Car: Morgan Aero 8
Prices: £55,500 – on the road
Emissions: 295g/km
Performance: 0-60mph 4.9s / Max Speed 160mph
Fuel Consumption: Who cares? (15mpg approx)
Dimensions: Length/Width/Heightmm 4089/1753/1092mm
BLAST FROM THE PAST
Our Rating: 5.7 / 10
The 160mph Aero 8 Takes Morgan Into The Supercar League. Jonathan Crouch reports
Britain’s most traditional sportscar maker is starting to flex its muscles. A 160mph supercar, the Aero 8, now heads its line-up, bringing the Malvern maker well and truly into the 21st Century.
This £55,500 flagship model is still of course a Morgan through and through. Which means it’s hand built to order, although the wood is now only for show rather than being a structural element. Under the bonnet however, lies a far more potent engine than anything the British company has offered in the past. The 286bhp 32-valve 4.4-litre V8 is borrowed from BMW’s 540i sports saloon and in this form, takes the Aero 8 from rest to sixty in just 4.9 seconds on the way to around 160mph.
Unlike the Bavarian super saloon, however, there are no sophisticated stability systems to keep all that power in check. A six-speed manual Getrag gearbox sends drive to the rear wheels, so drivers will need to have their wits about them if conditions are damp. Not that Morgan have been blind to advances in technology: a satellite navigation system is listed amongst the options.
Called Aero 8 as a homage to the three-wheeled racing model introduced in 1919, the car is based around an advanced bonded and riveted aluminium chassis. The aerodynamic bodywork’s aluminium too, honed apparently in a wind tunnel for a 40% reduction in drag over the existing Plus 8 (which continues). Other aerodynamic benefits include a flat undertray to improve the airflow beneath the car and a venturi to reduce potential lift at the rear.
The Aero 8 development programme was the largest ever undertaken by the Worcestershire manufacturer in more than 90 years of sportscar manufacture. The four year project was set in motion following the development of the works GT2 racer, which competed in the 1997 FIA GT Championship. Many of the engineering and design principles behind the Aero 8’s chassis and suspension were both conceived and proven on the world’s race circuits by the GT2 car.
That GT2 car was the brainchild of Morgan Managing Director Charles Morgan and was brought to life through the engineering expertise of Morgan’s 1962 Le Mans class winner Chris Lawrence. The bodyshell comprised mostly standard Plus Eight panels but was based on an aluminium chassis. Though competitive in performance terms, the GT2 lacked the aerodynamic shape to achieve real success in racing.
All of which set the small but dedicated Malvern development team thinking. In 1998, they built the first Aero 8 prototype, even sleeker than the GT2 racecar but this time intended for the road. "The objective of the development programme was to recreate the position we held in 1968 when we first launched the Plus Eight," says Charles Morgan. "At that time, it was the car with just about the most flexible performance you could buy, due to the combination of its light weight and large capacity engine. We believe we have achieved this again with the Aero 8 through our dedication to weight saving and its development as an aluminium intensive vehicle."
Aero 8 prototypes have completed thousands of miles of extensive testing, both at BMW’s advanced facility in the South of France and at other locations throughout Europe where hot weather testing was conducted at temperatures in excess of 40 degrees C. At every stage, Morgan claim that the Aero 8’s performance, ride, handling, cabin noise levels and passenger comfort were benchmarked against the competition.
High performance features include the Aero 8’s 18" cast magnesium alloy wheels