First Drive: 2022 Morgan Plus 4 CX-T review

Gravel clatters noisily as the car dances over the rocky outcrops and into the dusty corner. On the brakes, a quick heel-and-toe downshift and a left-right flick on the steering wheel to get the tail moving. Sideways. Grab some opposite lock and get on the power. The turbo motor snarls and grunts, the rear tyres spit rocks, the nose stays tucked into the apex. The corner opens. Traction builds. Full throttle now. Wind off the lock, grab the next gear, the trees by the side of the road a blur of green at my elbow.

I laugh out loud. Oh yes, the Morgan Plus Four CX-T is an implausibly brilliant thing.

Jacked up and armoured underneath, with a roll cage, rally lights and chunky off-road tyres, the Plus Four CX-T looks like a post-apocalyptic manga comic take on a 1930s British sportscar; Brooklands meets Mad Max, ready for a tea party on Fury Road.

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Morgan calls it an “adventure car” and says it’s designed to handle any road short of a full-on 4x4 track. Just eight are being built. All are sold, and despite an eye-watering price tag that equates to about $315,000, plus tax, one has been snapped up by an Australian enthusiast.

Though the CX-T started life as a fun sketch by Morgan design chief Jonathan Wells, the engineering behind it is deadly serious. When Italian businessman Andrea Bonomi – founder of private equity group Investindustrial that has owned a majority stake in Morgan since early 2019 – saw the sketch he said: “We should build this.”

Within weeks, Wells was sitting down with Mike Jones – whose company, Rally Raid UK, has built more than 60 Dakar Rally cars – to figure out how to make the sketch a reality.

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The CX-T is based on the six-speed manual version of the new CX-platform Morgan Plus Four that launched last year. The new Plus Four might look a lot like the 4/4 Morgan introduced in 1936 and kept in production with minimal changes for 83 years, but under that old-school skin is a bonded aluminium chassis, multi-link suspension front and rear, and the punchy 2.0-litre turbocharged four-banger more usually found under the bonnet of BMW’s 330i. The engine makes 190kW and 400Nm when hooked up to the ZF eight-speed automatic. In the manual, the torque output is dropped to 350Nm.

That’s still enough to propel the 1013kg Plus Four to 100km/h in about 5.0 seconds and to a top speed of 240km/h. That’s quick, and it feels even quicker in a car with no roof, cut-down doors, and no traction or stability control. Wells and Jones figured it was performance enough for the overlanding CX-T: Other than a new Dakar-spec air filter system – cleverly hidden away in the leather satchel on the right side of the car – and a new exhaust, oval in profile under the car and with a side exit to increase ground clearance, the powertrain has been left untouched.

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Most of Mike Jones’ input into the project has been focused on making the Morgan capable and durable. Ground clearance has been increased from the standard car’s 120mm to 245mm and everything underneath is shielded by a tough five-piece protection system that comprises an engine guard, rear chassis guard, mid-section shield and rear undertray.

“There’s no low hanging hardware,” says Jones. “The car will slide over rocks without damaging anything.” Jones claims the Plus Four CX-T will wade through at least 360mm of water – more if you’re careful to get a bow wave going – but he warns you’ll get a wet bum as the door sealing is not exactly amphibious spec.

Though the CX-T started life as a fun sketch by Morgan design chief Jonathan Wells, the engineering behind it is deadly serious.

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To increase wheel travel, the standard Plus Four suspension arms have been replaced with longer items from the wide-body, wide-track Plus Six roadster (which is powered by BMW’s 3.0-litre, 250kW turbocharged straight-six). “We could have increased suspension travel even more, but we didn’t want it to look like a monster truck,” Jones says.

In place of the standard springs and shocks are Dakar-spec EXE-TC coilover units with remote reservoirs. The wheels are Italian-made Evo Corse items, a favourite among Dakar racers, shod with 215/70 R16 Maxxis A/T Worm Drive all-terrain tires.

All this is covered by the wider guards from the Plus Six, their arches cut out to allow for the extra wheel travel. The rear of the centre-hinged bonnet has been raised to improve cooling, and the body’s side panels have been extended at the rear in the style of the four-seat versions of the Morgan 4/4 built between 1937 and 2016 to partially enclose the rear load space. A removable composite hardtop nestles under a roll cage that further braces the already stiff CX platform.

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The rear axle features a BMW X-Drive electronic differential, with a bespoke calibration developed by BMW engineers, and three modes selected via switches on the CX-T’s dash. In Road mode, the diff is fully open.

All-Terrain mode locks to diff to about 45 per cent to improve traction in slippery conditions, and All-Terrain Extreme locks the diff completely. The final drive ratio is shorter than that of the regular Plus Four, partly to compensate for the larger rolling diameter of the all-terrain tires and partly to help when negotiating steep and rough tracks.

Neat details abound, evidence of Mike Jones’ long experience building vehicles used in some of the world’s most extreme environments.

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The two spare wheels, a jack and a wheel brace are stacked at the rear of the car so they can be readily accessed, as are the two 11-litre plastic fuel containers, and a tool kit that Jones says will enable a decent mechanic to fix most things on the car in the event of a mishap. Two fully trimmed, water- and dust-proof Pelican cases will keep your spare clothes and toiletries clean and dry. Under a small shovel are four ultra-light carbon composite sand mats.

“Nothing’s more than one level down,” Jones says. “You don’t have to unload everything to get something you need.”

Recovery gear is stored in the leather satchel on the left side of the car. There’s a documents holder on the centre console, a tungsten map light on the dash, and insulated food bags at the front of the seat squabs. The side screens, with their integrated sliding windows, can be secured to the roof of the car when not needed to keep the rain out.

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The Plus Four CX-T feels Dakar-ready when you hammer it down a rough road, skipping over bumps and holes and rocky outcrops that would punch a strut through the bonnet of a RAV4 at similar speeds. The BMW engine is smooth and punchy, especially in the mid-range, with a snarling note that sounds most un-turbo like. Even in full overlanding regalia, this Morgan still weighs less than 1200kg, so it’s very lively.

With your backside almost on top of the rear axle and the front wheels way off in the distance, the CX-T feels unlike any modern car on the dirt; you have to aim that long nose into the corners, and you’re much more aware of the slip angles at the rear. If you’re pushing, a little more bite from the front end would be nice, especially to help initiate Scandinavian flicks on corner entry, and it would be handy to be able to switch off the ABS so you can get the thing stopped better.

The Plus Four CX-T feels Dakar-ready when you hammer it down a rough road, skipping over rocky outcrops that would punch a strut through the bonnet of a RAV4.

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But this Morgan isn’t meant to be a special stage weapon; it’s for touring off the beaten track, its suspension, tyres and underbody protection robust enough to deal with a sudden washout or rocky outcrop. That said, the locking diff, grippy tires, and high ground clearance will get you through some surprisingly gnarly terrain if you’re careful. The CX-T is a nod to the Morgans that competed in gruelling trials in the 1920s and 30s, where simply getting along a muddy road, across a river, or over a rocky outcrop meant winning a prize.

Cynics might suggest the Morgan Plus Four CX-T is nothing but an expensive toy, and by any rational measure, they’re right, though you could say exactly the same about a Lamborghini Aventador. The whole point of this eccentrically capable Morgan is its irrationality. This is a car that will leave you with an ear-to-ear grin without having to drive it on the ragged edge or at warp speeds. It’s fun, pure and simple.

2022 Morgan Plus Four CX-T specifications