MORGAN +4 DROPHEAD COUPÉ
Year of manufacture 1953 Recorded mileage 22,792 Asking price £39,500 Vendor Gavin Mcguire’s Fine Automobiles, Tandridge, Surrey; 01892 770310; gavinmcguire.co.uk
WHEN IT WAS NEW
Price £880 7s 9d (1954) Max power 68bhp Max torque 112lb ft 0-60mph 17.9 secs Top speed 86mph Mpg 24
Gavin Mcguire always seems to have something in stock that piques my interest, but I have found myself particularly besotted with a 1953 Morgan. This charming, early ‘flat-rad’ +4 is finished in a delightful shade of blue – a touch darker than the skies under which it begs to be driven – and has an eminently usable, and rare, Drophead Coupé body.
The car is thought to be just one of 10 made with this more luxurious coachwork, and the suggestion of a tourer in its shape fits neatly with the slightly upright looks. The Standard Vanguard engine beneath its long, rounded bonnet is a purveyor of torque ideally suited to hauling the luggage of a long weekend away at your nearby Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, and it has all the right British sports car sounds to accompany the scene.
It appears that the Morgan spent some of its early years with a Dutch enthusiast, until 1978 when it reached the first of a succession of owners including an Irish man who, from 1992, decided to restore the car completely. The chassis was refinished, the mechanicals rebuilt and new trim, including leather and carpets, was fitted. It ended up in a private collection in 2013, before moving on to its most recent keeper in 2018.
The car remains impressively original, the engine still wearing its modest single carburettor and with little else distracting from the authentic early Morgan experience. Only the Cam Gears steering box marks an upgrade, replacing the Burman-douglas original, and is as sympathetic as can be, given that Morgan itself decided to switch to this unit in 1969.
The latest owner attended to a number of maintenance items before it was consigned for sale at Gavin Mcguire’s dealership, and Gavin reports that it drives just as well as it looks: “The structure and mechanicals live up to its cosmetic promise, and the body is sound and rattle-free. The engine, gearbox, transmission and suspension all work to the same high standard.”
The value of a sorted Morgan shouldn’t be underestimated. Fixing one that has lost its way can be an exhausting battle, and it may never quite feel ‘right’. Thanks to the consistent attentions of past owners, this one seems never to have fallen into the trap of disrepair. With the promise of a drive as charming as its appearance, it ought never to do so in the future. Hopefully its new owner will use and treasure it in equal measure.