Since the company's inception, only three basic models of cars have been built....the original 3 wheeler from 1910 to 1952, the four wheeler from 1936 to the present, and the new high tech 'Aero' introduced in 2003.
The ultra-traditional Morgan Car Company was not fairing particularly well as the world rolled into the 'swinging sixties'. Seeking to build something a little more groovy, then-chairman Peter Morgan, was very impressed by a fiberglass special called the EB Debonair. Morgan and the EB Plastic Company agreed upon a very contemporary design for a new car.
The Plus 4 Plus (+4+) was unveiled in 1963. Powered by a Triumph 2.1-liter TR4 engine that produced 110 hp. A smooth "bubbletop" coupe body was built on an unaltered Plus 4 chassis. The body made of fiberglass marked the first time Morgan used an outside supplier instead of by Morgan using its traditional steel-over-wood construction. Announcing the Plus 4 Plus was a laid-back grille of familiar Morgan design above a normal Plus 4 bumper. The windshield was curved and the roof fixed, both firsts for Morgan, as were glass door windows, which slid up and down via contact with the leading edge of the door frame. Seating remained strictly for two, but with a large cargo hold behind and a separate trunk with lid. The roof was almost bell-shaped and the lower body square-cut, with slab sides, large wheel cutouts, straight-through fender lines, and a simple tail.
The +4+ did not meet the approval of the traditional Morgan owners, so the car was not a great success. Morgan intended to build 50 but completed just 26 before abandoning this experiment in modernity after only less than four years. (conceptcarz.com & auto.howstuffworks.com)
Chassis A 5758
Chassis A5558
Chassis A5794
(Photos from bonhams.com, conceptcarz.com, rmauctions.com & autowp.ru)
