As a car enthusiast, it’s easy to love Morgan. The plucky British sports car maker builds some of the absolute coolest cars on the market; fun-to-drive sports cars with retro charm. As a BMW enthusiasts, it’s even easier to love Morgan, as most of its cars use BMW engines. Its newer cars use BMW’s newer engines; the Plus Four uses BMW’s B48 and the Plus Six uses the B58. However, one of its cars uses an older BMW engine and both of which are getting fitting final send off. Welcome the Morgan Plus 8 GTR.
Only nine of the Morgan Plus 8 GTRs will be made, with the one you see here among those nine cars. Not only is it a limited run model, it’s the last Morgan to use a V8 engine and it’s also the most powerful Morgan in history. The BMW N62B48 engine, a naturally-aspirated 4.8 liter V8 from the E70-gen X5, makes 375 horsepower in the Plus 8 GTR. Being that all nine cars will be bespoke models, as each customer will work with Morgan to customize their car, the Plus 8 GTR will get a choice of transmissions, likely a six-speed manual or six-speed ZF automatic, as those were the transmissions available on the engine back in its day.
It looks intense for a Morgan, this new Plus 8 GTR. Its aggressive aero kit, more aggressive rear wheel arches, and new hard top roof all give it a racier vibe. That vibe is intentional, as it’s designed to pay homage to the Morgan Plus 8 race car of the ’90s, dubbed “Big Blue”. Ironically, the color from this first car is BMW’s Yas Marina Blue.
No performance metrics have been given but, honestly, do they matter with a car like the Morgan Plus 8 GTR? The nine lucky customers of the Plus 8 GTR will get a bespoke sports car with a naturally-aspirated V8, classic good looks, and potentially a manual transmission, all from a brand that truly cares about making special driving experiences. How do you not love that?
