MORGAN PAIRS ASH FRAME WITH BMW Z4 POWERPLANT

There used to be a sevenyear waiting list for a new Morgan sports car which gave you plenty of time to a) try to find the money and b) pluck up the courage to tell the other half what you’d done.

Now the wait is less than a year so you have to be more careful – especially if you visit the Morgan factory in Malvern.

It’s an amazing place, full of craftsmen bashing metal and shaping wood. And they really are making a car to your specification with virtually any colour possible.

This Morgan Plus Six is a very easy thing to fall in love with.

It’s a completely new car.

It looks exactly how a Morgan should, but underneath its flowing lines is a brand-new aluminium chassis that’s twice as stiff as the chassis used on the Aero series of cars.

Don’t worry, it still features an ash frame, lovingly carved from the raw material by Morgan’s master craftsmen.

In fact, there’s more wood by volume in the Plus Six than there is in the more traditional Roadster and Plus Four models that the company still makes.

Under that long bonnet sits a state-of-the-art BMW engine. Codenamed B58, this is the threelitre straight-six turbocharged unit

Morgan Plus Six two-seat roadster Price: £89,995

Engine: 2998cc, six-cylinder, 335bhp 0-62mph: 4.2sec

Fuel consumption: 38.2mpg

Co2: 170g/km

that’s used in the new BMW Z4 roadster and Toyota Supra.

It’s the first time a turbocharged engine has been fitted to a Morgan. The power output is 335bhp, which in a car that weighs only 1,075kg dry makes for very

strong performance. The Plus Six is not the sort of car you’re going to thrash around flat out but it will do 0-62mph in 4.2sec and go on to a top speed of 166mph.

Try doing that on an autobahn and I suspect you’ll lose either