The Morgan Motor Company has been building cars based on derivatives of the same steel chassis since 1936. Yes, you read that correctly. Morgan itself says that the current 4/4, the Plus 4 and the V6 Roadster all sit upon extremely similar underpinnings to that of its first ever car, the 4-4.
That’s the 4-4 in the picture on the right (or above if you're seeing this on mobile), and that genuinely was taken in 1936 – no Instagram filters here.
However, in 2020 the steel chassis will finally meet its end. Let’s take a moment to mourn its loss…
There’s no official date yet for when the chassis (and thus the 4/4, the Plus 4 and the Roadster) will be killed off, but Morgan says that there’ll be a short period of overlap where a new model will cross the factory floor at the same time as the old ones.
Said new model will be based on the bespoke aluminium chassis of the new Plus Six, which was launched earlier this year and features the 3.0-litre straight-six from the new BMW Z4 and Toyota Supra.
Morgan has also confirmed that the new car (or cars, we hope) will feature a manual gearbox connected to a smaller engine than the Plus Six’s.
That’s about all we know for now, although don’t expect a futuristically-styled Morgan any time soon. The insides may be updated, but the exterior will no doubt remain a throwback to pre-war times.
