Morgan were on proud display at the British Motorshow and they were one of my personal highlights. With many British marques either being bought out or moved abroad, its refreshing to see Morgan continuing to push the boundaries from their Worcestershire home. 2008 has bought two major developments, with the AeroMax and LIFEcar.

AeroMax

The Geneva Autoshow in 2006 saw the debut of a custom car based around the Morgan Aero8. The car was built for one of their customers, but was so popular that Morgan decided to do a limited run of 100 vehicles to sell. These were sold within weeks of the announcement.

The first customer car has recently been delivered. Although Morgan are famous for using old school construction methods, the AeroMax is very innovative. The panels are made from high tech super formed aluminium, which both keeps weight low but also makes complicated shapes possible. With a nod to historical Morgans, the coachbuilt frame is still made in ash.

Power is supplied by a 4.8 litre BMW V8 engine and the AeroMax has a top speed of over 170mph. The twin electrically operated glass rear windows allow easy access to place the stitched calf leather Connolly luggage into the luggage rack.

The car is definitely a key player in the luxury supercar world and owners can be sure of membership to a very exclusive club.

LIFECar

The LIFECar continues Morgan's quest for revolutionary vehicles. Nearly 100 years ago they released the Threewheeler which gave the public improved freedom. The LIFECar has the potential to be equally as ground breaking.

The LIFECar is powered by a fuel cell which is made to meet the constant load requirement of cruising at about 20% of peak power. This makes it far smaller than other fuel cell cars. Braking energy is recaptured and is available for acceleration.

The car is based around hydrogen as a fuel source, which is converted to electricity using a 4 stack hydrogen PEM fuel cell. The only by products are heat and water.

The car has an energy consumption that is equivalent to 150mpg, a top speed of 85mph, 0-62 of under 7 seconds and a 250mile range.

It'll be interesting to follow the LIFECar's development, as this could well be the future of supercars and indeed normal cars.


Morgan - www.morgan-motor.co.uk