Morgan and Pininfarina pairing up on special roadster

Historic British manufacturer Morgan Cars is collaborating with renowned Italian design firm Pininfarina to create a distinctive coachbuilt sports car model, expected to be unveiled in late 2024. 

The exclusive model will be sold as “a limited run of individual commissions”. 

Morgan will enlist its engineers and existing technological knowledge to produce the coach at its Malvern Link factory in England. 

According to Autocar, Pininfarina will be taking the lead on the design, working to bring an Italian flair to the traditional Morgan roadster. 

Morgan will contribute its coach-building skills and under-the-bonnet configurations found in models such as the Plus Four and Plus Eight. 

Presumably power for this collaboration model will also be sourced from BMW, as Morgan has done with its most recent models. 

The Plus Eight boasts a naturally-aspirated 4.8-litre BMW V8, while the Plus Four houses a 2.0-litre BMW turbocharged inline-four engine. 

We will have to wait several months for further details on the partnership, but it is understood that the model produced as a result will be separate from Morgan’s internal plan to revitalise its brand for the modern age. 

“Coachbuilding goes to the very essence of creating a car and is something that we have nurtured and protected at Morgan,” said Morgan CEO Massimo Fumarola. 

Mr Fumarola stresses the collaboration with the Italian design house is focused on crafting “by hand and not through automation… to let the heart of the creator shape a line or an object.” 

“Coachbuilding is not constrained by trends and borders, as we are discovering through this collaboration,” said Mr Fumarola, suggesting the resulting model will remain dedicated to Morgan’s classic design aesthetic. 

Pininfarina is known for offering bespoke customisation; customers of the Pininfarina Battista were able to choose from 56 colours and 128 million different interior combinations. 

The Battista is an all-electric supercar that uses a 120kWh battery to power four motors located behind each wheel. 

Claimed outputs include 1416kW of power, 2300Nm of torque, and an electric range of 500km. 

Its extensive body of design work stretches across a long list of notable brands including Ferrari, Alfa Romeo, Maserati, Fiat, Rolls-Royce, Bentley, Volvo, Peugeot, Lancia and even General Motors. 

Pininfarina will combine this expertise to bring what we can assume will be a luxurious, Italian design language to Morgan’s specific style. 

It won’t be Morgan’s first collaboration; the 2021 Plus Four CX-T was an ultra-limited off-road creation in partnership with Rally Raid which turned the classic model into an off-roader capable of all-terrain endurance racing. 

Morgan is also renowned for its manufacturing of three-wheeled cars such as the Super 3, which the brand launched last year to continue its 113-year legacy of the unique model shape.