20th century Great Britain was a powerhouse of all things automotive. At one point in time, there were over 150 active automakers and coachbuilders in Her Majesty’s U.K., but then British Leylands happened and all went belly up after the swinging '60s hippie-chic bandwagon stopped and never came back again.
From the ruins of BL, Jaguar & Land Rover were saved by Ford (then Tata Motors), Rolls-Royce is now owned by BMW and the Bentley Conti GT is a glorified VW Phaeton. But you know what? It is all for the greater good, a thing that can’t be said about boutique automobile manufacturers.
TVR is dead, Marcos is dead, most small-scale manufactureres are dead, you know the drill. On a more positive note, this situation makes Morgan’s survival even more impressive, but that’s what you get with family-owned businesses. Even though the 3-Wheeler and the Plus 4 are the biggest sellers nowadays, it’s a given the Aero 8 is the Morgan we all want.
And good golly, here is the fifth-generation 2015 Morgan Aero 8 in all its English glory, displayed at the Geneva Motor Show. Dubbed as being “the most refined Aero product to date,” the new 8 is a minor update over grandpa, with a stiffer all-aluminum platform and a better suspension.
In addition to the minor chassis improvements, a small nip & tuck job has also been operated to refresh the exterior of the Aero 8. Speaking of the visual end of the deal, the dashboard gained new arrangements as well, with optional features coming in the form of touchscreen infotainment, carbon seats, an optional hardtop that transforms the car into a coupe with ease and other 21st century amenities.
Last but not least, the oily bits: 4.8-liter naturally aspirated BMW V8 powerhouse mated to a six-speed manual, 367 bhp and 490 Nm (370 lb-ft) of grunt, 0 to 62 mph (100 km/h) in 4.5 seconds and a power-to-weight ratio of 315 bhp per ton. Yup, the Aero 8 may resemble a tweed jacket on four wheels, but open-top motoring will rarely get better than what the 2015 Morgan Aero 8 has to offer.
After a 1:43 scale model of a Ferrari 250 GTO sparked Mircea's interest for cars when he was a kid, an early internship at Top Gear sealed his career path. He's most interested in muscle cars and American trucks, but he takes a passing interest in quirky kei cars as well. Full profile
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