1961 Morgan Plus 4
How many more trees do these Brits plan on killing? Since its beginnings in the early part of the 20th century, the automobiles of the Morgan Motor Company have been hand-built around frames of ash. Nothing all that unusual; many coachbuilders used wood subframes in the early days. However, what sets Morgan apart is that they’re still up to their ash in wooden subframes even today! Yup, there’s no two ways about it; old Morgans are cool and new Morgans are retro-cool. Wind-in-the-face open motoring, rugged, uncomfortable and, compared to other makes, very little has changed over so many years. And it makes sense. Starting with Harry Frederick Stanley (H.F.S.) Morgan, the company has been carefully guided by the same family since day one.
The earliest Morgans were three-wheeled Runabouts and Open Tourers. The first four-wheeled Morgan (1936) was the 4-4, so named for the number of wheels and (engine) cylinders. The Morgan Plus 4 (also known as the +4) debuted in 1950 with a stronger and longer chassis. The engine was a 2088cc Standard Vanguard unit, larger (“plus”) and more potent than its predecessors. A few years later Morgan offered the Plus 4 with a 1991cc Triumph TR-3 power maker and still later the 2138cc TR4 engine made its way under the hood.
