In the late 1940s, Morgan Motor Company’s best-seller was the 4/4 – shorthand for four wheels and four cylinders. But its wheezing 1267 cc engine was rapidly becoming obsolete. It was time for a refresh, which arrived in the form of the Plus 4 – connoting “better than the 4/4”. The new car was launched at Earls Court in 1950 with a beefy 2088 cc Standard Vanguard motor. As the years passed, motor development led the Morgan along the evolutionary path. In 1953, the car received the TR2 1991 cc four, and later, that same engine as improved for the TR3. then the TR4’s mill…. all the while propelling the lightweight car ever faster around its owner’s choice of track, rally course, or neighborhood. Here on eBay is a 1952 Morgan Plus 4, bid to $5655, reserve not met. Trailers welcome to retrieve her in Jacksonville, Florida.
The Plus 4 was produced in several body styles – a roadster, a drophead coupe, and a four-seat touring version. This is the four-seater, with the extra length making the body appear ungainly. To further confuse matters, for two years the grille was “bullnosed“, creating yet another level of discrimination among body styles. We are given few details of the history of this particular car but are assured that the body retains “integrity” – a matter of opinion, not fact. The only way to know how that ash body frame is holding up is to reveal it. The interior needs restoration but appears mostly complete. This is a disc wheel car; wires are generally more popular.
The engine is said to be from a TR3, at 1991 cc’s with output ranging from 95 to 100 hp, depending on the year. I know you want a glimpse of those dual SU’s – note that the close fit of the bonnet does not allow for air cleaners. My cheesy solution to this conundrum is screen-door material (metal please, not that plastic stuff) tied with wire around the narrow throat of the air inlet. Cut neatly, it looks kinda mean and does the job against airborne debris. Gearchanges are via a four-speed manual. Our seller says the engine runs “excellent” and the brake system was rebuilt less than six years ago.
The canvas top is said to be original, but I don’t view that positively. It’s probably shrunk to unusability, and certainly, that rear window has to be renewed anyway. No sign of side curtains. Values are gently drifting downward, particularly for the four-seater. This very nice roadster with the rare-ish bullnose grille sold for just $21k a few days ago. If you prefer the traditional grille, the outlay amounts to about $30k, also for a roadster. What do you think is the right price for this Morgan?
This is a “flat rad” Morgan, as opposed to the later round nose cars. At least that’s what my neighbor with a hot rodded (relative term there) ’51 flat rad +4 calls them. He and his dad restored several Morgans over the years to concours levels.
A car run without air cleaners any length of time probably needs some work. There are offset “pie pan”air cleaners available that will fit behind the side panels. We need an expert on the Morgans to help on what it’s worth and other details like the air cleaners. If the wood is good then there is something worth buying but the price is way too much for a rough looking car needing a bunch of work.
Nice write-up. Beautiful car. If I wasn’t in the Northwest, I’d be interested in checking it out. Depending on the amount of undercarriage work, I’d put the car’s worth around 10k.
I don’t agree with your comment that the 4 seater looks ungainly. With the top up it is but top down I believe in many ways it is more attractive than the 2 seater. Over its 3 years of production, there were only 149 +4, flat rad, 4 seater Morgan’s produced. In 1964, while in college, I bought a 1952 +4, 4 seater for $185. That back seat holds 2 cases of beer which can be easily reached, while driving, by the driver or passenger. By the way I’m now 81 years old, I still own the Morgan, along with too many other cars, and it runs fine.
There is no such thing as “too many cars”….lol. Not enough money, not
enough space, not enough time, not enough support from the spouse, but never too many cars….
The correct number of cars expressed in a formula is x plus 1, wherein x = the number of cars you have now.
Agree on that. I’ll admit to having more cars in the past than I have now but now I have one too many, A van, Mini Cooper, motor home, big box trailer, open trailer and two race cars. Please help me move the race car I’ve got for sale here on BF so I can give the crew chief her parking spot back.
Forget my for sale ad. BF dumped it.
I am the president of our local Model A Club. They tell me I should have a Model A, I don’t, and I tell them they’re too expensive. They remind me that they aren’t that expensive. I tell them it’s not the cost of the car, it’s the cost of a divorce. I now have 5 cars, a pickup truck and 3 motorcycles. All but 3 are over 25 years old. I just had a 4th garage built to store them and there are still 2 parked in the driveway. I tell my sons my toys are their problem when I die.
Good project if the wood’s solid. Today it’s at $9K, which seems fair, though some would go higher. Seller may be out of touch with reality, but check Morgan websites for equivalent sale prices.
One more thing I forgot to mention regarding my 1952 Morgan Flat rad +4 4 seater; you can take a foursome of golf buddies with their clubs. How you may ask. Look at the photo. The two front seat passengers place their bags between the fenders and bonnet (hood). The driver and the passenger steady the bags from the rear and they stay in place quite nicely. Now for the back seat passengers. The rear seats are actually behind the axle. Since there is basically no trunk, by simply sitting slightly sideways, they hold the cart handles and the cards function as hand held trailers. I wouldn’t recommend it today but in the mid 60’s in Missouri we were never stopped.
I think the four seaters are pretty cool looking. The configuration is such a rarity today (a small, square rigged sportscar with a full rear seat) it makes a nice contrast to all the MGs T series and such rolling around.
As others have said, if the metal and wood isn’t rotted to bad, clean it up a little and enjoy, the TR mechanicals are pretty bulletproof and cheap to fix.
THis Morgan is not for a purist since it does not have the standard vanguard engine or the TR 2 engine nor the Moss gearbox. however the Tr 4 engine if it has the all syncro TR 4 gearbox should be fun to drive. My 1948 flat Radiator came with 2 engines a coventry climax and a standard van guard engine the former used during when the car was used for auto crossing events prior to my ownership.The moss box was the only gear box it had. Another issue which is relevant but may be not be important to a flat radiator enthusiast is the fact that the car is registered under the original standard van guard engine VM xxxx which is missing from the car now. This was very common during the 50’s when the cars were registered with the engine number instead of the vehicle id number or the chassis number but the Morgan factory production report include with the car may not match the title registration information on the car. Another major selling point for the car is the california plates it has which may indicate a rust free car rather than a florida car which may be prone to some rusting.The car needs a lot of work but will be a fun car to drive when the work is finished. I would have bid on the car if not for the transplant of a Tr 4 engine in the car.or if it had the original engine in it even in a non working condition.
The auction has one more day to go with bids up to $ 9000 now. My guess is this car will end up with bids up around $ 13,000 the way it is going now