As BMW enthusiasts, it’s hard to not show some love to Morgan. The British sports car maker has been tied to BMW for many years now, using Bavarian engines in many of its retro-looking roadsters. The latest Morgan to use a Bavarian powerplant is the new Morgan Plus Four, which uses BMW’s B48 four-cylinder engine. Even better, though, is the all-new Morgan Plus Four racecar.
Currently, there are two of these Morgan Plus Four racecar prototypes in existence; one with a manual transmission and one automatic; with green and white liveries that honor Morgan’s 1962 racer. Looking at them, you’d have no idea they weren’t from 1962. However, under the skin, they’re as modern as a TikTok influencer.
The Morgan Plus Four racecar is just a modified Plus Four road car, which means it has the same flexible aluminum-intensive architecture (internally known as CX). The platform can be modified to use typical internal combustion, a hybrid powertrain, or even full-on electrification. It might look old but it’s as fresh as can be underneath.
For race car duties, the 2.0 liter turbocharged four-cylinder is unchanged, which means it still makes 255 horsepower and 295 lb-ft of torque. The automatic car is faster, due to its quicker gear changes but also its ever-so-slightly lower curb weight. Both cars are very light, though, having had all their unnecessary bits removed. None of Morgan’s traditionally beautiful wood resides in the cabin and neither do its classically sumptuous leather seats. There aren’t any carpets or creature comforts of any kind, for that matter. It’s a stripped out race car, with lightweight bucket seats, a four-point harness, and a roll cage.
The chassis and suspension were tweaked for racing duty, too, but Morgan is mum on the details at the moment. However, it now gets Avon ZZR semi-slick racing tires, which help keep it sticky.
One of the coolest aspects of the Morgan Plus Four race car is that it’s road legal. You can drive it out of your garage, all the way to the track, do as many laps as you’d like, drive it home, and park it back in the garage, all in the same day.
Admittedly, if you’re serious about proper racing, you don’t buy a four-cylinder Morgan. You buy a Porsche 911 GT3 or something of the like. However, the Morgan Plus Four race car is a deliciously cool, incredibly desirable toy that can be used both on the road and on the track and likely provide smiles that even the quickest GT3 might not be able to. The Plus Four offers vintage racing feel without any of the drawbacks. We don’t know how much it’s going to cost yet, though expect it to be quite a bit more expensive than the standard road car, but it’s probably worth the money.
