At $19,950, Is This 1958 Morgan +4 A Timeless Bargain?

Unless you're an expert on the marque, you might be unable to tell the year of today's Nice Price or No Dice Morgan by looking at it, since the company has built pretty much the same car for decades. Let's decide if this roadster's price makes it a long-term keeper.

As we discussed, the 2009 Audi R8 we looked at yesterday was based on a show car built in celebration of Audi's wins at Le Mans in 2001, 2002, and 2003. At $69,995, the Lamborghini-based super car couldn't pull off a win in our vote, dropping in a substantial 76 percent No Dice loss.

Audi, the company, spent a lot of time being batted around between corporate overlords before being sucked whole-cloth into the Volkswagen family in the 1960s. In stark contrast, Britain's Morgan Motor Company has been privately owned almost its entire 115-year existence. Founded by Henry Fredrick Stanley Morgan in 1910, the namesake company started out manufacturing three-wheel cyclecars. These proved popular, as they featured an independent front suspension based on a sliding pillar design of Morgan's own creation that, for the time, provided excellent ride and handling. This suspension is still used on Morgans today.

Morgan's first four-wheeler arrived in 1935. Debuting at the Earl's Court Motor Show, the 4/4—a two-seat roadster with a four-cylinder engine and metal bodywork over an ash frame and steel ladder frame chassis—continued in production with minor updates until its retirement in 2018. Additional body styles would be made available, but all were produced in very limited numbers over the decades.

The company has long been active in racing, with its cars competing over the years in everything from hill climbs to the 24 hours of Le Mans.

In 1950, Morgan expanded its range with the introduction of the +4, a model based on the 4/4, but built on a revised chassis with a longer nose to accommodate a larger engine. The 4/4 eventually adopted the chassis and bodywork of the +4 and the latter's first run of production ended in 1969. The model name was resurrected in the 1980s as a mid-level model slotted between the 4/4 and the wider, V8-engined +8.

This 1958 Morgan +4 has a two-liter OHV four under its louvered bonnet, an engine the company sourced from Standard Triumph. If not in the Morgan, the engine might otherwise have seen duty in Triumph's TR2. The Morgan/Triumph relationship was almost a heck of a lot closer since Standard Triumph entertained buying the smaller sports car maker as a cheaper inroad to the lucrative American sports car market than engineering its own cars.

Fitted with twin S.U. H4 carburetors, the Triumph mill makes 90 horsepower and 117 lb-ft of torque. Those are gross numbers, and by modern standards would be lower. That's still plenty for a car that weighs only around 1,850 pounds, rides on skinny tires, and features modest drum brakes all around.

The rest of the mechanicals are extremely simple and straightforward. The transmission is a four-speed Moss box with non-synchro first and the rear axle is live and suspended on leaf springs. This is a wonderfully analog type of car that lets you hear every gear and smell every oil leak. There don't appear to be any leaks here, nor any issue with the frame or wooden flooring.

This Morgan is painted in lemon yellow which is likely not its factory hue, but appears to be a decent respray. The bodywork is straight and the steel wheels all have their hub caps present and accounted for.

Two tops are included with the car, allowing for the choice of a full zippered tonneau or the convertible cover. Sadly, no side curtains are included with the car. On the plus side, both tops look to be in good condition.

The cabin is accessed through a pair of cut-down doors, although those can only be unlatched via the internal handles. Once in, occupants are confronted by a simple wooden dashboard fitted with large gauges and a flat banjo-style wheel. The seats are bucketed, but share a backrest. Both upholstery and carpet look solid and without issue, and, for safety, the car has been fitted with aircraft-style seatbelts.

According to the ad, this clean title Morgan has 35,972 miles on the clock and comes with what the seller believes to be its original engine. Everything about the car exudes a well-kept older restoration which makes it a solid contender for someone looking to get into small British sports cars, but desires something a little less "off the rack" than a Triumph or MG. The only caution might be the car's $19,950 asking price.

How do you feel about this Morgan and that $19,950 price tag? Does that feel like a deal to get a car from the past that's damn-close to what the company is still building today? Or is it too old school to ask such new money?

You decide!

POLL:

Nice Price or No Dice:

San Diego, California, Craigslist, or go here if the ad disappears.

H/T to James Liu for the hookup!

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