This is one of seven examples of the Morgan CX-T that were built as a collaborative effort between Morgan and Rally Raid UK, a specialist firm that prepares vehicles for the Dakar Rally and overland races.
It’s important to note that the CX-T isn’t just a normal Morgan with off-road tires fitted. It’s a completely re-engineered car with 230mm of minimum ground clearance, a fully-armored underside, off-road racing suspension, and a slew of other upgrades to make it a genuine contender on the rough stuff.
Fast Facts – The Morgan CX-T
- The Morgan CX-T is a limited-edition off-road vehicle, with only seven units built in a collaboration between Morgan and Rally Raid UK. It’s not merely a standard Morgan with off-road tires; it’s a comprehensively re-engineered car featuring 230mm ground clearance, armored underside, off-road racing suspension, and various upgrades for genuine off-road capability. The CX-T represents a modern take on Morgan’s historical involvement in trials competition, a form of motorsport emphasizing distance over speed in challenging terrain.
- Morgan Motor Company, founded in 1910 by H.F.S. Morgan, began by producing three-wheeled cars before adding four-wheelers to their line of offerings after 1935. Known for their eccentric, classically-styled sports cars, Morgan has maintained traditional manufacturing methods while incorporating appropriate modern technology. The company’s unique approach has resulted in long waitlists for their vehicles, although current wait times have reduced to around six months, depending on the model and options chosen.
- The CX-T is based on the current Morgan production model but extensively modified for off-road use. It features all-new suspension with EXE-TC coilovers, increased wheel arch apertures, and comprehensive underbody armor. Powered by a 2.0 liter BMW inline-four producing 260 bhp, it uses a 6-speed manual transmission and a locking rear differential. The vehicle rides on 16 inch alloy wheels with all-terrain tires and includes both internal and external roll cages for safety.
- This particular CX-T, the 6th of 7 produced, is finished in Classic Blue with a tan leather interior and has 3,432 km on the odometer. It’s equipped with additional off-road features including spotlights, spare tires, jerry cans, and lockable storage boxes. The vehicle combines Morgan’s classic styling with modern off-road capabilities, making it a unique offering in the automotive world. It’s currently being offered for sale in Hertfordshire, United Kingdom, through Collecting Cars.
The Morgan Motor Company
Morgan is undeniably one of the most eccentric of the low-volume British automakers, and that’s really saying something, as the other contenders are companies like TVR, Marcos, Bristol, Lotus, Gilbern, Reliant, Bond, and Ogle.
Here we see H.F.S. Morgan sitting on the 1909 Morgan prototype. Image courtesy of the Morgan Car Company.
The Morgan Motor Company was founded in 1910 by H.F.S. Morgan (Henry Frederick Stanley), to produce a new automobile that he had designed himself. He had graduated from the Crystal Palace School of Engineering in London, and worked for the Great Western Railway company for a number of years.
In 1909 he designed a three-wheeled car for his own use with a single wheel at the back and two at the front. This first Morgan was a simple design, with a steel backbone chassis and a single seat, but it did have an advanced coil-sprung independent front suspension that was advanced for the time.
H.F.S. Morgan was inundated with demand for his new creation, and as a result he founded his company a few months later and put the car into production.
In the early days of the company, Morgan exclusively made three-wheelers, which were given tax breaks over larger four-wheeled cars. The company’s first four-wheeled car appeared in 1935, and it would shape the future of the company, with production largely shifting over to four-wheelers after WWII.
Skipping forward to the modern day and Morgan has become somewhat famous around the world for their classically-styled sports cars which are all made using traditional methods – involving dozens of skilled workers in their workshops in Malvern, England.
The company makes a range of models, all with classic Morgan styling of course, but incorporating some “appropriate modern technology” as they describe it. The waitlists for a new Morgan have stretched out to almost 10 years in the past, it’s closer to six months now depending on the specific model and the options chosen.
The cockpit of the Morgan CX-T is beautifully appointed, this example has a full tan leather interior.
The Morgan CX-T
The Morgan CX-T was developed as a modern version of the Morgan trails competition cars of old. For the uninitiated, trials competition is one of the oldest forms of motorsport, and it remains popular in a number of countries but perhaps none more so than England.
To be successful at trials events you don’t need to go fast, you need to go far – complex off-road courses are laid out that can include mud, slippery hillsides, grass sections, gravel, and more. Using power, momentum, and the optimal line, competitors have to navigate the course as far as they can – whoever makes it the farthest is the winner.
Due to their low weight and good handling, classic Morgans have long been popular for use in trialling, but Morgan haven’t produced a modern car for the sport, or for any form of off-road racing, until now.
The Morgan CX-T is based on the current production Morgan, however it has been largely re-engineered. It has all new suspension with double wishbones at all four corners fitted with EXE-TC coilovers, modified wheel arch apertures, offering far more range of motion.
The underside of the car has been completely armored, with a five-piece underbody protection system. This includes an engine/sump guard, a rear chassis guard, a mid-section shield, and a rear undertray.
Power is provided by a modern 2.0 liter BMW inline-four with 260 bhp and 258 lb ft of torque.
The car has a minimum of 230mm of ground clearance, significantly more than the 150mm on the standard Morgan Plus 4.
Power is provided by a modern 2.0 liter BMW inline-four with 260 bhp and 258 lb ft of torque, this is mated to a 6-speed manual transmission, and power is sent back to the rear wheels via a locking rear differential which was sourced from the BMW xDrive system.
The car rides on bronze-toned 16 inch Fondmetal Evo Corse alloy wheels which are fitted with Maxxis Worm Drive all-terrain tires. There are two spare tires attached to the rear of the vehicle, along with jerry cans and lockable storage boxes.
For safety the car has both an internal roll cage and a hefty external cage that covers the vehicle from the A-pillar right the way to the rear end. Onto this external roll cage you’ll find a bank of four spotlights over the windshield, and in the rear you’ll see the spare wheels and other equipment mentioned above.
The full external roll cage has space for two spare tires in the rear as well as fuel cans, and storage lockboxes.
Morgan built just seven of these cars, each numbered on the Morgan plaque above the windscreen – and as you can see this is the 6th one made. It has just 3,432 kms on the odometer and it’s finished in Classic Blue over a tan leather-trimmed cabin.
This CX-T is now being offered for sale out of Hertfordshire in the United Kingdom on Collecting Cars. If you’d like to read more about it or register to bid you can visit the listing here.
Images courtesy of Collecting Cars
Articles that Ben has written have been covered on CNN, Popular Mechanics, Smithsonian Magazine, Road & Track Magazine, the official Pinterest blog, the official eBay Motors blog, BuzzFeed, Autoweek Magazine, Wired Magazine, Autoblog, Gear Patrol, Jalopnik, The Verge, and many more.
Silodrome was founded by Ben back in 2010, in the years since the site has grown to become a world leader in the alternative and vintage motoring sector, with well over a million monthly readers from around the world and many hundreds of thousands of followers on social media.
