CarBrandLogos archive · Morgan · 1936

MorganMorgan 4/4

Four wheels, four cylinders, and eighty-two years of essentially the same car.

Photo: DeFacto · CC BY-SA 4.0

The story

A defining chapter in Morgan history.

Explore the ideas, engineering and context that shaped the Morgan 4/4, then continue into its specifications and place in the marque's lineage.

Origins

The name is a specification: four wheels and four cylinders, to distinguish it from the three-wheelers Morgan had built since 1909. When it appeared in 1936 it was the first car in the company's history with a wheel at each corner, and the shape it established, with its long bonnet, flowing wings, two seats and ash frame under steel panels, is still what Morgan sells today.

Morgan 4-4 - Flickr - mick - Lumix · Mick from Northamptonshire, England · CC BY 2.0

Design and engineering

It also holds one of the longest production runs in motoring. With a break for the war and a pause in the early 1950s, the 4/4 was built at Malvern from 1936 until 2018, taking engines from Coventry Climax, Standard, Ford and finally Ford's Sigma four along the way. The sliding-pillar front suspension Morgan patented before the First World War came along for the entire ride.

Morgan 1978 - Flickr - mick - Lumix · Mick from Northamptonshire, England · CC BY 2.0

In production

What kept it viable was not nostalgia alone. The car is very light, so a modest engine gives it real pace, and the chassis rewards a driver who does not mind being informed about the road surface in considerable detail. Customers simply refused to let Morgan stop building it, the waiting list at times ran to years, and the company obliged for eight decades.

Morgan Morgan 4/4 · Thesupermat · CC BY-SA 3.0

At a glance

The facts that define it.

Produced

1936–2018

Engine

1.1 lite Coventry Climax

Body

2-door roadster

Technical specification

The Morgan 4/4, in detail.

Production: 1936–2018
Class: Front mid-engined Sports car
Body style: 2-door roadster
Engine: 1.1 lite Coventry Climax; 1.8 litre Ford engine; 1.6 litre Ford Sigma engine
Assembly: United Kingdom: Malvern, Worcestershire, England
Manufacturer: Morgan Motor Company