Guten Morgan

It has not been possible to buy a new Morgan in Australia since 2007, but the all-British marque appears set for a return this year with its newly revamped BMW V8-powered Series 4 Aero 8 model.

Although the Aero 8 looks for all the world like the original 1930s Morgans it does pack in a fair amount of modern technology.

This includes the 4.8-litre 270kW/490Nm BMW V8 (replacing a 4.4-litre 245kW/450Nm unit), a newly available auto transmission, all-aluminium chassis and body, cantilever front suspension and double wishbone rear suspension, all-disc brakes with a racing six-pot design on the front, ABS with EBD, and driver and passenger airbags.

The Aero 8 sits on 18-inch alloy wheels and gets tyre pressure monitoring as well as Drag Torque Control (DTC) and Xenon headlights with built-in washers.

Because it weighs only 1145kg, the Aero 8 is understandably quick: Morgan says it will accelerate from a standstill to 100km/h in better than 4.5 seconds yet returns an average fuel consumption figure of 10.8l/100km. The emissions figure is 260g/km -- low for a car this fast.

There was never any intention to make the Aero 8 as plush as an SL Benz, but it's comforting to know that standard equipment includes power steering (with an adjustable steering column), cruise control, leather trim, fully lined soft top roof, remote central locking and boot release, power windows, heated windscreen, radio and CD player.

The Aero 8 should be followed with renewed availability of "classic" two-seat Morgans -- 3.0-litre V6-engined Roadster and 2.0-litre four-cylinder Plus 4– in 2010. It's hoped the four-seat 4/4 will go on sale again in 2011.

The local importers say they will attempt to hold prices at 2007 levels with the reintroduced range. These were:

Roadster 3.0 V6 $145,000
Plus 4 2.0 I4 $117,000
4/4 1.8 I4 $99,000

What they can't say at this stage is how the classic cars will be equipped, although they do know the Aero 8's spec, and that it is tagged at $255,000 with manual transmission, or $264,000 as an automatic. The importers are taking orders now for delivery during the year.

The Morgan range was discontinued here in 2007 essentially because it could not comply with Australian Design Rules (ADRs).

Morgan is the oldest and largest British-owned car company, with the original models designed in the 1930s. The company only builds cars to order -- a great way of controlling the manufacturing process.