The Morgan 4/4 is a British

motor car A car or automobile is a motor vehicle with wheels. Most definitions of ''cars'' say that they run primarily on roads, seat one to eight people, have four wheels, and mainly transport people instead of goods. The year 1886 is regarded as t ...

which has been produced by the

Morgan Motor Company The Morgan Motor Company is a British motor car manufacturer owned by Italian investment group Investindustrial. It was founded in 1910 by Henry Frederick Stanley Morgan. Morgan is based in Malvern Link, an area of Malvern, and employs appr ...

since 1936. It was Morgan's first car with four wheels, the name indicating that the model has four wheels and four cylinders (earlier Morgans had been three-wheelers, typically with

V-twin A V-twin engine, also called a V2 engine, is a two-cylinder piston engine where the cylinders share a common crankshaft and are arranged in a V configuration. Although widely associated with motorcycles (installed either transversely or longit ...

engines). Early publicity and advertising material variously referred to the model as "4/4", "4-4", "Four Four" and similar names, but from the outset the factory designation was always "4/4". Apart from a break during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

(and the period March 1951 to September 1955) the 4/4 has been in continuous production from its debut to the present day. Engine capacity has increased from the 1,122 cc

Coventry Climax Coventry Climax was a British forklift truck, fire pump, racing, and other specialty engine manufacturer. History Pre WW1 The company was started in 1903 as Lee Stroyer, but two years later, following the departure of Stroyer, it was relocat ...

engine in 1936 to a 1.8-litre

Ford Ford commonly refers to: * Ford Motor Company, an automobile manufacturer founded by Henry Ford * Ford (crossing), a shallow crossing on a river Ford may also refer to: Ford Motor Company * Henry Ford, founder of the Ford Motor Company * Ford F ...

engine in 2004, although it is currently back down to 1,595 cc.

4/4 Two-Seater

The original open two-seater 4/4 was introduced in 1936 and became the most popular of the three body options available. 663 were built by 1939 and 249 more from 1946 to 1950, representing 53% of the overall production. For the first years the car had a 1,122 cc

engine with , superseded from 1939 by a

Standard Standard may refer to: Symbols * Colours, standards and guidons, kinds of military signs * Standard (emblem), a type of a large symbol or emblem used for identification Norms, conventions or requirements * Standard (metrology), an object th ...

Special 1,267 cc overhead valve engine with . A four-speed

Meadows A meadow ( ) is an open habitat, or field, vegetated by grasses, herbs, and other non-woody plants. Trees or shrubs may sparsely populate meadows, as long as these areas maintain an open character. Meadows may be naturally occurring or artifici ...

gearbox was used until 1938, then a

Moss Mosses are small, non-vascular flowerless plants in the taxonomic division Bryophyta (, ) '' sensu stricto''. Bryophyta (''sensu lato'', Schimp. 1879) may also refer to the parent group bryophytes, which comprise liverworts, mosses, and hor ...

gearbox.

4/4 Four-Seater

The four-seat version was introduced in 1937 and 99 were built by 1939 and a further 140 from 1946 to 1950. Morgan 4-4 1939 - rear

4/4 Drophead Coupé

The Drophead Coupé was introduced in 1938 with 58 built by 1939 and another 106 from 1946 to 1950. This has a better folding roof and permanent window frames, along with certain other creature comforts.

4/4 Series II

The Series II was introduced in 1955 with 386 built by October 1960. Although very similar in appearance to the model it replaced, it was virtually a new car with a chassis based on the one used in the

Morgan Plus 4 The Commodore Plus/4 is a home computer released by Commodore International in 1984. The "Plus/4" name refers to the four-application ROM resident office suite (word processor, spreadsheet, database, and graphing); it was billed as "the produc ...

. The traditional independent front suspension using sliding pillars and coil springs was fitted with a rigid axle and semi-elliptic leaf springs at the rear. Disc wheels were fitted as standard items. A

side-valve A flathead engine, also known as a sidevalve engine''American Rodder'', 6/94, pp.45 & 93. or valve-in-block engine is an internal combustion engine with its poppet valves contained within the engine block, instead of in the cylinder head, as ...

1,172 cc Ford 100E engine was used with a Ford three-speed gearbox. The engine produced 36 bhp. Hydraulic brakes with drums were fitted. It was also available in 'Competition' form with Aquaplane head conversion, twin S.U. carburettors, and an improved gearshift linkage. Inside there was a bench seat back and individual squabs covered in PVC, with leather as an option, and rubber floor covering. A heater was available as an option as was a rev counter and more surprisingly, direction indicators. In 1956

The Motor ''The Motor'' (later, just ''Motor'') was a British weekly car magazine ''Car'' is a British automotive enthusiast magazine published monthly by Bauer Consumer Media. International editions are published by Bauer Automotive in Republi ...

magazine tested a Series II and recorded a top speed of , acceleration from 0- in 26.9 seconds and a fuel consumption of . The test car cost £713 including taxes.

4/4 Series III

The short-lived Series III was introduced in October 1960 and 58 were built by November 1961 when the Series IV arrived. The chassis was essentially the same as that used on the Series II but the track was increased by 2 inches (50 mm). Hydraulic shock absorbers replaced the old Hartford friction type. A

overhead valve An overhead valve (OHV) engine, sometimes called a ''pushrod engine'', is a piston engine whose valves are located in the cylinder head above the combustion chamber. This contrasts with earlier flathead engines, where the valves were located be ...

997 cc

Ford Anglia The Ford Anglia is a small family car that was designed and manufactured by Ford UK. It is related to the Ford Prefect and the later Ford Popular. The Anglia name was applied to various models between 1939 and 1967. In total, 1,594,486 Anglias ...

105E engine and Ford four-speed gearbox were used.

4/4 Series IV

The Series IV introduced October 1961 with 114 built by March 1963 had a 62 bhp, 1340 cc, Ford Classic 109E engine and Ford four-speed gearbox. Front disc brakes were now fitted. ''The Motor'' magazine tested a Series IV in 1962 and found it had a top speed of , acceleration from 0- in 18.6 seconds and a touring fuel consumption of . The test car cost £729 including taxes on the home market.

4/4 Series V

The Series V was introduced in February 1963 with 639 built by March 1968. A 65 bhp, 1498 cc,

Ford Cortina The Ford Cortina is a medium-sized family car that was built initially by Ford of Britain, and then Ford of Europe in various guises from 1962 to 1982, and was the United Kingdom's best-selling car of the 1970s. The Cortina was produced in fi ...

116E engine and Ford four-speed gearbox were used.

4/4 1600

The car was further updated in 1968 to become the 1600 with two- and four-seat open bodies available.

Ford Kent Crossflow engine

The 4/4 1600 was introduced in February 1968 fitted with a variety of Ford 1599 cc Kent engines of type 2737E (70 bhp), type 2737GT (95.5 bhp) and type 2265E (95.5 bhp) from 1971 and a Ford four-speed gearbox. A total of 3513 were built by March 1982.

Fiat Twin-Cam engine

Introduced in November 1981 was a

Fiat Fiat Automobiles S.p.A. (, , ; originally FIAT, it, Fabbrica Italiana Automobili di Torino, lit=Italian Automobiles Factory of Turin) is an Italian automobile manufacturer, formerly part of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, and since 2021 a subsidiary ...

1584 cc twin-cam engine and five-speed Fiat gearbox. 96 were built by November 1985.

Ford CVH engine

Introduced in March 1982 with a Ford 1597 cc CVH engine and Ford four-speed gearbox until 1984, then a Ford five-speed gearbox from

Ford Sierra The Ford Sierra is a mid-size car or large family car manufactured and marketed by Ford Europe from 1982-1993, designed by Uwe Bahnsen, Robert Lutz and Patrick le Quément — and noted for its aerodynamic styling producing a drag coefficien ...

. From 1986 steering was changed from the original cam and peg to a Gemmer

recirculating ball Recirculating ball, also known as recirculating ball and nut or worm and sector, is a steering mechanism commonly found in older automobiles, off-road vehicles, and some trucks. Most newer cars use the more economical rack and pinion steering ins ...

system. 1652 were built by November 1991.

Ford CVH EFI engine

From November 1991 a Ford 1597 cc CVH engine with electronic

fuel injection Fuel injection is the introduction of fuel in an internal combustion engine, most commonly automotive engines, by the means of an injector. This article focuses on fuel injection in reciprocating piston and Wankel rotary engines. All comp ...

was used. 187 were built by January 1993, when the 1800 version was introduced.

4/4 1800

Ford Zetec engine

Starting in April 1993 the Morgan 4/4 used a Ford 1,796 cc 16-valve Zetec R engine.

Runabout

In 2003 Morgan launched a new entry level model named the Runabout based on the 4/4. It was available in three standard colours only with a standard no-option specification. The Runabout could be recognised by the reduced number of bonnet louvres.

Ford Duratec engine

From 2006 to 2009 the 4/4 sported a

Ford Duratec Duratec is a brand name of the Ford Motor Company used for the company's range of gasoline-powered four-cylinder, five-cylinder and six-cylinder passenger car engines. The original 1993 Duratec V6 engine was designed by Ford and Porsche. Ford ...

1,798 cc 16-valve all-alloy engine. On these models the exhaust is on the right side. In January 2006 a "70th Anniversary Special edition" was presented, celebrating 70 years having passed since the introduction of the 4/4. This received black paint and special wheels, similar to those used on the original "flat-rad" Morgan. 142 were planned to be made. In spite of seventy years of production, the accumulated figure had not yet reached 10,000 in 2006.

4/4 1.6 Litre (2009–2018)

From 2009 to 2018 the

Ford Sigma engine The Ford Sigma is a small straight-4 automobile engine introduced in 1995 by Ford Motor Company. Its first evolution was sold as the Zetec-S (not to be confused with the trim level), then Zetec-SE and finally, in later years, renamed Duratec. The ...

used is 1,595 cc and produces , enough for a top speed. The engine drives the rear wheels via a five-speed manual gearbox. Initially a Ford gearbox was used, then from 2012 a Mazda unit was fitted.
In 2018 the model was discontinued for European and North American markets as the engine does not pass the latest emission regulations.

References

Notes

Bibliography

External links

Morgan Workshop Manual
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