Lot Ended
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