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Race Heritage: 1960 Morgan +4

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Morgan’s are interesting British sport cars that have a classic design and construction.  Morgan’s have wood floors in them much like the early 1900s automobiles. This Particular Morgan has seen better days, but may have lived a life dedicated to racing. This Morgan was purchased in 1959 and imported to America. The seller has stated that this Morgan has never been registered state side, and there is a roll bar present. Also Morgans were popular racers in this time frame so it is likely this car spent its life as a racer until it reached long term storage. This one owner Morgan has an opening bid of $3,500. We are sure someone out there will find interest in this Morgan. Find it here on ebay out of Copake, New York. Thanks Peter R for the submission!60-morgan-4

The 1991cc Triumph TR2 engine is still present, though its condition is unknown. The drivetrain appears to be complete, but questionable. The engine bay looks a little sparse, but the sheet metal in the engine bay does not look to suffer from rot. It is crispy though.

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Having originally been painted Black with a green interior, all of the proof that is left of the green interior is around the shift lever and the seat back. The dash looks surprisingly decent, and complete, as does the steering wheel. The wood floors are gone, and the seat bottoms look to be missing. There is a roll bar installed in the car, but as we look this Morgan over we don’t see much else that indicates its possible racing past. There is no easy way to put it, but the exterior of this Morgan is crispy. There is likely still enough left to rebuild and restore this Morgan, but it will be at the hand of a dedicated person. At this point it would be easier to point out the items that are not rotted versus pointing out specific rust issues. The rear fenders looks to be solid, as do the engine covers. The front wings aren’t too bad off either. The lower part of the body of this Morgan needs work. The car looks to sit relatively flat and level, so likely the frame is good.

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It is unfortunate that this Morgan went this far, but perhaps it will find its way onto a race track yet again. Would you save this 1960 Morgan +4?

Comments

  1. Avatar motoring mo

    Absolutely worth saving. Wish I had the time and space for this diamond in the rough

    Like 1
  2. Avatar sparkster

    Is this what’s left of Michael Douglas’ Morgan after his wife ran over it in War of the Roses ? Great movie , nice Morgan. Bad to bone 4 x 4. You never want piss off Kathleen

    Like 0
    • Avatar Derek Willburn

      There were three Morgans used in that movie, my brother is rebuilding the motor for number 1 which was rented to the studio by its long time owner here in So Cal. Number 2 was bought and sold off by the studio as a nice driving car, I think it went to Europe. Number 3 which got wrecked in the movie was rented to the studio by Bob Couch and then sold to a guy back east who rebuilt it into a race car. The owner died and the car was bought and featured on Wayne Carini’s show Chasing Classic Cars.

      Like 1
  3. Avatar Kent Pearson

    You do remember that the frame is also wood, don’t you? All of it, (ash I believe), and thens there’ the chassis. so what you’re buying is a most likely not running solid block of cast iron and an assortment of rusted sheets of steel. No thanks

    Like 0
    • Avatar Dave Wright

      The frame is not wood, it uses wood like our old American cars to hold up the body work and as floor boards. It would be nice if that myth died……..

      Like 0
      • Avatar Donna

        The Morgan chassis is a steel chassis. The frame (which holds the body) is made of wood.

        Like 0
    • Avatar Bill McCoskey Member

      While most frame side rails on this vintage of car are either “C” shaped or box type, the Morgan was a square “Z”, and if the body wood is as bad as it appears, I can promise you it needs frame rails too. Good part of this is like most of the Morgan cars, it’s simple to create another frame member.

      Like 0
  4. Avatar Joe Nose

    Media blast this one to oblivion, and leave the rest to the termites. NFW

    Like 0
  5. Avatar LD

    To be clear there is a metal chassis with a wood subframe interfacing the sheet metal. Absolutely the wood subframe wood (😊) need to be replaced along with the floorboards….subframe available as an assembly. Does the chassis need to be replaced, TBD. Sad to see this condition but would love to see it restored LD71 😄

    Like 0
  6. Avatar LD

    BTW Bill of sale shows original price of $3245,
    Current eBay price up by $300 in this condition!
    LD71 😄

    Like 1
  7. Avatar Bruce Best

    I have helped restore two of these and a Plus 8. The bodies are indeed intermixed sheet metal with wood structural supports. That is both good and bad. If the wood is still good you have a winner if it is not you would be better off purchasing a whole new wood subframe then trying to make one yourself. That is an almost totally different technology than most of us are used to.

    Beyond that Morgans are crude, then can be difficult to drive over rough roads because of their coal cart suspension but in the smiles per miles category there is a reason that these cars have not changed much. God are they fun to drive. You will have an intimate reaction to the weather in every form but you will know you are alive..

    Yea, restore it.

    Like 1
  8. Avatar Britcarguy

    I’m having a little trouble believing this was a real race car. Unusable top frame with unsupported “roll bar” that looks like a dolly just stuck behind the seat. No deleted lights or switches and no added switches. Even in the 60’s race car interiors were distinctly different from street cars. This may have been an autocrosser.

    Like 0
    • Avatar Dave Wright

      This is how we used to race them……I raced with a Doctor in Delta park (Portland) that would buy a new Morgan every couple of years. He would drive the car to the track, tape the headlights and race. He was very fast. Had a phony little roll bar and an old set of aircraft seat belts……sometimes with bumpers and sometimes not.

      Like 1

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