Antique & Classic Cars Blog

According to Morgan Plus Four owner, Lloyd Shields, enthusiasts know of about 18 running Morgan sports cars in the state and another 10 off the road. As a Plus Four, Shields’ car runs a four-cylinder Triumph engine, the same one that that manufacturer put in its TR4. There is also a Plus Eight, with Rover’s version of Buick’s venerable 3.5-liter aluminum V8.

Shields has owned this one since 1990; the original owner enjoyed it from ’67 until then. I did a Locals in Motion on him and the car and he was kind enough to offer up the driver’s seat on Tuesday afternoon. It was a day a lot like today–overcast and threatening a heavy deluge that never fell. Temperature was mid-60s, perfect for a British car.

What a treat for a fall-like day. The car looks small as you stand beside it, but that snout is long. At the wheel, it really feels like a vintage sports car–one older than the 1960s (though perceived length is shortened by the fact that you’re virtually sitting over the rear axle).

There’s no synchro on first and the throw on the Moss box is short and crisp. There’s power nuthin’, so everything the car and road surface are doing gets communicated through the controls. While it’s too big to feel much like a go-kart, the stiffness and road feel are comparable. The eight cylinder cars beat 7 seconds to 60, but a Morgan is small enough that the Triumph four-banger offers ample oomph. A trip down the Minneapolis side of the river and back down the St. Paul side was a perfect classic fix for the week. Thanks Lloyd.  (And thanks to Strib photog Tom Witta for the great snaps–you can tell they aren’t mine because neither my reflection, thumb, nor camera strap appears in any of them.)

This entry was posted on Thursday, September 4th, 2008 at 1:53 pm and is filed under Car stories. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.