The Morgan Aeromax takes the past right up to the present, and into the future, writes Nick Hall
THE MALVERN Hills are a step back in time, full of elderly folk bussed in to enjoy Mother Nature and, perhaps, an arts and crafts shop. But today is a different day. Today their lasting memory won't be the lovely scones or scenic views - it will, instead, be the bone-shaking noise of a V8 blasting past them, at what could be described as an unreasonable speed from what could reasonably be described as a spaceship on wheels.
This is the Morgan Aeromax, a head-on collision of old and new worlds. It's Jeeves and Wooster with a shellsuit and a crack pipe, a Tomorrow's World dream of supercars, which was originally designed as a one-off. The brainchild of a college student, the Aeromax was then commissioned by Prince Eric Sturzda, chairman of Barings Bank, and the end result was so visually stunning that Morgan sought permission to sell 100, which should be snapped up like iced water in the desert.
Until the turn of the century, Morgan's design philosophy remained deeply rooted in the 1930s and it served them well. While other niche manufacturers went to the wall faster than their cars hit 60mph, Morgan weathered the storm with quirky, unique sports cars built around wooden frames by master craftsmen.
It broke the nightmarishly difficult US market and the family-run concern arguably took over as Britain's biggest car manufacturer for a short while, with 620 sales. And it did it all on its own inimitable terms.
Even the recent addition to the family, the Aero 8, was a modern take on pure period drama. Now the Aeromax has taken Biggles into the 21st century.
Yes, it comes with running boards, an upright grille and an Art Deco rear that belongs in 1950s America, and it has all the ingredients of the car that time forgot.
The Aeromax even comes with a traditional ash wooden frame and solid, visible beams running through the cockpit. Then there's the wood-lined, tortoise-shell dashboard, hand-stitched leather and even those bizarre angel-wing rear windows that are about as practical as a chocolate fireguard.
Every part of the Morgan's soul screams olde-world nostalgia, but the best part is that, under the skin, the Aeromax is an achingly modern machine.
Charles Morgan built this nod to simpler times around an aluminium monocoque that sandwiches the ash wood, which they insist is technically superior to anything the modern world can offer in terms of impact absorption. And, crucially, there's a BMW engine pulsating under that long bonnet.
Morgan knows the value of a bulletproof engine and there was no way he could improve on the millions of miles of testing and billions of pounds that the German marque could throw at such a project, so he simply took a 4.4-litre V8 off the peg for this prototype and has found a way to shoehorn the new 4.8-litre from the BMW X5 into the production car.
An X5 weighs almost three times as much, so the performance from this pocket rocket was always going to be explosive. The finished car will come with 380bhp, even more than we had to play with, and it will scoot to 100km/h in little over four seconds and keep going all the way to 260km/h and beyond. But it's the way it gets there - the noise, the passion and the raw emotion - that makes the Aeromax a real alternative to the Porsche 911s and Ferrari 430s that have become just that little bit naff, thanks in no small part to their ubiquitous presence at every golf club, footballer's car park and drive-through McDonalds.
The side exit exhaust sits just underneath the driver's seat and, despite the rain and cold winter air, we found ourselves lowering the windows just to hear that outrageous engine, freed from the confines of a giant, noise-deadening SUV, bouncing every single rev off the dry stone walls on the roads around Malvern.
It may be German-sourced, but as that V8 spools up, it's like riding into battle on the wing of a Spitfire. It's an outrageous orgy of noise and violence that doesn't belong in a car this cute, which is all part of the appeal.
This is the near-perfect ride, as Morgan has softened the suspension after fitting racing joints and given what should be a boneshaker a near magic carpet feel. There's also none of the wild wheelspin, thanks to that soft rear end - when you plant the throttle, the car sits down on to those wide, 20-inch wheels, finds the grip and simply takes off.
That lightweight frame gives it a lithe feel in the bends and it would take a thuggish approach and real intent to push the car sideways in the corners. If you do, a limited slip differential helps get it all back under control. A Ferrari will decimate it on track, but this is all the car you could ever want on the public road and it remains fun at any speed.
I couldn't quite find the right seating position and was either hunched over the wheel, sawing at it like an old-school racer or tiptoeing the pedals in near dangerous fashion, so I settled for the former and the full-on olde-world driving experience.
It's an addictive experience, hammering the throttle in the Aeromax, and in speed-unfriendly Switzerland Prince Sturzda might find himself explaining the rush to an unsympathetic policeman more than once if he cannot find the AP racing brakes fast enough.
But if that policeman comes with a sense of humour, or even slightly appreciates a quirky car, then he's in with a chance. Even the elderly folk bussed in to taste one last scone seemed to appreciate an olde-world design brought so up to date it could star in the next Batman film and, when parked up the Aeromax, drew crowds from far and wide. It's one of those cars that puts a smile on everyone's face, is truly unique and for that reason alone is worth more than the Ferraris and Lamborghinis that could be had for not so much more money.
The Morgan might be a throwback in terms of basic design, but then it's a match for anything I've driven this year when it comes to having fun. With the Aeromax, Morgan has come screaming into the 21st-century and produced a car that is more than fit for a prince. And I, for one, am more than happy to see them here.
Factfile: Morgan Aeromax
Price: €140,000 before VRT or VAT
Engine: 4.4-litre V8 (4.8-litre production)
Power: 333bhp (380bhp production)
0-100km/h: 4.5 seconds
Top speed: 260km/h