the car uses Evans Waterless Coolant so it maintains good temperature at all times, even when stuck in heavy traffic.

The history file includes photos of the car being built at the Malvern factory, one of which is signed by the late Peter Morgan himself, son of HFS Morgan, who ran the firm from 1959 until 2003. The icing on the cake is the S90 MOG number plate which comes with the car.

Only reluctantly for sale due to illness, the car’s last MOT was issued in February 2013 with no advisories recorded and it has only covered 15 miles since so getting a new one should be no more than a formality. As you can see in the photos, it is in super condition throughout, the only real fault we noted being a missing bonnet release catch (as pictured). A new one has been ordered from Melvyn Rutter and should be here in time for the sale.

Starting instantly and running beautifully as we have moved it around on site, with healthy 3.5 bar oil pressure, this rare and powerful Morgan is barely run-in yet. With bags of old school character, prodigious acceleration and a wonderful V8 soundtrack, it is guaranteed to blow those cobwebs away!

Consigned by James Dennison – 07970 309907 – james.dennison@brightwells.com