If you look at Morgan’s current range, you will see cars that have apparently been in production for half a century. The illustrious British brand made one attempt to come up with a modern-looking car. That Aero 8 got an update in 2007, with another car being chosen as a headlight donor.
The Aero 8 appeared on the market in 2001 and was light years more modern and considerably larger than the Morgans that had been available until then. In addition to a Plus Four or Plus Six, such an Aero 8 looks almost futuristic, although at the same time it is unmistakably a Morgan. The loose fenders, horseshoe-shaped grille, long nose and sloping rear were also present, but packed in a contemporary jacket and propelled by a thick V8 from BMW.
That sounds like an ideal mix of classic and modern, yet the Aero 8 received a lot of criticism. The pain point: the headlights. In an effort to incorporate modern, bright light units into the classic design, Morgan opted to place them on the inside of the voluptuous fenders. That worked, but also resulted in a car that is quite squinting. The headlights in question were not even Morgan’s own, but were transferred from a Volkswagen New Beetle. The right one disappeared from the Morgan in the left fender and vice versa.
In 2007 Morgen thought it was time to take a look at the Aero 8. The brand took the criticism of the front to heart and resolutely threw the Volkswagen headlights into the glass box. Light units from that other well-known retro hatchback were supplied as a replacement: the Mini. In the facelifted version of the first generation of the modern Mini, the xenon units are a bit more straight in the front than the spotlights of the New Beetle. The cross placement in the Morgan therefore resulted in a considerably less cross-eyed, albeit somewhat squinting look. The Mini’s turn signals and parking lights also got a place in the Aero 8 body, which was refined all around. Is the second Aero 8 better with that, or are you going for the rather characteristic first series?