1959 MORGAN PLUS FOUR Registration Number: 698 AOK Chassis ...

Hammer

£14,018

1959 MORGAN PLUS FOUR

Registration Number: 698 AOK
Chassis Number: 4398
Recorded Mileage: TBA

- Single family ownership from 1960 to 2017
- Documented mechanical overhaul

Morgan’s first four-wheeled car, the ‘new’ 4/4 entered production in 1936, initially powered by a Coventry Climax engine outputting 40bhp. The original 4/4 was replaced by the longer and stronger Plus 4 in 1950, with a more powerful Standard Vanguard engine and then from 1953 the Triumph TR2 engine, to be replaced a few years later with the 100bhp TR3 unit. Strong and tuneable, the Triumph engines made Morgans the cars to beat in production sports car racing.

Chris Lawrence won 19 out of 22 races in 1959 in his Plus 4, taking the National Championship for Production Sports Cars and leading to the new ‘Lawrence Tune’ limited edition ‘Super Sports’ model of 1961. The model reached its zenith in 1962 at Le Mans, when Lawrence and Richard Shepherd-Barron drove their Plus 4 to 13th place overall and a class win in the GT2 category.

The majority of the 387 total production found their way overseas, making surviving home market cars somewhat of a rarity.

First delivered to dealer Hunts of Birmingham in January 1960, 698 AOK was purchased by a Mr. J.B.C. Hill of Edgebaston, finished in Light Grey with a Black leather interior and the factory options of a sporty Derrington exhaust, disc brakes and Duraband tyres. Mr. Hill kept the Morgan for a number of years before passing ownership to his nephew, who enjoyed the Morgan until 2017, at which point the Morgan was sold to its third owner, who kept the car for a further five years.

In recent times the Morgan has enjoyed an engine rebuild (in 2016 at a cost of c. £3500), carburettor rebuild, a re-cored radiator, overhauled ignition system, and replacement steering column and replacement exhaust. To test its newly fettled mettle, the Morgan was driven to Montlhéry, south of Paris, for the annual Vintage Revival meeting, taking in a lap of the circuit before returning home to Blighty. More recently the Plus Four was seen to be worked on at the National Restoration Show at Birmingham’s NEC in 2022.

Now finished in a bright shade of red, the Morgan presents well. The coachwork is straight with the odd paint blemish to be seen in places, and the interior appears to be in original but well preserved condition. Leafing through the comprehensive history file we see bills and receipts going as far back as the 1960s, many being for various items obtained from The Morgan Motor Company, in addition to bills for recent mechanical works, older MoT certificates, and its original instruction book.

Now 64 years old, this is a presentable Morgan with an interesting history and much charm.