It’s easy to think of Morgan as the most quintessentially British car maker around, but since 2019 it’s actually been majority owned by an Italian investment company, and its CEO is a chap called Massimo Fumarola.
It’s perhaps this injection of Italian flair into the Worcestershire company that’s led to this: the Morgan Midsummer, a limited-edition speedster that’s been styled by storied Italian coachbuilding firm Pininfarina (not to be confused with the Germany-based manufacturer Pininfarina Automobili, which builds the Battista and effectively licenses the name).
The Midsummer is based on the Morgan Plus Six, which means it shares a 335bhp 3.0-litre BMW-sourced turbocharged straight-six with the BMW Z4 and Toyota GR Supra. It still uses the standard car’s ZF eight-speed auto ’box, too.
The big changes come at the rear, where Pininfarina has treated the car to a longer, more tapering tail. While it’s still visibly a Plus Six up front, it’s got lower sills and fuller front wings. The new 19-inch wheels are forged, and weigh 10kg each, 3kg less than the equivalent Plus Six wheels. Also conspicuous in its absence is a windscreen – all the more reason to dress as if you’re piloting a Sopwith Camel while driving it.
Morgan Midsummer – interior
It’s based on the all-aluminium CX platform that underpins the Plus Six and four-cylinder Plus Four, and the bodywork is still shaped around Morgan’s signature ash wood frame. The Midsummer gets extra-woody, though, with a teak structure ringing the cabin and running along the centre console. Over 400 layers of sustainably sourced teak go into each car, with 126 layers in the dashboard alone. Elsewhere in the interior are a freshly-designed set of analogue instruments and an uprated audio system.
The Midsummer will go into production in the third quarter of 2024, and if you want one, well, tough luck: all 50 of the planned units have already been sold at a series of private preview events.
