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Morgan Motor Company has unveiled a racing version of its Plus Four in partnership with the University of Wolverhampton and will offer customer cars as they are requested, the company said in its news release.
Morgan worked with the British university’s School of Engineering and the university’s racing team in developing the Plus Four for on-track, club-sport competition.
“The project aims to collect data and feedback from the extreme conditions of a race environment which will directly shape the research and development of current and future models,” Morgan said, adding that the program marks the first competition use of a Morgan’s new lightweight bonded-aluminum CX-Generation platform.
A pair of the cars, powered by BMW engines, will compete in club-level sprint and endurance races in the UK with the university’s student racing team.
“The UWR team will provide trackside and workshop engineering support to the cars and drivers, honing students’ vital skills and preparing them for a career in motorsport or automotive engineering,” Morgan noted.
“In 1962, Morgan won its class at the 24 hours of Le Mans and, just as impressively, the car was driven back to Morgan’s home in Malvern, Worcestershire, after the race,” the company said. “Following in this ‘clubsport’ ethos, the motorsport variant of the Morgan Plus Four remains fully road legal, able to be driven to and from the circuit if desired.
“Fitted with (either) manual and automatic transmissions, the vehicles demonstrate the versatility of the Plus Four and its breadth of capability. They will primarily be driven by professional racing drivers, to ensure consistency as part of the development program.”
Morgan said the racing program with the university is part of its corporate social responsibility effort, which for five years has provided direct recruitment opportunities for the school’s graduates.
Previous students of the university working on the Morgan race team have gone on to secure full-time roles with the company. Further plans, in collaboration with Morgan’s nominated charity partner, Mission Motorsport, will be announced later.
“The partnership between the University of Wolverhampton’s racing team and the Morgan Motor Company provides an incredible opportunity for our students to work with such an iconic car manufacturer,” David Proverbs, dean of the faculty of the university’s science and engineering departments is quoted in the news release.
“Converting these two stunning cars for racing, and then supporting the cars and drivers at racing circuits around the country will give the UWR students unique experience of the motorsport industry, as well as helping their drivers to win some races.”
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