Henry Frederick Stanley built his own three-wheeled car in 1909, and a year later, Morgan Motor Company->ke60 began producing its own cars. These odd looking cars had two wheels up front and one in the rear, and were produced up until 1952. But, long before then, Morgan developed its first four-wheel car, the 4/4. Aside from a short shut down during World War II, the 4/4 has been continually produced. Now 2016 marks the car’s 80th anniversary.

In 2011, Morgan released the Morgan 4/4 75th anniversary edition, so it is no surprise the Morgan showed up at the Geneva Auto Show->ke228 this year with another special-edition->ke2041 4/4 in tow, this time, to celebrate the car’s 80th anniversary. The car has changed a little over the years, but deep down it still has that old-school styling that was popular back in the 1930s. This styling might cause some, especially the younger generations, to dismiss it quickly, but the car deserves a lot more attention than that. It is, after all, the world’s longest running production model.

Morgan is slated to produce just 80 models of the 80th-anniversary edition, complete with special features designed specifically for the special edition model. There is, of course, some personalization available, but you’ll see that the special features included as part of this special edition are more than enough to pay homage to this long-running model. So, now that we’ve talked about the history of the model lets dive in and take a deeper look at the 80th-anniversary edition.

Continue reading to learn more about the Morgan 4/4 80th Anniversary Edition.

2016 Morgan 4/4 80th Anniversary Edition

Specifications
  • Make: Array
  • Model: 2016 Morgan 4/4 80th Anniversary Edition
  • Segment: Array
  • Horsepower: 110
  • Torque: 97
  • Transmission: five-speed manual
  • [do not use] Vehicle Model: Array

What makes the Morgan 4/4 80th Anniversary Edition special

The Morgan 4/4 80th Anniversary Edition has the same body as the standard 4/4, but it is offered in one of three different colors: Morgan BRG, Saxe Blue, or Dark Red. Down below on the sides, the exhaust discretely exits in front of the rear wheels. Aside from the stylish placement, this exhaust offers up improvements in performance and provides a very distinguishable exhaust note. Other exterior features include things like a quad bonnet strap, rather beautiful brass mesh in the grille, a mohair roof, and a partial tonneau cover. As you can see from the images, Morgan put together a nice package to celebrate the car’s 80th birthday.

On the inside, customers are able to choose from a list of leather upholstery and carpet color combinations. The dashboard is made from authentic walnut that has been elegantly coated with matte lacquer providing a glossy finish without worry about extreme reflection from the day’s sun. The Period Smiths dial gauges have cream-colored faces with brash garnishing that really stands out against the walnut dash. The doors are wrapped in leather, as are the seats and center console. Leather door pull handles are placed toward the rear of the door, providing a functional but elegant look.

Unfortunately, Morgan didn’t do anything to the drivetrain to provide any additional performance. The 80th Anniversary Edition still uses the same 1.6-liter engine from Ford that powers the normal 4/4 models. Of course, this isn’t necessarily a bad thing as the 1.6-liter produces 110 horsepower and 97 pound-feet of torque. Power is routed through a five-speed manual transmission supplied by Mazda. This power pushes the 4/4 80th Anniversary Edition to 62 mph in 8.0 seconds on the way to a top speed of 115 mph.