Aluminium and after

At the Geneva show in 2000 Morgan unveiled a car nobody expected: the Aero 8, on an aluminium chassis, with a BMW V8! The next twenty-five years brought two returns to Le Mans, the death of Peter Morgan, a centenary, a new three-wheeler, a fight in the boardroom, new owners, and in 2020 the end of the chassis and suspension Morgan had used since the very beginning…

The Registry holds 862 cars built since 2000. See them.

2000–2018The Aero 8

The Aero 8 was the biggest development project Morgan had ever undertaken, and the first new design since the Plus 4 Plus of 1964. It was the first Morgan with an aluminium chassis, bonded together, though there was still an ash frame in the body. A 4.4-litre BMW V8 gave 282 hp and 160 mph. Wikipedia The company history recalls journalists fighting for press packs after the unveiling! Unsigned company history

The early cars’ headlights, set at an angle that critics called cross-eyed, were replaced on the third series. A one-off AeroMax coupé shown at Geneva in 2005 drew such a response that Morgan put it into limited production, which Morgan’s own history puts at 100 cars. Wikipedia, Unsigned company history, Braunstein chart, v94, Morgan, History (2022) The Aero line ran, with a break, until 2018. The Registry holds 89 Aero 8s and their variants. See them.

2002–2004Le Mans again

Forty years after TOK 258, an Aero 8 went back to Le Mans. In 2002 it retired; in 2004 it finished. 24h-lemans.com The photographs below name the drivers: Richard Stanton, Steve Hyde and Richard Hay in 2002, and Adam Sharpe, Steve Hyde and Neil Cunningham in 2004.

2001–2006Farewells

The Plus 4 stopped in 2001, when Rover stopped supplying its engine, and returned in September 2004 with a 2-litre Ford Duratec. Unsigned company history The last Plus 8 was built in April 2004, because the Rover V8 could no longer meet emissions rules. Morgan held a farewell at the Prescott hill climb, and what a send-off it was: over a thousand Morgans came, and made more than six hundred runs up the hill! Unsigned company history Its replacement was the Roadster, with a Ford V6. Unsigned company history, Wikipedia

I went back to the factory myself early in 2003, thirty years after my first visit, and there was a tremendous difference in the place. Gone were the dingy floor and walls; everything was painted a bright, light colour. The workmen were more assemblers now than craftsmen, though it was still a hands-on business, and I was still given free rein to wander about. Everything was much more business-like, even to the construction of a parts department and souvenir shop! I guess they had seen the lucre in the light…

Then, that autumn, all Morgan owners received some bad news. Peter Morgan died on 20 October 2003, still chairman, at 83. Outside the works he loved steam, and built a ride-on miniature railway in his garden. Wikipedia I responded, as did innumerable other owners all over the world, by starting my engine and revving it during the exact time of his funeral service in England. The company has not been the same since… According to the Registry timeline, Alan Garnett then became the first chairman from outside the family, until 2006.

For the 4/4’s seventieth anniversary in 2006 Morgan announced 142 cars, two for each year of 4/4 production, and that July the four-seater came back after some years away. Unsigned company history

2009A hundred years

Morgan’s centenary year filled Malvern! By the Registry timeline’s account, the Princess Royal opened the new visitor centre in April, and the Centenary Festival at Cheltenham Racecourse that August brought over 300 three-wheelers. The Three Wheeler Club counts over 300 at the year’s events. Three Wheeler Club That year we flew out to California to visit my son and his wife, and made the International Morgan Meet at Sonoma, where there were over 150 Morgans, and even Charles Morgan and his wife came. It was great fun to see all the cars racing around the track!

The new Aero SuperSports was the centenary car, and it raced too: at Silverstone on 2 and 3 May 2009, at the opening round of the FIA GT3 European Championship, an Aero SuperSports GT3 won both races, for the French team AutoGT Racing. Wikipedia: 2009 FIA GT3 Morgan’s own history says the team was owned and run by the former Formula 1 drivers Jean-Pierre Jabouille and Jacques Laffite, and that the cars ran in the top five all season. I found nothing that links that team to AutoGT. Morgan, History (2022)

Two stranger projects came from the same years, too. In 2008 Morgan built the LIFE car, a hydrogen fuel-cell car made with QinetiQ and others, which aimed at the equivalent of 150 miles to the gallon. For the centenary it also made a limited-edition Super Sports Pedal Car for children, with a wooden frame and aluminium panels, in the factory. Morgan, History (2022)

2011–2021Three wheels again

At Geneva in 2011, fifty-eight years after the last of the originals, Morgan unveiled a new 3 Wheeler with an S&S V-twin motorcycle engine. Deliveries began in Europe in February 2012 and in the United States that June, and by the company’s account 850 deposits had been taken. It ran until the summer of 2021, ending with 33 cars of a run-out edition called the P101. Morgan Motor Company An electric version, the EV3, was cancelled in late 2018. Wikipedia The Registry holds 42 of the new three-wheelers. See them.

2010–2017The boardroom

The EVA GT, a planned car with a BMW six-cylinder engine, was shown as a concept at Pebble Beach on 15 August 2010. Its production was cancelled in 2013. Braunstein chart, v94 The money spent developing it was at the centre of a boardroom dispute that year. PistonHeads Alas, Charles Morgan was removed as managing director, and in October 2013 he was voted off the board. Wikipedia The public register agrees: Charles Morgan was a director of the operating company, then called Morgan Technologies Limited, from its creation on 3 December 2010 until 14 October 2013. Companies House The dispute was settled in February 2017, when he was invited onto a new Family Council with his shareholding unchanged. evo

The same year Morgan bought back its own factory, which had earlier been sold to raise money—a happy ending to that chapter! PistonHeads In 2018 the company took back its old name: Morgan Technologies Limited became Morgan Motor Company Limited on 10 August. Companies House

2019New owners

On 5 March 2019 the investment group Investindustrial announced that it had bought a majority stake in Morgan. The family kept a minority shareholding, and for the first time the management and every employee were given a share of the business. In 2018 Morgan had made £3.2 million profit on £33.8 million of sales, selling about 700 cars; more than 30,000 people visited the factory each year, and its clubs had over 5,000 members. Investindustrial

The public register dates the handover to 3 April 2019. That day a company set up on 21 February 2019, Sports Cars (England) Acquisitions Limited, was recorded as holding 75% or more of the shares and votes in Morgan Motor Company Limited. It is itself owned by another London company, Sports Cars (England) 1 Limited. The register does not name Investindustrial, but the dates fit its announcement. On the same day Charles Morgan, registered since 2016 as holding between a quarter and a half, stopped being a registered holder of more than 25%. Four directors, including Dominic Riley, also left the board. Companies House

The chairman, Dominic Riley, said the family and management had wanted a partner with the resources to secure Morgan’s future, as technology, safety and research grew more costly. Investindustrial, PistonHeads

2019–2020The end of the sliding pillar

The same day, Morgan showed the Plus Six at Geneva: the first car on its new CX platform, bonded aluminium, with twice the stiffness of the old chassis and a frame about 100 kg lighter, and a turbocharged BMW six. It was the first Morgan with a factory turbocharger. Wikipedia, Investindustrial

The old cars went one by one. According to the Registry timeline, the Roadster and the Plus 8 ended in February 2019, the 4/4 that December, and in January 2020 the Plus 4 and every ladder-chassis model. Braunstein’s chart marks the same moment: the ladder frame and the sliding-pillar front suspension, cancelled. Braunstein chart, v94 HFS’s suspension had been on the traditional Morgans for 111 years. (The Aero cars never had it.)

The new Plus Four was revealed online on 3 March 2020, after the Geneva show was cancelled, with a turbocharged BMW four and the choice of a manual or automatic gearbox. Wikipedia

2022 to todayToday

The Super 3 replaced the 3 Wheeler in 2022, without its predecessor’s wood. Morgan announced it on 24 February 2022, with a BMW 2.0-litre engine, a six-speed manual or eight-speed automatic gearbox and a weight of just over a tonne. Morgan, Super 3 announcement In 2023 it was approved for the United States as a motor tricycle. Wikipedia For the Midsummer, Morgan worked with Pininfarina: announced in November 2023 and revealed on 16 May 2024, its fifty roadsters were sold before a price was given, and nine coupés followed in June 2026. Wikipedia Morgan’s own announcement gives the same date, 16 May 2024, and says production would run through 2024 and 2025. Morgan, Midsummer announcement

The Plus Six ended in 2025 with thirty Pinnacle editions. Wikipedia Its successor, the Supersport, was unveiled live at Pickersleigh Road on 11 March 2025, hosted by the owner and presenter Richard Hammond, after a disguised prototype had been shown in January. It is built on a developed platform, the CXV, with a turbocharged BMW six. Morgan, Supersport release The last Plus Six was built in March 2025. Morgan, FAQ In April 2026 the Supersport 400, with 402 bhp, became the most powerful Morgan yet. Wikipedia

On 12 February 2025 Morgan named a new chairman, Steven Armstrong, who had been chairman of Ford of Europe. He succeeded Lawrence Price, the founder’s great-grandson, who stays on the board as a non-executive director. Matthew Hole is managing director. Morgan, new chairman

And America opened again, on its own terms. From the 2025 model year the Plus Four was sold through twelve American dealers, automatic only, under a rule for low-volume replica cars that caps sales at 325 a year. Wikipedia From 30 June 2025 a trade deal cut the American tariff on British cars from 27.5% to 10%, within a quota of 100,000 cars a year. Morgan USA Isis Imports celebrated its fiftieth anniversary in 2018, alongside the Plus 8’s. Simanaitis Says

By September 2025 Morgan built about 630 cars a year with between 220 and 250 people, on Pickersleigh Road in Malvern Link, where the works has stood for more than a century. Wikipedia

That is where the story stands. The timeline has every date in the Registry timeline, and the Registry has the cars.

As for mine, it is still on the road, with 40,000 miles and counting, and I still won’t put a radio in it. I have never named it, either; it will always just be known as what it is: The Morgan. The best thing about Morgans is driving one—there is no experience like it, cruising down a country road with the roar of the engine in your ears and your hand resting on the gear shift, ready for the next downshift! Thanks, Peter, you have enriched my life immensely.