The Morgan Motor Company, one of the few historical British car companies still in business, has completed production of its last-ever steel chassis car. This is a significant development because it is the longest-ever running production car architecture of all time, anywhere in the world – 84 years (with the exception of the war years when production had to be stopped).
The firm’s steel ladder chassis was introduced in 1936, in the Morgan 4-4. This car’s name came from the fact that it was the first Morgan to have both 4 cylinders and 4 wheels; Morgan’s vehicles before this point, since the company’s foundation in 1909, were all 3-wheelers.
Supporting every 4-wheeled Morgan
The steel chassis, while undergoing many alterations, and improvements over its lifetime, went on to support the Plus 4, Plus 4 Plus, first-generation Plus 8, 4 Seater, V6 Roadster, and the 4-4’s eventual successor, the 4/4. In fact, every 4-wheeled Morgan produced before 2019, with the exception of the Aero range and second-generation Plus 8, has used a variation of the original steel chassis.
The design elements of the chassis include its combination of sliding pillar front and leafspring rear suspension. The sliding pillar set-up, in particular, marked a defining characteristic of the platform, having been used by very few other car manufacturers.
With this arrangement, the hub and wheel assembly moves vertically, on a kingpin fixed rigidly at its top and bottom. It ensures there is no wheel camber change during compression or rebound, maximising lateral cornering grip. In total, 35,000 four-wheeled Morgans with a steel chassis have been made, many of which are still running today.
The final steel chassis car, a Morgan Plus 4 70th Edition, has been purchased by a loyal Morgan customer. He will place it alongside his collection of cars from the brand’s long history, which includes the Le Mans-winning Plus 4, ‘TOK 258’.
The Plus 4 70th Edition celebrates 70 years of production of the Plus 4. Limited to a run of just 20 individually numbered examples, the editions feature a gold-painted chassis, Platinum Metallic paintwork, and a host of other upgrades.
The aluminium CX-Generation platform
Morgan’s replacement for its steel chassis, the bonded aluminium CX-Generation platform, was introduced in the Morgan Plus Six, at the 2019 Geneva International Motor Show. It came after 4 years of development, using lessons learnt from its previous aluminium platform found in the Aero range and second-generation Plus 8. The CX-Generation platform (pictured below on the left) has since gone on to also support the all-new Morgan Plus Four which had its debut in March this year.
