Morgan will end production of its Plus Six, the higher-powered, six-cylinder version of its two-tier ‘Plus’ range, early next year and replace it with a new flagship that ushers in a fresh design language for the British brand.
The Plus Six’s departure will be marked by the Plus Six Pinnacle, which will be limited to just 30 examples and adopts design cues from the striking Pininfarina-styled Midsummer that was unveiled earlier this year.
Morgan will also use the £96,995, 3.0-litre straight-six-powered Pinnacle to demonstrate its expanding bespoke programme, which will offer what Morgan calls “almost limitless” options.
The replacement for the Plus Six, insiders have revealed to Autocar, will arrive late next year as a two-seat sports car that will not use the traditional ‘wing silhouette’ of today’s four-wheeled Morgans.
The best-selling four-cylinder Plus Four – which has recently been outselling the Plus Six by roughly two to one – will be left to continue the brand’s traditional vintage styling, which started with the 4/4 back in 1936.
The company has previously signalled its interest in producing a model that advances its vintage look into what design chief Jonathan Wells calls “the jet age”.
For the new flagship, it seems more likely that Morgan will use lessons from the limited-edition Midsummer to produce a considerably more exclusive and upmarket model, clearly differentiated from the Plus Four, that will justify higher prices and more interest in the firm’s bespoke programme.
Some people inside Morgan have been calling for this move for some time as rivals take similar approaches, Autocar understands.
The new model is expected to continue to use the Plus models’ CX extruded-aluminium chassis, plus a version of the outgoing Six’s 3.0-litre BMW-derived turbocharged inline six, which currently makes 335bhp but is thought to be reliably capable of considerably higher outputs.
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Does the "unlimited options" list include the choice of a gearstick not out of a repmobile 10 year old 3 series?
Surely someone at the factory could have knocked up a nice "sheath" that?!
Where's the sweet spot for these cars?, I don't think I've ever seen a brand new one ever!, plenty old ones dodging about and they look old, but never seen a new car.