"The Morgan Aero 8 doesn't look much, but on the road it's a
               swan," writes Ray Hutton

The ugly duckling
Morgan enthusiasts - and it is a marque that engenders enthusiasm like few others - have certain expectations. Their cars must look like something from the 1930s, provide a wind-in-the hair driving experience, and be individually handcrafted.

Creating a high-tech, 21st-century Morgan is therefore a very tricky business. For years, the company in Malvern Link, Worcestershire, rejected the idea of a completely new car as too difficult; besides, it had orders for its traditional models extending five years ahead.

In 1996 Charles Morgan, grandson of the company's founder, decided to take the plunge. The result is the Aero 8, the unexpected star of the Geneva motor show this year, and now almost ready to be delivered to its first customers. Last week I took one of the first Aero 8s for a drive in the Malvern Hills.

I have previously described the idea of a Morgan as being better than the reality. There is something glamorously sentimental about looking out across the long, tapering bonnet and sweeping mudguards, but the cars are uncomfortable and difficult to drive fast on anything other than completely smooth roads. The Aero 8 isn't like that. For dyed-in-the-wool Morgan people, driving it will be a revelation.

This is a Morgan, but not as we know it. The simple and flexible steel ladder frame is replaced by an ultra-stiff lightweight chassis made of aluminium alloy sheets, bonded and riveted together. The suspension is like a modern racing car's, with rocker arms and inboard spring/damper units instead of
Morgan's ancient sliding pillar arrangement at the front, and double wishbones replacing the cart-sprung rear axle. It is the first Morgan to have independent rear suspension, power-assisted steering, and disc brakes on all four wheels.

It is also the most powerful and most expensive Morgan yet. Its 286bhp comes from a 4.4 litre BMW V8 engine, as used in the BMW 540 and 740. The elevated price - £49,950 - ensures that Morgan will also continue with its cheaper traditional models. It has not deterred more than 500 people who have placed orders for the Aero 8, so there is already a two-year waiting list.

Although its aluminium body panels are mostly formed by machine, the new car maintains Morgan's coachbuilding tradition by mounting them on a wooden frame bolted to the chassis. So the natural-coloured ash in and around the cockpit is not the usual thin veneer for decoration but a solid part of the car's structure.

There is nothing old-fashioned about the BMW engine and the Getrag six-speed gearbox that accompanies it. Morgan and his technical director Chris Lawrence, a veteran Morgan racer and tuner, are full of praise for the help BMW engineers gave in developing the car.

Although the open-topped Aero 8 is a far cry from the sanitised efficiency of a BMW saloon, the engine remains sweet, smooth and punchy, enhanced by the Morgan's more tuneful exhaust. Since the Aero 8 weighs only 1,000kg the performance is mighty: 160mph and 0-60mph in about 4.5sec.

Control efforts - the pedals, steering, gearchange - are not too heavy and are nicely matched. The car has eager responses, but is easy to handle and remains stable and surprisingly comfortable, even over poor road surfaces. It has power and torque to spare, so that you can flick the tail with a prod on the throttle or spin the wheels just for the hell of it.

The big racing-type brakes are highly effective but would be more reassuring in bad weather if they had an anti-lock system. The omission of ABS seems illogical, as Morgan has incorporated other mod cons, such as air conditioning, windows with built-in heating elements, and a tyre pressure monitoring
system.

Even the most committed fan of the old models will appreciate the leap forward that the Aero 8 represents in performance and road behaviour. Whether they will like its shape is another matter - and a sensitive one, because the new-old style was created by Morgan himself.

His inspiration was the classic French and Italian roadsters but, sadly, Morgan has not achieved their elegance of line. The demands of aerodynamics for a 160mph car may be partly to blame, but the inset headlamps make it look cross-eyed, there is an awkward "shelf" between the wings, and the drooping,
squared-off tail is at odds with the generous curves of the front.

When I first saw the Aero 8 at Geneva, I admired its engineering but did not warm to its appearance. I am sorry to say that, on the open road, I thought it looked even worse.