Morgan Aero SuperSports Drops Its Top

It's amazing in this economy that tiny niche sports car makers can stay afloat, much less prosper.  Chalk Morgan's success up to a fanatically loyal fanbase, I suppose.  The ultra-traditional (that's my polite way of saying "anachronistic") brand not only continues to exist, but they continue to put out new models for Morgan fanatics to drool over.  Being something of a Morgan fanboy myself, this car really does it for me - pseudo-wood chassis and all.

Called the Morgan Aero SuperSports, it's an open-top version of last year's Morgan AeroMax Coupe, which was a dramatic restyling of the new-ish Morgan Aero 8.  It has two removable roof panels which can be stowed in the trunk when removed.  So in other words, finally!  A Morgan with T-Tops!

The low-slung two-seater uses BMW power, more specifically the 4.8L V8 found under the considerably heftier hood of the BMW 550i.  With 367 horsepower, the Aero SuperSports can accelerate to 60 from rest in only 4.5 seconds, thanks to an extremely low curb weight of 2,425 lbs.  This wood-framed rocket can top out north of 170 miles an hour, which has gotta be pretty exciting.

The chassis is partially extruded and bonded aluminum, and partially treated Ash wood.  Marketing director Matthew Parkin claims that Ash gives "a unique combination of strength, flexibility and light weight" but mainly I'd be worried about the termites.

The interior is a model of typical Britishness, and I mean that in the best way possible.  Isn't that just absolutely gorgeous?

A deposit of £25,000 will secure your order for one of these rare cars, and the total price is expected to be somewhere near £130,000.  Not cheap, but I suppose that's the price you pay for a highly engineered, hand-built sports car these days.