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 863 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, v139, Morgan, History (2022) The Aero line ran, with a break, until 2018. Morgan dates its BMW partnership to the Aero 8 of 2000, and marked 25 years of it in December 2025. Morgan, 25 years with BMW The Registry holds 89 Aero 8s and their variants. See them.
Braunstein’s chart lists the Aero’s variants: the Aero 8 America of 2007, with louvred sides, special colours and side pipes, and automatic transmission only for the United States; the 4.8-litre upgrade of 2008; the Aero SuperSports, limited to 100 with 32 for the USA, whose production ended in the first quarter of 2015; the Aero Coupé, ending the same quarter; the Aero 8 Series 5, limited to 300, with production starting in the fourth quarter of 2015; and the Aero GT, limited to 8. Braunstein chart, v139
Sources differ
The Aero 8’s series dates: Wikipedia has Series 2 in 2004–2005, Series 3 in 2005–2007 and Series 4 in 2007–2010; Braunstein’s chart has Series 2 in 2005–2007, Series 3 in 2007–2009 and Series 4 in 2009–2015. Wikipedia, Braunstein chart, v139
A buyer’s guide in 2023 sides with Wikipedia on the later series: Series 3 in 2005–2007 and Series 4 in 2007–2010, with a Series 5 in 2015–2018. It starts Series 2 in 2004 but runs it to 2007, alongside Series 3, and counts Series 1 as 2000–2004. The same guide ties Series 4 to the 4.8-litre engine and the first automatic gearbox. So Braunstein’s dates for Series 3 and 4 look the odd ones out. PistonHeads, Aero 8 guide
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. Braunstein’s chart calls the racing version the Aero 8 GTN. Braunstein chart, v139
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 Braunstein’s chart shows the Plus 4 shut down from about 2000 to about 2004, to make room for the Aero 8. Braunstein chart, v139 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
Braunstein’s chart gives the Roadster four series. Series 1 was built from 2004 to 2007, with a 3.0-litre Duratec V6, a Getrag gearbox and 223 hp; Series 2, from 2007 to 2010, was introduced to lower the emissions of the earlier engine and used the 3.0 Escape V6 with a Transit gearbox and 201 hp; Series 3, from 2010 to 2012, had a 24-valve 2,967 cc V6 of about 240 hp; and Series 4, from 2012 to 2020, took the 3.7-litre Ford Cyclone V6 of 260 to 280 bhp and a six-speed gearbox. Series 3 and 4 have a front track 75 mm wider, and Series 1 cars up to 2006 have a wheelbase 19 mm shorter. From April 2018 the Series 4 had the factory’s five-link coil-sprung rear. Braunstein chart, v139
There were also the Roadster Lightweight, the Four Place, the ‘Sport’, the ‘100’ Special Edition of about 2009 (limited to 100, though the chart says supposedly only 63 were built), the Brooklands Edition (limited to 50), the ARV6 track car and a 110th Anniversary edition. The chart notes that the first Roadsters for North America were Series 1 cars, about 82 imported, and that airbags were the problem: some 20 more (some say 40) were built in 2006 and imported, for a total of 102, or perhaps 122; about ten or twelve went to Australia. Braunstein chart, v139
I went back to the factory myself in May 2004, more than 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… More photographs from inside the works.
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 Wikipedia lists the four-seater tourer as offered since 1937: on the 4-4 to 1939, the 4/4 from 1948 to 1950, the Plus 4 from 1950 to 1968, the 4/4 1600 from 1969 to 1993, the 4/4 1800 from 1999 to 2001, and the later Plus 4 and Roadster from 2006 to 2016, with reportedly about fifty built a year. The body of 2006 had longer doors, better rear seating and an easier hood. Wikipedia, Morgan Four Seater
Sources differ
The Registry timeline records the last Plus 8 on 4 May 2004; the company history says April 2004. 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. Wikipedia, 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.
Sources differ
Braunstein’s chart ends the 3 Wheeler on 20 November 2020, after 33 P101s; Morgan’s own page says it ran until the summer of 2021. The chart also dates the 1,000th modern three-wheeler to 13 November 2013, where the Registry’s timeline has 25 August 2014. Wikipedia’s section on the United States says it ceased production in 2019, and its Super 3 article says the old model was discontinued at the end of 2021. Braunstein chart, v139, Morgan Motor Company, Wikipedia, Wikipedia, Morgan Super 3
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. The chart gives it a 3.0-litre BMW twin-turbo six of 306 bhp, with a six-speed automatic or manual gearbox, and says production was announced in 2013, then cancelled. Braunstein chart, v139 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
At the end of 2013 the shareholders named Andrew Duncan, a local solicitor and close friend of Peter Morgan, as chairman, and in 2016 Dominic Riley replaced him, by Wikipedia’s account. Wikipedia
Sources differ
The EVA GT: the chart gives it a 306 bhp engine, and Wikipedia 302 bhp. Wikipedia has deliveries first promised for 2012, then put back to 2014 to allow a magnesium body, £1.4 million spent on that development, and dealers confirming the cancellation in early 2013, with the £5,000 deposits refundable. The chart says production was announced in 2013 and then cancelled. Braunstein chart, v139, Wikipedia, Morgan Eva GT
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
Sources differ
Investindustrial’s own announcement says the family kept a minority stake. Wikipedia’s article on Charles Morgan says the family sold its entire interest. The register fits the first: it shows Charles Morgan falling below the 25% line, not leaving, but it cannot show holdings smaller than that. Investindustrial, Wikipedia, Companies House
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, v139 HFS’s suspension had been on the traditional Morgans for 111 years. (The Aero cars never had it.)
Sources differ
When the 4/4 ended: December 2019, in the Registry timeline; 2018, in Morgan’s own page on the 4/4, which says it was “made from 1936 to 2018”. Morgan’s announcement of 11 December 2019, as reported at the time, still named the 4/4, Plus 4 and Roadster among the steel-chassis cars to be discontinued “sometime in 2020”, without an exact date. Morgan, 4/4 page, Carscoops, 2019
When the Roadster ended: February 2019, in the Registry timeline; Braunstein’s chart has the Series 4 built until 2020, and the factory’s production record counts 80 Roadsters that year. GoMoG’s model list has the 3.7-litre Roadster built from 2012 to 2019, which agrees with the timeline. Braunstein chart, v139, GoMoG, model lines
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
Sources differ
The Registry timeline introduces the Plus Four on 24 January 2020. Wikipedia gives 3 March 2020, when it was revealed online. Wikipedia
And the BMW-engined Plus 8 of 2012: Wikipedia ends it in 2018; the Registry timeline records it discontinued in February 2019; Morgan’s own page lists it as “12–19”, which agrees with the timeline. Morgan’s account of 25 years with BMW, in December 2025, says the 4.8-litre V8 made its last appearance in core production in 2018 with the final Plus 8, and ended with nine Plus 8 GTRs in 2021. Morgan, 25 years with BMW That fits what I know of how Morgan works: it buys engines in batches and keeps fitting them until they run out, then orders more or changes models, so a model can run a year or two past its official end, and the Roadster’s 2020 cars may be the same story. Wikipedia, Morgan, Plus 8 page
2022 to todayToday
The Super 3 replaced the 3 Wheeler in 2022. Morgan announced it on 24 February 2022. Morgan, Super 3 announcement It has a 1.5-litre three-cylinder Ford engine, naturally aspirated, of 118 bhp. Morgan, Super 3 Braunstein’s chart adds a weight of 1,157 pounds, 0 to 60 mph in about seven seconds and a top speed of 130 mph. Braunstein chart, v139 In 2023 it was approved for the United States as a motor tricycle. Wikipedia On the chart, that means the Super 3 is on sale there from 11 July 2023, with the headlights set inboard, and a recall of 62 American cars for the pedal box followed in January 2024. The Origins Collection of 9 July 2024 offered nine specifications of nine cars each. Braunstein chart, v139 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. Wikipedia On 24 June 2026 Morgan revealed a fixed-head Midsummer Coupé, with nine commissions to follow. Morgan, Midsummer Coupé Morgan’s own announcement gives the same date, 16 May 2024, and says production would run through 2024 and 2025. Morgan, Midsummer announcement
Braunstein’s chart also keeps the one-offs and concepts: the LIFECar, with an electric powertrain by QinetiQ and a fuel cell; the Plus E of 8 March 2012, with a 70 kW electric motor from Zytek; the SP1 of 3 September 2014, a one-off built on a Roadster chassis; the XP-1, an electric Super 3 prototype; the CX-T, the off-road Plus Four of July 2021; and the Midsummer Coupé of 24 June 2026, of which nine are to be built. It lists US “component cars” too, about sixty slots for the Plus 4 and Plus 6, and others outside the CX range. Braunstein chart, v139
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 Braunstein’s chart marks the official end of Plus Six production on 1 November 2024. Braunstein chart, v139 In April 2026 the Supersport 400, with 402 bhp, became the most powerful Morgan yet. Wikipedia On 15 July 2026 Morgan said the Supersport was homologated for the United States, excluding California, under the replica-vehicle law. American cars take a 2.0-litre BMW four-cylinder engine with an eight-speed automatic gearbox, production of them begins in August, and the first customer cars are due from September. Morgan, Supersport in the US Braunstein’s chart had marked the announcement of a US-specification Supersport on 12 June. Braunstein chart, v139
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 Braunstein’s chart records the first CX Plus Four for the United States registered on 5 April 2025, at Frazee in Florida, and the Plus Four and Plus Six rebranded on 9 November 2022 for the 2023 model year. Braunstein chart, v139 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
Sources differ
The Registry timeline records approval to sell the Plus Four in the United States, automatic only, with “no more than 275 total”. Wikipedia gives a cap of 325 a year. Wikipedia
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.