GoAuto RSS – Car News

No related posts.

You may think of Morgan as a stodgy old automaker. And in many ways its is, still making as it does some of its cars on a wooden frame and recently going back to its roots with a delicious trike that looks like it came straight out a WW2 air field. But Morgan is also the company that makes the AeroMax and EvaGT. And now it’s taking one step further into the future (or present) of the automotive industry with a new electric prototype.

Developed in conjunction with a number of partners, the Morgan Aero Supersport +E is the first of two new engineering prototypes the company is building, and will be unveiled in a couple weeks in Rockingham, England, at the Low Carbon Vehicle expo.

The prototype ditches the 4.8-liter BMW V8 in favor of a 94-horsepower electric drive system, uniquely operating through a manual transmission. The motor and battery are provided by Zytek – which already supplies a number of automakers as well as racing applications like Formula One’s KERS and the first hybrid at Le Mans – mounted onto an aluminum subframe. There’s plenty more technical details to delve into in the press release after the jump, so check it out.

Continue reading Morgan and friends converting Aero Supersport into all-electric prototype

Morgan and friends converting Aero Supersport into all-electric prototype originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 17 Aug 2011 14:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments
Autoblog

No related posts.

No related posts.

America Helps Britain Bring Back The Trike

It weighs just 1,090 pounds, chuffs out 115 horsepower and 140 pound-feet of torque, and can launch to 60 mph in less than 4.5 seconds. Oh, and you definitely feel every bit of it.

The 2012 Morgan 3 Wheeler is a decidedly modernized homage to the trike that inspired it. Beginning back in 1909, this British tripod evolved through a succession of V-twin engines, culminating in 1953, when the last of the original Morgan three-wheeled “cyclecars” rolled off the line in Malvern Link. By that time, a four-cylinder Ford engine good for up to 32 hp was also available, but it’s the V-twin’s legacy through 1946 that has always carried the most significance for aficionados of the three-tire flyer.

Words like “fun” don’t even begin to describe what it is that would lead a North American enthusiast to spend north of ,000 to secure a Morgan 3 Wheeler. (Note that whereas the original cars went through some variants in the official writing of the name, the new car is to be written exclusively as “Morgan 3 Wheeler” – so say adamant company spokespeople). People who simply must have this heated runabout are incurably sick with a British disease. They love getting rained on at 70 mph, the persistent smell of dairy cattle cannot deter them from a vigorous country drive and ,000 borders on a small price to pay for the pure handmade exhilaration of a proper trike. Yep, they’re nuts.

That apparently means we’re nuts, too, because after taking this journey into deepest Worcestershire and tearing around the UK’s storybook Malvern Hills, darting through the pelting rain and cruising in the glistening sun between cloudy spells, we desperately want one of these beautifully useless 3 Wheelers.

Continue reading 2012 Morgan 3 Wheeler [w/video]

2012 Morgan 3 Wheeler [w/video] originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 12 Jul 2011 11:57:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments
Autoblog

No related posts.

Take three wheels, add one 115-horsepower V-twin engine, a five-speed manual gearbox and barely enough metal bits and pieces to hold it all together. Blend and half-bake. What do you get? The Morgan Threewheeler. We’re in lust.

If we were to strap ourselves into one of these crazy contraptions, we can think of only one accessory needed to truly do the machine justice, and you can see exactly what we mean in the video after the break. An old-timey Morgan deserves an old-timey set of goggles, no?

If you happened to find yourself sitting behind the three-spoke steering wheel of a Morgan Threewheeler, what would you do? How about a bunch of donuts followed by a one-wheel burnout in the middle of an empty parking lot? Yep, sounds about right.

Live vicariously through the man with the goggles in the video after the break.

Continue reading Morgan Threewheeler drifts back into history

Morgan Threewheeler drifts back into history originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 29 Jun 2011 19:57:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments
Autoblog

No related posts.