Morgan · 2000–2018

Morgan Aeromax

The Morgan Aero 8 is a sports car built by Morgan Motor Company at its factory in Malvern Link, England from 2000 until 2018. The Aero 8 shape evolved in the traditional Morgan way of form following function and the main players were Chris Lawrence, Charles Morgan and other members of the Morgan Engineering Team, and Norman Kent of Survirn Engineering Ltd – especially for the tooling of the Aero wings. The AeroMax, Aero Supersports and Aero Coupe were designed by the firm's designer Matthew Humphries. Humphries sent the basic design of it to Charles Morgan when he was at Coventry University and joined Morgan on a KTP programme. Radshape were heavily involved in the chassis (Graham Chapman, the current MMC Development Director was working for them at that time) and Superform with much of the body panels, both companies eventually producing for MMC when the car was launched. Announced in 2000, the Aero 8 is notable for several reasons, primarily because it was the first new Morgan design since 1964's +4+. It was touted as Morgan's first supercar and undertook a comprehensive development programme including endurance testing at BMW's huge proving grounds L'Autodrome de Miramas. It does not use anti-roll bars, an oddity in a modern sporting car. It is also the first Morgan vehicle with an aluminium chassis and frame as opposed to traditional Morgan vehicles ("trads") that have an aluminium skinned wooden body tub on a steel chassis. The engine first powering the Aero 8 was a 4.4 L BMW M62 V8 mated to a 6-speed Getrag transmission. In 2007, the Series 4 Aero 8 was released which had an upgraded 4.8 L BMW N62 V8 with an optional ZF automatic transmission. All Aero 8s are assembled at Morgan's Malvern Link factory, where they are able to produce up to 14 cars a week (Aeros and trads). It has been criticised for its "crosseyed" look which originally was justified by the manufacturers as conferring aerodynamic benefits. In response, Morgan changed the design from 2005 (Series 3 and all subsequent Aero iterations), using Mini rather than VW New Beetle headlights.

Text from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0).

Successor: Morgan Aero SuperSports

All Morgan Aeromax data: UK builds, safety, recalls, model years → + Compare

Aero 8 Series 1 (2000–2004)

Considered to be Morgan's first supercar, the first run of Aero models was unveiled at the Geneva Motor Show in 2000 by Charles Morgan, it was in his words "the result of the biggest development project ever undertaken by the Morgan Motor Company". The result of many years of hard work, a development programme that included racing in the FIA GT series and a partnership with BMW. Whilst the car structure comes as pre-formed bonded aluminium elements significant work goes into hand making the overall vehicle continuing the handmade history of the company. The method of building the car was ahead of most companies in the marketplace and represented a dramatic shift for the company. The bonded aluminium chassis has elements of an ash frame to provide a link to the more traditional cars. It was designed by Chris Lawrence who had a long-standing relationship with Morgan and included many features of racing cars of the time. Items such as in-board shock absorbers, double wishbones all round, a flat floor, centre lock magnesium wheels, rose-jointed suspension and other elements were included providing significant handling improvements over previous models. Complete with a bespoke aluminium chassis, all independent suspension and powered by a 4.4 litre BMW V8 engine (M62TUB44) producing 282 hp (210 kW; 286 PS) at 5500 rpm and 322 lb⋅ft (437 N⋅m) at 3750 rpm this was a radical departure from the traditionally built Morgans. Performance was 0 to 62 mph in 4.8 seconds with a top speed of 160 mph (257 km/h). The interior had a turned aluminium dashboard, unusual asymmetric design and a custom made Mulberry case for use as a removable glovebox, along with nods to modern services such as cruise control, air-conditioning and a heated windscreen. With many elements from BMW including

Aero 8 GTN (2004)

This limited edition run-out model of the Series 1 was a nod to the successful Aero GT/Le Mans racing cars and included the 4.6L Alpina BMW engine used on Alpina B10 and on BMW X5 4.6iS – 4619cc, 330 bhp (246 kW), with a 0-60 mph time of 4.3 seconds and a top speed of 175 mph (266 km/h). This version had slightly different and stiffened suspension plus semi-slick AO48's fitted as standard to black OZ centre lock magnesium wheels, a carbon fibre roof, carbon fibre interior and numerous other enhancements. Just eleven were produced, all of them in a two-tone colour scheme of BMW blue/silver. It was supplied with a carbon-fibre hardtop (the first Aero to get a hardtop) alongside an optional soft top roof, of which it is believed only a couple of GTN owners chose. Along with a carbon fibre dashboard, unique gloss black wooden trim, a custom Mota-Lita steering wheel, a special leather interior, and performance side exhausts the car had blistering performance as demonstrated on Top Gear by Richard Hammond (Season 5 Episode 5) who later went on to own several Morgans.

Aero 8 Series 2 (2004–2005)

Series 2 of the Aero 8 was launched at the 2004 Los Angeles Motor Show. This was the first Aero that was made for sale in North America. It was called the Aero Series 2 or Aero America as a result. The back of the car was changed in a number of ways. The petrol tank was repositioned to comply with US rear impact regulations. The boot lid was raised to improve aerodynamics and storage. The previous folding roof was changed for a pram style changing the shape from the previous low "gangster" style roof of the Series 1. It now used the BMW N62B44 4.4L V8 engine using a DIVA inlet manifold (the world's first continuously variable length inlet manifold) and producing 333 bhp (248 kW) at 6,100 rpm and 331 lb-ft (450Nm) at 3,600 rpm. The factory offered single side exit exhausts as an option with the exit just in front of the rear wheels on each side. The new V8 provided a top speed of 160 mph (257 km/h) with 0 to 62 mph (100 km/h) acceleration in 4.8 seconds. Further revisions included a conversion to standard 5 stud wheels, uprated gearbox, brakes and other elements of the running gear. The car retained the same overall dimensions but internal space was increased by moving the doors further out and making the wings/running boards narrower over the Series 1. The unusual asymmetric dashboard of the Series 1 was replaced with a more conventionally styled dashboard, however, the fly-off handbrake was retained. Somewhere in the region of 60 cars (both LHD and RHD) were produced.

Aero 8 Series 3 (2005–2007)

The third iteration of the Aero was largely around adding the new style Mini headlamps with changes to the wings and front panels resolving the famous squint of the earlier cars. It retained the interior and mechanical platform of the Series 2. This new front design went on to be used on the new AeroMax and subsequent Aero models. Approximately 200 Series 3 models were produced.

Aero GT3 (2009)

2009 was the centenary year of Morgan and the company took part in FIA GT3 using the Aero Supersports which was claimed to be more aerodynamic. The Aero Supersports had been released at the prestigious 2009 Villa d’Este event. The AutoGT team sponsored by Banque Baring Sturdza with former Renault F1 drivers Jean Pierre Jabouille and Jacques Laffite made a great impression at the start of the year. At the Silverstone, No. 100 got pole and won the first race then No. 101 secured pole and won the second race. With a custom gearbox and slight enlargement of the engine the car was instantly competitive. The lower revving V8 and side exhaust layout resulted in a very distinctive NASCAR style off-beat sound which was deep and very loud. After one year of racing the rules were amended making it difficult for the car to run in 2010. One of the cars in racing colours remains with the factory and can be seen on the factory tour.

Aero 8 Series 4 (2007–2010)

Version 4 of the Morgan Aero 8 has seen the 3rd new engine in the life of the vehicle; the BMW 4.4 V8 has been replaced with the BMW 4.8 V8 (N62B48) with 362 bhp (270 kW) and 370 lb⋅ft (502 N⋅m) of torque. This 13% power increase over the previous Aero gives the new Series 4 Aero 8 a power to weight ratio of 315 bhp per tonne. While heavier BMW saloons were unable to meet emissions regulations with the 4.8l V8 the lighter Aero did meet the Euro 6 emissions standard. BMW produced a short run of engines on a prototype line for Morgan. A first for the Aero 8 also comes in the form of an optional automatic transmission; Morgan state: – ZFs 6 HP26 six speed gives even better performance than a manual gearbox due to its special lock up clutch, low power loss design and instant change characteristic. The automatic is usable either as a full automatic for more relaxed driving or in sport manual mode when the bespoke gear lever will hold the engine revs up to the maximum in each gear, increase change speed and blip the throttle to smooth down changes. In addition to these technical changes, a repositioned fuel tank (to improve the weight distribution), revised instrumentation (from cream dials with blue numerals to black with white), an increase in luggage space, revised air vents, a move to a conventional handbrake lever and air intakes and exits on the front wings distinguish the Series 4 Aero 8 from previous models.

Sections adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0); text is shortened. Read the full article for the complete history and citations.

Specifications

name

Morgan Aero 8

Manufacturer

Morgan Motor Company

Production

2000–2018

Assembly

United Kingdom: Malvern Link, England

Designer

Aero 8: Chris Lawrence, Charles Morgan and Norman Kent, AeroMax, Aero Supersports and Aero Coupe: Matthew Humphries

Class

Sports car (S)

Body style

2-door coupé, 2-door convertible, 2-door targa top, 2-door speedster

Layout

Front mid-engine, rear-wheel-drive

Engine

4.4 L BMW M62TUB44 V8, 4.4 L BMW N62B44 V8, 4.6 L BMW M62TUB46 V8, 4.8 L BMW N62B48 V8

Transmission

6 speed manual/automatic

Kerb weight

1180 kg (2596 lb)

Length

4.12 mt (162 in)

Width

1.77 mt (69 in)

Wheelbase

2.53 mt (100 in)

sp

uk

Specification summary from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Check the linked sources for citations.

More photos

Sources

• Wikidata — https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q13586515CC0 1.0 · retrieved 2026-10-01
• Wikipedia — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morgan_Aero_8CC BY-SA 4.0 · Text © Wikipedia contributors; revision 1373697652 · retrieved 2026-10-01
• Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Morgan-Aeromax.jpgCC BY 2.0 · Photo: Brian Snelson · retrieved 2026-10-01
• Car Model Index — https://models.autoculturesociety.com/Compiled record. Sources that do not permit reuse are not copied; this index is credited instead.

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