Morgan and Pininfarina present Midsummer

A celebration of coachbuilding and timeless style

Hero1 Morgan Midsummer Location 023 Cropped - Morgan Hertfordshire

Morgan and Pininfarina present Midsummer

A celebration of coachbuilding and timeless style

Hero2 Morgan Midsummer Location 006 Cropped - Morgan Hertfordshire

Morgan and Pininfarina present Midsummer

A celebration of coachbuilding and timeless style

Hero5 Morgan Midsummer Location 019 Cropped - Morgan Hertfordshire

Morgan and Pininfarina present Midsummer

A celebration of coachbuilding and timeless style

Morgan Motor Company and Pininfarina S.p.A. are delighted to present Midsummer, a celebration of coachbuilding by two of the longest-established coachbuilders in the world.

Created in recognition of the heyday of European barchetta designs, this special – limited to just 50 examples – represents the shared vision of Morgan and Pininfarina, who have collaborated to reinterpret and celebrate the timeless Morgan silhouette.

Midsummer is based on Morgan’s latest CX-Generation Bonded Aluminium Platform and features a six-cylinder turbocharged engine and eight-speed automatic transmission.

A Coach-built Collaboration

The collaboration between Morgan and Pininfarina emerged from a wider desire for Morgan to create limited-run specials, based on its CX-Generation Bonded Aluminium Platform, that both celebrate and demonstrate the diversity of Morgan’s instantly recognisable design, whilst simultaneously evolving it.

An exposure to the elements, a closeness to your surroundings and a raw connection to your machine are all qualities that have defined Morgan cars for generations. Midsummer pushes these to the extreme thanks to its barchetta design, chosen specifically for this purpose. From its high-quality materials to its visceral driving character, Midsummer delivers a sensory experience that is unsurpassed.

Eccentric Elegance

Midsummer’s delicate yet exaggerated proportions imbue an eccentric elegance, reminiscent of iconic Pininfarina designs and evocative of an era of late 30s and early 40s automotive design. Midsummer also introduces a shoulder line to the instantly recognisable side profile of a Morgan, made possible by the introduction of exposed wooden structures and required as one of the defining elements of a barchetta style.

The front of the wings and the nose are unique to Midsummer, as are the new lightweight forged 19-inch wheels designed exclusively for Midsummer.

From the front, Morgan’s new signature headlight units – finished with silver inserts – flank the horseshoe grille which features a half-moon shape at the top of the stone guard. This half-moon shape, whilst a key design feature, also helps to direct air flow within the grille aperture. Small vertical vents sit at either side of the horseshoe grille, these further aid air flow and cooling.
A longer rear tail is designed to accentuate the elegance of the car. This treatment is reminiscent of iconic Pininfarina designs, evocative of an era of late 1930s and early 1940s forms. New rear lights sit within half-chamfered light pods.
The view from the cockpit of a Morgan is distinctive. A long bonnet leading your eyes to the wing tops gives a clear indication of where the front wheels are – a key hallmark of a Morgan - allowing driver’s to confidently guide the car through corners with accuracy and flow.

Midsummer continues this attribute, yet with some subtle differences. Pininfarina has reinterpreted the iconic louvres that are stamped lengthways into each bonnet with a series of ‘piano keys’. These piano keys are hand formed and positioned widthways along the scuttle section of each bonnet, delicately dancing along the surface of the aluminium. Beyond their beauty, the piano keys also play a functional role in allowing air to exit from the engine compartment.

Dynamically, Midsummer continues the raw and visceral driving experience that is synonymous with Morgan sports cars. This experience is accentuated thanks to Midsummer’s barchetta style, which ensures occupants are at one with their surroundings and forced to remain present in the moment. Midsummer has a target dry weight of just 1,000kg. Adjustable Nitron dampers, tuned and manufactured specifically for Midsummer, further enhance dynamic capability.

Visible Wood

One of the most impactful elements of Midsummer is its use of wood on the exterior of the body. Whilst wood is commonplace within Morgan sports cars, its role has remained exclusively within the body frame of each vehicle, acting as a ‘buck’ for aluminium body panels to be hand-formed over. This use means it has always been hidden from view.

Midsummer’s barchetta style provided an opportunity to utilise wood to create a shoulder line, accentuating the perimeter of the cockpit and visibly showcasing the skill of Morgan’s craftspeople. This application pays homage to Morgan’s long-established relationship with wood, a key desire expressed by Pininfarina at the earliest stages of the project.

Taking inspiration from marine applications, beautifully sculpted wooden structures surround the cabin and create the necessary shoulder line. Hand formed using high-quality and durable teak, hundreds of individual layers of wood are delicately laminated together to complete each section. Selected with meticulous attention-to-detail, each layer of teak is no more than 0.6mm thick.
Each vehicle will feature nine individually crafted teak sections, taking more than 30 hours to skilfully create, and utilising 83m 2 of sustainably sourced teak. Most notable are the dashboard tops, which feature 126 layers of teak each, and the door top sections which feature 120 layers each. Using multiple layers as opposed to a single piece of wood, adds strength and durability, necessary for exposed elements.

21st Century Coachbuilding

Midsummer takes Morgan’s unique blend of time-honoured craftsmanship and appropriate modern technology to even greater heights.

The number of hand-formed elements of Midsummer is higher than other Morgan models and features greater complexity. The hand-beaten aluminium body panels take more than 250 hours to produce.

Midsummer, the name

The inspiration behind the name Midsummer is two-fold. Most prominently, the term Midsummer indicates the height of the summer, a celebration of the season which provides optimal weather conditions to experience an open-top barchetta.

As ancient as the solstice tradition is its geographical namesake, Midsummer Hill, which forms part of the Malvern Hills – a sprawling hill range that is woven into the very fabric of Morgan. It is from the summits of these hills that – looking in a westward direction – you can see the hamlet of Moreton Jeffries, birthplace of HFS Morgan in 1881.

Limited Run

Just 50 Midsummer will be produced, all of which have been sold to customers during a series of exclusive preview sessions. Midsummer will be uniquely configured to turn each customer’s vision into reality, ensuring every Midsummer is a true one-off. Midsummer’s first public debut is anticipated at the 2024 Goodwood Festival of Speed, held in July.

Technical Specifications

Manual Automatic

	Manual	Automatic
Engine	BMW 2.0-litre TwinPower Turbo, inline four-cylinder	BMW 2.0-litre TwinPower Turbo, inline four-cylinder
Gearbox	Six-speed manual	Eight-speed automatic with comfort, sport, sport+ and manual shift modes
Maximum power	255 bhp (190 kW) at 5500 rpm	255 bhp (190 kW) at 4400 rpm
Maximum torque	258 lb ft (350 Nm) at 1000-5000 rpm	295 lb ft (400 Nm) at 1000-4300 rpm
Acceleration	0 – 62 (0-100kph) 5.2 seconds	0 – 62 (0-100kph) 4.8 seconds
Top speed	149 mph (240 kph)	149 mph (240 kph)
Fuel economy (combined)	39 mpg (7.3 l/100km)	45 mpg* (7.0 l/100km)
CO2 emissions	165g/km	140g/km*
Dry weight	1,013kg	1,009kg
Length	3830 mm	3830 mm
Width	1650 mm	1650 mm
Height	1250 mm	1250 mm