Morgan has been working on this project for years.
If you know Morgan at all, it’s for their classically-styled sports cars — namely the Plus Four. What you probably wouldn’t associate them with is a rally-ready adventurer, but that’s exactly what they’ve built here. Meet the Morgan Plus Four CX-T — a project built in collaboration with Rally Raid UK, a team that manufactures products across the adventure motorcycle spectrum.
“The Morgan design team has been conceptualizing modern day trialling vehicles for many years,” said Morgan Head of Design Jonathan Wells. “Around 18 months ago, our investors and CEO, Steve Morris, were in the studio and remarked how incredible it would be to bring one of these drawings to life. The CX-T, like many recent Morgan vehicles, demonstrates the flexibility of the Morgan design.” To that end, the Morgan CX-T sits atop the standard Plus Four platform, while also seeing a host of dirt-worthy upgrades to make it a serious off-roader. Higher ride hight (up to 9.1 inches of ground clearance), a roll cage, underbody protection, four extra off-road lights, beefy off-road tires — name an overlanding sort of upgrade, and the Morgan CX-T probably gets it.
It looks pretty cool out back, too.
I know styling is subjective, but the Morgan CX-T is unexpected to the point where it looks pretty cool, to my mind. Out back, there’s a storage rack for all the extra kit you’d need on a long-distance rally stage. You get extra spare tires, fuel cans, ruggedized waterproof Pelican cases and an aluminum toolbox. Morgan mounted recovery equipment on the car’s exterior, within easy reach.
Under the hood, power comes from a 2.0-liter turbocharged BMW four-cylinder engine. In the CX-T, it puts out 258 horsepower and up to 295 lb-ft of torque. We’re still talking about a rear-wheel drive car here, though you do get BMW’s xDrive electronic differential at the back. From fully open in conventional road driving, the ‘All-Terrain’ mode, can apply approximately 45% of lock to the rear differential, allowing some torque distribution between the rear wheels. A further ‘Extreme’ all-terrain setting fully locks the rear differential, so it does offer some greater off-road capability despite not being four-wheel drive.
Only eight examples of the Morgan CX-T will find their way to buyers — each with a price tag starting at £170,000 (~$235,000). From the company’s assembly line, each car will make its way to Rally Raid UK for final preparation.
