British carmaker Morgan has something new to delight fans of its 1930s-inspired sports cars. The company announced last Friday on Facebook that it will bring the Morgan "Wide Body" to the 2019 Geneva Motor Show.
Notably, it will be the first Morgan on a newly developed aluminum platform and it will be the first to get a new powertrain. Previous Morgans used V-8 engines from BMW. Autocar reported the engine could be a smaller turbocharged V-6, though details are slim, and that Wide Body is an internal name. The new powertrain was originally thought to debut in Morgan's flagship car coming in 2020, but, according to Autocar, the Wide Body is not the flagship car.
Teaser for Morgan Wide Body sports car
Instead, the new Wide Body is a birthday present from the company to its fans. Morgan celebrates its 110th anniversary this year (as does Bugatti) and the aluminum platform should carry the British marque well into the future. In fact, rumors circulated that Morgan could purchase the aluminum chassis from Aston Martin, which would make the underpinnings similar to the second-generation Vanquish. According to the Autocar report, the Wide Body could evolve into the flagship, which would be a modern coupe with wide body style and a front-engine layout.
Teaser for Morgan Wide Body sports car
Whatever form the range-topping car comes in, it will fill the space the Plus 8 and Aero 8 left when they exited production this past December. It marked the end of V-8 powered Morgans after 50 years.
The chassis is supposedly twice as stiff as Morgan's previous architectures, which should make for some pretty dynamic sports cars. Morgans are notoriously lightweight with plenty of power.
We won't have long to wait for the full details on the mystery Morgan as the Geneva Motor Show opens on March 5. Stay tuned.