Bring, bring. Bring, bring. It’s the phone. “Hello. Charles Morgan here. I need you to take your test Morgan Plus 8 to the Goodwood Festival of Speed and drive it up the hill. Try to do it quickly, put on a show. It’s insured. Just enjoy it. Goodbye.”
And that was that. No time for me to mention I’ve never driven up the hill at speed. Or that a shunt would mean I’d be walking home. Time to man up, fire up the V8 and do my best in the Michelin Supercar run.
Truth be told, the Morgan felt a bit of a minnow alongside the McLaren P1, Ferrari F12 et al but, as Autocar readers will know, this car’s charm is that it blends heart-racing performance with a loveable charm that no high-end exotic could match. At least that’s what I told myself.
Mindful that I didn’t know where I was going, I opted to dump the clutch off the line, get as much wheelspin as I could muster without risking the tyre legality and then...well, fluff the gearchange from first to second if truth be told. I did my best, but I’ll hold my hand up and admit the car deserved better.
From thereon it was case of trying to keep the car in as low a gear as possible, as the engine noise was always going to be more entertaining than me trying to chase another tenth out of Molecombe. Ahead was a Maserati Gran Turismo and Ferrari F12. Behind the differently mind-blowing VW XL1. If nothing else, I’d like to think the Plus 8 added some variety.
Join the debate
Add your comment
Forgotten VAT
Disappointed to see that that the VAT was forgotten when pricing the latest addition to the Autocar fleet in the 10 July issue. £71000 before the (many) options should have read £85200.
Still, I dont suppose it matters if you're not paying.
Confirmed that I was right not to buy the magazine for the past 12 months (after 40+ years).
Oh . and Winston Churchill + 1.
Not sure what the headline for this should be?
'Child motoring journo on yet another motoring jolly provided free of charge by the manufacturer'?
Honestly, when you write shite like this you show that :-
(b) That motoring journalism is hardly the investigative, impartial review that other journalism seems to make work. Read this : http://jalopnik.com/5760248/how-ferrari-spins
(c) That children shouldn't be allowed to edit - yes, edit! - such an institution as Autocar which, under your editorship, has seen it sink to beaneath Auto Express quality in my opinion. It's a shadow of its former self. Where is the talent in the industry? Hardly rich pickings based on this effort.
My new favourite car is the
My new favourite car is the Morgan Aero. A really extraordinary car. A Morgan 8 is just a bit too old hat for me.