The 3.5-Litre Morgan Plus-8
A True but Primitive Sports Car
as published in British V8 Magazine, Volume XVI Issue 1, May 2008
Re-printed unedited by exclusive written permission of "Motor Sport".
This article originally appeared in their December 1968 issue.
New photos by Curtis Jacobson and Greg Myer have been added.
125 m.p.h. A standing-start 1/4-mile in 15 sec.
Sports cars come and sports cars go but the Morgan has outlived most of them. Just when
it seems to have out-dated itself from even the American fanatical and British enthusiast
sales-charts, something happens to give the Morgan four-wheeler, basically unchanged down
the years, a new lease on life, sustaining the interest of prospective purchasers.
The original Morgan four-wheeler was an attractive little car, but it lacked the flair
and sporting appearance of the similar-size MG's, which in those days had wire wheels
and a trials reputation, against which the Morgan 4/4 had to compete. Pressed-steel
wheels and a chassis rather self-consciously aware that it was closely related to a long
generation of three-wheelers. But it had independent front suspension and a gear lever
most commendably located, due to the employment of a separate gearbox. The 4/4 ran through
a succession of engines, and then came the exciting news that a Morgan Plus-4, with a
2-litre engine, was on the assembly-shop floor at Malvern.
The Plus-4 chassis was a somewhat inflated version of that used for the 4/4, strengthened
only where the ingenious Mr. Peter Morgan thought this absolutely essential. It had the
appearance and performance of a good vintage or p.v.t. sporting car, and when, later, it
was powered with warmed-up 2.2-litre Triumph TR4A engines instead of a single-carburetter
Standard Vanguard engine, it really motored most effectively, and was impressive on the
Club circuits. That, however, was quite a long time ago and the Plus-4 clearly needed a
new lease of life. This has been most effectively accomplished by installing under a
somewhat lengthened bonnet (still heavily louvered) a perfectly normal Rover V8 engine,
of Buick persuasion, as used by the Rover Company in their 3.5-litre cars. The potential
of these light-alloy General Motors - Oldsmobile and Buick power units was emphasized
by racing development, from mild souping for stock-car work to virtual rebuilding for
installation in the Formula One Repco Brabhams, so it can be said to have links with racing
if not to be actually race developed. It gives 161 (net) b.h.p. at a crankshaft speed of
5,2000 r.p.m. This is on a c.r. of 10.5 to 1, so that 101-octane petrol is preferable but
not essential if only Premium is available. The engine is absolutely standard, as used in
the Rover 3500, even to very ordinary exhaust manifolds, and there should be plenty of
development to come.
Using the splendid Rover V8 engine so ably adapted to Solihull specification by Peter Wilks has lifted the performance of this Morgan sports two-seater from effective to highly impressive. That is to say, this primitive, certainly old-fashioned, car will now reach a top speed of 125 m.p.h., will devour a s.s. 1/4 mile in 15.0 sec. or less, and will out-accelerate a Jaguar E-type up to the legal limit of public road speed in this go-slow country. It continues to accelerate excitingly beyond 70 m.p.h. (on private roads, of course!) For having got to that pace in well under 9 sec., it requires only another ten seconds to be motoring at 100 m.p.h. This, with a bog-standard 89 x 71 mm. (3,530 c.c.) Rover engine. It is fascinating to think how the Morgan Plus-8 will go when fuel-injection or other performance-enhancers are tried - and I expect one or other of the Peters will experiment with them.
Right away, therefore, it seems obvious that if sheer performance, in terms especially of
acceleration and a reasonable top speed, appeals - straight-line go, if you like - the
Morgan Plus-8 is a formidable motor-car, because it offers this in terms which only
very few cars, costing more, can equal. Take for instance 0 to 100 m.p.h. in 19 to 20 sec.,
for a price, including p.t., of £1,487. Those interested in Marque Sports Car Racing
should be interested...
Returning to the differences between the Triumph-powered Plus-4 and the new Plus-8, they are
quite few in number. For instance, the separate gearbox is retained, coupled to the engine
flywheel by a short shaft within a large-diameter tube, and it is the same Moss gearbox used
on the Morgan Plus-4 and earlier Jaguars, this apparently being sufficiently rugged to transmit
the 226 lb./ft. maximum torque of the Rover engine. The real separate chassis is also retained,
although it has been somewhat strengthened. The old wood plank floor - I was intrigued that it
was not so much as creosoted - has given place to a welded-steel floor. The coil-spring and
pillar i.f.s., which is basically nearly 60 years old, remains, and still necessitates a bronze
damper-ring and lubrication bled off the engine supply, for the pillars also form the king-pins
of the steering layout. Similarly, at the back the suspension is by 1/2 elliptic leaf springs,
although these are now mounted at a different angle, which has killed tramp, and the movement
has been increased, to 4.5 in. The steering column now incorporates two universal joints to
clear the wide vee engine, is collapsible, and the box is a Cam Gears' cam-and-peg unit.
Paul Foster's stunning Morgan Plus-8, photographed at British V8 2006 in Townsend TN
The wheelbase has been increased by 2 in., the bonnet is longer, and the body 2 in. wider to
accommodate wider wheel rims. The wheels have been changed to imposing Robinson five-stud
cast-alloy ones, the same make as those on the Gilbern Genie featured last month, having
5.5 in. rims shod with imposing looking 185 x 15VR Dunlop SP Sport radial-ply Aquajet-tread
tyres. A further concession to the increased and spectacular performance is the use of 16P
Girling brake calipers instead of 14P, although the disc/drum sizes are unchanged. There is
now a 13.5 gallon fuel tank and instrumentation and details have been changed. For instance,
for years there was no adjustment, either of cushion or squab, for the bench front seat of the
Plus-4. The Plus-8 has sliding Restall bucket seats upholstered in Ambla leathercloth - a
revolutionary mod, for the Malvern market!
The Rover V8 engine installation has necessitated a Woods-Jeffreys thermostatically-controlled
electric fan, and the Salisbury back axle has a limited-slip differential and a ratio of
3.58:1. The 90 degree engine goes snugly under the traditional Morgan bonnet with just a slight
flattening of the air-cleaner for the two HS6 SU carburetters. Naturally, the clutch (a 9.5 in.
diameter Borg & Beck), flywheel and starter are special to the Plus-8 - it seems that Rover
may use these components if and when they bring out a manual gearbox version of their 3500.
Because the engine is not supplied to the Morgan Motor Company - actually they go to Solihull
and collect 15 a month - without exhaust anti-pollution the Plus-8 is not yet an export
proposition to America, although it has press-button switches for safety, to comply with
that aspect of the U.S.A. safety requirements which are costing such a lot of money to
incorporate, and which are restrictive to small-output concerns.
Driving the Morgan Plus-8
Apart from its very satisfying measurable performance, 100 m.p.h. possible on quite short straights,
so quickly and unobtrusively that only radar would notice it, as emphasised by the previously-quoted
figures, the truly striking aspect of the Morgan Plus-8's running is the enormous torque delivered
by the engine. Maximum torque is delivered at 3,000 r.p.m. and reaches 210 lb./ft. at 2,700 r.p.m.,
but the car pulls very smoothly away from a mere 1,000 r.p.m. in top gear, and before 2,000 r.p.m. is
reached things are very definitely starting to happen! This makes the Morgan as docile and one-gear
as any big American sedan! Yet, using the gears, the acceleration is sizzling. The engine runs
safely to 5,000 r.p.m. and can be pushed for short periods toward 6,000 r.p.m. Without taking the
needle quite to the end of the tachometer scale, this means, apart from bullet-like take-off, maxima
in the gears of 40, 70, and just over 100 m.p.h. Running at 30 m.p.h. in towns the Morgan's engine
idles over at 1,400 r.p.m. in top gear. It is possible to accelerate away without making use of
the harsh and notchy gear change, and at 70 m.p.h. the engine will be turning over at less than
3,200 r.p.m. Even so, a higher axle ratio could be used with advantage, although it is, cruising
at 100 m.p.h. on the Continent, the Rover V8 is running within 400 r.p.m. of the beginning of the
red-sector on the tachometer.
The gear change is by a splendid little central lever just forward of the facia. It is all too
easy to brutally over-ride the synchromesh, which doesn't exist on bottom gear anyway, but
enthusiastic drivers are unlikely to complain unduly! Reverse is selected by lifting the rigid little
lever beyond the first-gear location. The clutch is very heavy, but not unduly fierce. The gear
lever protrudes directly from the Moss gearbox, out of the transmission tunnel. Ahead of it, rather
far forward on the left of the tunnel, though an average height driver sitting close to the steering
wheel had no complaints, is the handbrake - and full marks, for it is the good old true fly-off type.
It failed to hold the car only on the steepest gradients.
Morgan Plus-8 All-Alloy Vee-Eight Engine (note: this carb and air cleaner aren't original equipment.)
The Morgan Plus-8 is steered by a 14.5 in. dia. wheel mounted very close to the facia, so that one tends to adopt a cranked-arms driving stance. It is an Astrali wheel with three drilled spokes and a thick rim covered with a laced-up leather glove. The steering is heavy for parking, the huge tyres dragging, dead in feel, a bit jerky in action, and not a lot lighter for sudden changes in direction, although in sober town driving it feels light. There is only very mild castor return, and kick-back is less evident than "fight" over bad surfaces, accentuated by scuttle shake. This is not particularly nice steering, but, at 2.4 turns, lock-to-lock, it is quick and accurate. The big tyres have resulted in a restricted turning circle. The steering pivots require lubrication every day, or every 200 miles, a matter of conscience - which is achieved by prodding a high-set floor button, like a dip switch. This is hard to press but seems to momentarily drop engine oil pressure by no more than about 10 lb./sq.in. when the lubricant is hot. But it is a crude, messy arrangement and one hopes the strip-steel connections between bronze damper ring and the frame last longer than they used to do, especially as the well-valanced front wings now hide them completely, making inspection impossible and replacement unthinkable.
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The ride? Those concerned with modern suspension systems would no doubt cry from anguish or mirth,
if driven fast over rough roads in the Plus-8. On really bad going the car seems to have no springs.
In less bad roads it just jumps around and rattles. On main roads it floats along nicely. Trying hard
on Welsh mountain passes the Morgan felt less safe than the Gilbern and I would think that a competition
driver would lose time when the back-end bounced upwards and sideways and by the front-end suddenly
going softish. On the other hand, I regard the Morgan as supremely good fun and very safe, to drive round
a race circuit and certainly in ordinary fast road motoring the Dunlop SP Sports refused to breakaway
or to protest. The Morgan rides and corners - like a Morgan. Which infers hard springing, negative roll,
some understeer. The limited-slip differential and those excellent Dunlops permit lots of throttle
to be used out of corners, even on wet roads. Yet although rear-end breakaway is not normal, a dab
of throttle helps to balance the cornering by combating the understeer. Over the Abergwesyn-Tregaron
mountain road the sheer power of the Plus-8 makes this difficult terrain seem tame, except that the very
long bonnet, which itself is 4 ft. 2 in. long) masks the road on up gradients; there is the sensation,
also associated with long-snouted pre-war cars, of sitting well back and having to steer the bonnet
round the bends.
The screen now has triple wiper blades but it no longer folds flat. Visibility is good, in as much
as the n/s side lamp and part of the o/s headlamp cowl and vintage-type wing can be seen from the
rather low driving seat by the average driver. Naturally, with its hood up things are less pleasant -
but who wants to motor in a closed Plus-8 anyway? Especially as the hood's "lift-the-dot" fasteners
required very strong fingers, or assistance from a coin or even a screwdriver, to budge them.
The brakes, which have a Girling vacuum servo, are powerful and seem free from fade. Oil pressure
is normally approximately 50 lb./sq.in.
Reverting to the Plus-8 on the road, the engine gives a subdued vee-eight exhaust beat (although
I was disappointed to find only a single tail-pipe) and is otherwise practically inaudible,
although the lower gears howl. The heater wafts plenty of really warm air about, so that hood-down
driving is no hardship. The Morgan looks low-hung but didn't bottom over rock-strewn surfaces.
The centre-hinged bonnet opened easily on the o/s, but one of the two press-down catches on the
n/s panel was very stiff. The present output of this intriguing Plus-8 is two a week, but the intention
is to increase this to about five a week by 1969.
The fuel tank has twin quick-action fillers and holds 13.5 gallons, giving a range of at least
250 miles in ordinary conditions. Indeed, on mostly main road driving. I recorded 23.6 m.p.g. The
intention had been to do a further check, motoring fast over a familiar Welsh mountain road, but
in this I was hampered, and had to abandon the idea, because ponies were being taken over it to
the November pony sales at Tregaron. Driven hard, consumption would no doubt fail to around 20 m.p.g.
The only fault which developed during a three-day test, apart from the difficulty at times of
opening the doors (chassis flexion?) was failure of the o/s sidelamp, which responded to the
time-honoured thumping on the first occasion but not thereafter. Driving this truly exhilarating
car with the hood down, in distinctly cold and wet November weather, to gain the enjoyment and
benefit of fresh air, I was disappointed to notice a trace of exhaust fumes in the cockpit. These
are probably sucked forward by the the aerodynamics of the tail, and no doubt will be experimented
with to cure this annoying shortcoming. With the rigid sidescreens erect draughts are successfully
excluded and open-air driving is otherwise a joy.
The Morgan Plus-8 is a true sports car, and a very quick one at that. It weights around 21 cwt.
laden, with some 160 b.h.p. to propel it. As I drove it, sighting along the louvered bonnet,
air playing around by head, the smell of hot mud coming from the exhaust and that vee-eight
wuffle from behind, nostalgia for the days of pre-war trials, of exploring good country in
exciting cars, and memories of V8 and V12 Allards come crowding back. For that alone, I was
grateful to this all-yellow Morgan. Regarded purely as a 1968 automobile, the Morgan may be
something of a joke. But as a fun and fresh-air car perhaps the only thing comparable (even
preferable) to a Plus-8 would be a 30/98. [British V8 editor's note: the Vauxhall 30/98 model was a
legendary and exceptionally versatile car from the early days of motorsport. Only 600 were built
between 1913 though 1927.] And a brand-new Morgan costs only £1,487 including p.t. and seat belts.
-W.B.
Photos by Curtis Jacobson and Greg Myer. All rights reserved.
