Morgan Plus 8 review - Telegraph The cabin shows a pair of narrow leather buckets and a long thin facia, together with the traditionally narrow, three-wiper windscreen through which you peer down the endlessly louvred bonnet. There's no wood in there, but the body-coloured finish on the dash is charming. Not so charming is the John Bull printing outfit finish to the airbag logo, bare wires hanging down, or bare cross-headed screws. The glovebox is big enough for a pair of gloves, but the hole in the back means if you stop hard, they'll be on the floor. Climbing in is a bit of a struggle across the huge sills, but the seats are comfortable and supportive and views out are good, at least with the hood furled. The fuel gauge sits in front of the driver along with the engine temperature, which is probably all you need to know, and in time-honoured Morgan style the speedo and rev counter are in the middle of the dash. I didn't much like the steering wheel design, but at least it's not in your lap as with the old Plus 8. Ergonomics is a foreign language at Morgan and rightly so, but with that big alloy gear knob so close to the dashboard, Plus 8 owners are liable to identify each other by their permanently barked knuckles. You can't see the transmission-tunnel gear indicator, but there's a repeater in the speedometer. So, to the hood. There are more effective guillotines than this, but in the dark and in a hurry, your digits will know their own reign of terror. It took a full minute, a split nail and a fetching blood blister to get the frame settled on the windscreen, but once there it's reasonably secure and, in mohair, pretty good looking. Start her up and the big engine clanks like a locomotive. With no traction control, you need to take care pulling away as the differential drags the inside wheel on gravel and enthusiastic getaways will light up the tyres. There's a lot of creep built into the torque converter of the six-speed ZF automatic transmission, so you need to apply the brakes properly at junctions or the big mill will gently idle the nose out into oncoming traffic. From the off, the steering feels heavy, darty and lacking in self-centring. The lock is pitiful, so you spend a fair amount of time shunting out of parking spaces, and the ride is unsettled at low speeds, which doesn't help boost confidence. Speed up and it soon becomes clear that this is a hell-cat-fast device. Stand on the throttle and the big BMW mill bellows and the tyres squirm under the onslaught of torque. Try and drive it like a modern hatchback and it's easily as terrifying as the old Plus 8. With an all-up weight of about 1.2 tons, it's torque that propels the car, but if you approach the redline in any gear you'll believe you've accidentally climbed into a flying machine. And, with an optional sports exhaust, it sounds like a fighter aeroplane, too. The trouble is, if you add in any form of road undulation or pothole, your direction of travel is determined as much by the amount of throttle and which bit of tyre is touching the road as it is by the amount of steering lock you've dialled in. At one point the nose darted so hard to the left I thought we were gonners. For the most part this is part of the charm of the Morgan, which is not as other cars. But with powered steering, modern wishbone suspension and a strong, modern chassis, you can't help feeling this is a set-up issue rather than an inherent fault. Given the idiosyncratic steering, it's all too easy to overdrive the Plus 8 and fall quickly out of love with it. Use the engine's torque though, and concentrate on keeping the chassis settled, and it is fast and comfortable. You can manually hold the gears for a bit more control in the corners and the grip generated by the tyres is beyond what you'd want to approach on the public road. And don't be mistaking this new Plus 8 for some sort of Elgar-county boulevardier. If you are planning on overtaking one, make sure you're in something (very) rapid. In the end this is a terrific return for a much-loved name, but it is let down (as with the Aero 8) by that steering system and the less than stellar finish of the cockpit. I wanted to like it more and no doubt some will, but for me, the outgoing V6 Roadster was a better all-rounder and, on the right roads, a better drive as well. Morgan Plus 8 Tested: 4,799cc V8 petrol engine, six-speed manual transmission or six-speed auto, rear-wheel drive Price/on sale: From £85,200/now (four-month waiting list) Power/torque: 367bhp @ 6,300rpm/370lb ft @ 3,400rpm Top speed: 155mph Acceleration: 0-62mph in 4.5sec Fuel economy: 17mpg/26mpg (EU Urban/Combined) CO2 emissions: 256g/km VED band: M (£1,030 for first year, £475 thereafter) Verdict: BMW V8 engine provides blistering performance and an intoxicating exhaust note, but the steering is disappointing and makes the handling inconsistent. The finish is also variable, especially for this kind of money Used Morgan Plus 8, about £35,000 Early models are very valuable, but £35,000 will put you in a tidy 10-year-old, 3.9-litre. Medieval chassis, brick-like aerodynamics and rocket-ship performance. A truly great British car. Aston Martin Vantage S, from £108,200 Lovely tuneful V8 with lots of torque. Great looks and surprisingly practical, too. The cabin looks a little dated now, but still a terrific driving machine. Very expensive, but then Astons are, aren't they? Porsche 911 Cabriolet, from £79,947 New shape with the big nose. Quite the most competent 911 ever made, but it's lost something in its modernity. Fast, comfortable and usually reliable.