Morgan Plus 8

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Premiered at the 1968 London Motor Show, the Plus 8 was developed by race engineer Maurice Owen and has remained a good seller to this day, with a break in production from 2004 to 2012 when it was relaunched with a new BMW 4.6 V8 in place of the original Rover 3.5 unit.

Handbuilt in familiar Morgan fashion on a strengthened version of the Plus 4 chassis with an ash frame, its swooping bodywork looked as traditional as ever but gave no clues to the new model's extraordinary performance. Weighing only 1,300kg and with some 160bhp and 190lb/ft of torque on tap, the Plus 8 immediately became Britain’s fastest-accelerating production car, sprinting to 60mph in a shade over 6 seconds with a top speed of 125mph.

Constantly improved over the years, it received the Rover LT77 5-speed all-synchromesh manual gearbox in 1977 and in 1983 gained Bosch L-Jetronic fuel-injection which raised power to 190bhp and made it quicker to 80mph than the contemporary Porsche 911 Turbo. Combining Vintage-era charm with Cobra-like grunt, it was in such high demand that at one point the waiting list was over six years long.

Supplied new by I & J MacDonald of Co. Durham in October 1989, the original purchase invoice shows that this fuel-injected, 5-speed Plus 8 had the options of aluminium body and wings, internal roll bar, walnut dash and black leather seats, all adding up to a total cost of £20,645. It had three owners before our vendor acquired it in 2009 at which point it had covered a mere 27,800 miles. During his nine-year ownership it has only clocked up another 3,800 miles, the odometer currently showing just under 31,600 miles.

Meticulously maintained by the vendor, it has been serviced annually regardless of mileage with no fewer than 10 stamps in the book during his ownership, the last service being just a handful of miles ago in July 2018. Indeed a good file of invoices show regular maintenance from new including waxoiling of the chassis which remains in excellent condition, the fitment of a stainless steel exhaust system, luggage rack and uprated 4-pot brake calipers and vented discs. There is also a Brantz 2 rally tripmeter discreetly fitted in the glovebox by a previous owner. Other documentation includes an MOT until August 2019 with no advisories recorded, many old MOTs and an owner’s handbook.

Performing beautifully when we were treated to a spirited test drive on the occasion of our visit with surging acceleration, a glorious V8 sound track and excellent oil pressure and temperature on a boiling hot day, this old school hot rod is what driving is all about. Mick Jagger loved his Plus 8 so they must be fun!