Family Morgan

Unusual for a convertible roadster, the 1961 Morgan Plus 4 offered four seats, but despite its racy looks had only an anemic engine

by Gary Anderson

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In 1936, the Morgan 4/4 debuted as the company's first four-wheeled car. The designation 4/4 stood for four cylinders and four wheels. The vehicles that Morgan had produced prior to the 4/4 were three-wheelers with V-twin engines, hence the need to differentiate. Production of the 4/4 continued for over 70 years, except for a short halt during World War II and another in the early 1950s.

After WWII, the Morgan company was faced with a problem, which it surmounted in a sporting manner. In 1947, the Standard Motor Company informed Morgan that after 1949, the little 1,267-cc engine would not be available, due to their new "one-engine policy."

That "one-engine" was a bigger 1.8-liter, 4-cylinder that Morgan bought, to its everlasting benefit. More powerful, it powered the new-for-1950 Plus 4 in various displacements for the next 20 years, as well as Triumph TR2s, TR3s, and TR4s.

In 1956, the Plus 4 received a Triumph TR3 engine with 100 horsepower. The Plus 4 could be ordered with lightweight aluminum bodies and was excellent for competition. In 1959, performance and safety were enhanced by the addition of Girling disc brakes.

In 1961, the Plus 4 Super Sport was introduced. With the highly-tuned Triumph engine producing 116 horsepower, speeds exceeding 115 mph were easily achieved. The Morgan Plus 4 Super Sport owes its existence to the tuning and driving skills of Chris Lawrence, who prepared, tuned, and drove his Morgan Plus 4 to resounding success in the 1959 season in England. In 1960, Lawrence entered the full 22-race schedule for the Freddie Dixon Trophy; he won 21 of them and finished third in the other.

Completely restored only three years ago in Houston, Texas, this four-seat Plus 4 has been carefully maintained since and shows only 1,000 miles on the odometer since coming out of the restoration. The paint and chrome both still appear as new. Likewise, the red interior, top, and tonneau cover are all in top condition. The car is mechanically sound, with a rebuilt engine, and the walnut trim has been refinished.

The SCM Analysis

This Morgan Plus 4 sold for $38,500 at the Worldwide Group's Houston Classic auction in Seabrook, Texas, on May 3, 2008.

It's always disappointing when an auction catalog simply paraphrases a standard reference source and includes little information about the actual car for sale. Not only does the potential buyer learn little about what he is bidding on, but the information may also be irrelevant at best or misleading at worst.

For example, the catalog devotes a full paragraph to Chris Lawrence and the genesis of the Super Sport competition version of the Morgan, when the only relationship between this car and the SS is that they were both produced in the same year, and both had the new 2,138-cc version of the Triumph engine.

In fact, as noted earlier in the description, the first Plus 4 was introduced in 1950, when Standard discontinued the 1.3-liter engine it had been supplying to Morgan. Morgan agreed to accept the 2.1-liter Vanguard engine later used in the TR2 (and which incidentally was also used in Ferguson tractors; hence the "tractor engine" insult often thrown at British cars). With the added power, Morgan wanted to differentiate the new model from the old 4/4, so they called it the Plus 4.

It's nice, but it's no Super Sport

So what were the bidders looking at in Houston? Certainly, with the 2,138-cc Triumph engine, which had just been introduced in the Triumph TR3B in the U.S. and then in the TR4 globally, this is a 1961 Plus 4.

However, unlike the Super Sport, with its Weber carbureted-engine producing 115 hp, this Morgan has the much more common version of the Triumph engine with dual SUs, capable in the day of producing 100-105 hp.

The Plus 4 was available in three body styles: a roadster, a drophead coupe, and a four-seat convertible. The Super Sport was made in the roadster body style only and used pounded aluminum for key components such as the fenders, rather than the heavier stamped steel components of the basic Morgan.