UPDATE – We heard from Peter that this beautiful Morgan found a good new home! Here’s what he told us: I have sold my 1953 Morgan to a nice couple from Statesville, North Carolina. They have previously owned two Morgan cars, and loved mine! I have owned it for 56+ years, but at age 82 it was time to find it a new home! Congrats to Peter and the new owners.
This 1953 Morgan Plus 4 roadster was found right here on Barn Finds via our classifieds pages, and boy is it a rare one: a true “flat rad” roadster, named for the flat radiator that it shipped with instead of the curved design that most Morgans came equipped with. This example looks to be in outstanding shape, and the seller notes that he is only selling due to his age and knowing it’s better to sell it now than to sort it out later. It does have some recent mechanical needs that will have to be addressed; find it here on the Barn Finds Classifieds for $29,500.
Wow – what a looker. All six tires are new, but that’s just the tip of the iceberg. The seller states that the Morgan has been completely restored, but that it never had any rust or any rot in the wood frame. It sounds like he just decided to make it better while he could, and the results speak for themselves. The paint is new, the seats are replacements, and even the exhaust system is new. When you start talking about a seller even replacing the spare tires, there’s little doubt left that this is the right person to buy a car from.
The interior is so delightfully spartan but also not overly restored; while the seats may be new, the rest of the cabin looks like the traditional old world Morgan we know and love. The steering wheel, dash, and shifter show no obvious flaws, and all appear to be original equipment parts. The beauty of a Morgan is in its old-world simplicity, and it’s no surprise that the design has even carried into the modern era.That, plus an extremely loyal following that would likely cry foul if the design were ever changed, make it a fun ownership group to be a part of.
There’s just one tragic issue with this Morgan: the seller reveals that a “looker” somehow damaged the ring gear on the starter, which is already making my blood boil despite not knowing all of the facts. How does that even happen? Did the seller generously allow a stranger to start it, not knowing how to coax a vintage car to life? The seller is including a “…perfect replacement flywheel with an excellent ring gear,” a truly generous move despite the issue not being one that he caused himself. These are rare cars with the flat rad design; is this rarity enough to make you want to own one?
This is rare on a couple of fronts. First, I can’t remember the last time I saw a flat rad car. Second, the condition is as good as it gets. Nice car.
Is there an air filter? Newer Morgans with SUs didn’t have an air filter because no room. There seems to be plenty of room here.
Yes, there is a chrome air filter included.
A friend took me along to check one of these abandoned in a storage unit. It was all together and restorable but we could not figure the year. With a Standard motor, it looked identicle to this one. I will see what this one goes for and compare it to $30k worth of restoration that one needed.
This one sure is perfect!
Even rarer is the red +4+ in back of the the first photo. One of the least popular Morgans ever, they are now highly valuable.
+4+ now looks good, but putting a fibreglass shell on a vintage ladder chassis seemed to exaggerate the shortcomings of the base car in the eyes of contemporary press reports. Only about 25 sold and the failed experiment in modernisation made the company even more reluctant to embrace change.
Car is in Hemmings at $32,500. $29,500 is a nice discount for friends of BF. I know very little about true vintage cars and even less about Morgans, but this one appears to be somewhat of a bargain.
You can’t beat the looks or the heritage and it will only get more valuable as time goes on.
It’s a left hand drive. Seems unusual to me. I wonder when and how the conversion was completed.
I don’t know almost anything about Morgans of this era, but I do know that 1953 was the middle of Britain’s “export or die” period, when sports cars and motorcycles especially were sold export:domestic in ratios up to 90:10% to bring in foreign money to pay off the huge national debt from the war, so LHD doesn’t seem unusual.
This is a Left-Hand Drive car from new. The Importer was Fergus Motors of New York and the Fergus Badge is still on the car. I have owned this car for more than 55 years. The chassis number is P2665 and the engine number is V597ME both original to this car.
WHAT A BEAUTY, and LHD. Is this car for sale and if so what is the ask? An interested flat rad owner. Stuyvesant K. Bearns, in CT
Just noticed that’s not too far away from here.
Luckily,I recently bought another car.
Location: Meadows of Dan, VA
As noted, this Morgan has sold to a very nice couple from North Carolina. They picked it up in an enclosed trailer and took it home yesterday. It will be going to their mechanic to get the included flywheel installed, and then they plan to drive it on the Blue Ridge Parkway. I’m sure they will stop by here to show it to me!
What a joy, to drive that beauty on the Blue Ridge Parkway. Being originally from Warrento VA I have driven may miles on that road, included quite a few in a 289 Cobra