Morgan is back in the coupe game, and appropriately, the Midsummer Coupe has been launched just as the longest day of the year ticked past.
What's a Morgan Midsummer Coupe?
Well, it's a hard-top coupe version of the Morgan Midsummer. Duh.
We might need a little more detail than that…
OK, fine. The Midsummer was a limited-run of Morgan sports cars in the more traditional roadster format, designed in collaboration with the famed Italian design house Pininfarina. The Midsummer roadster - of which only 50 are being made - won plaudits for its mixture of classic Morgan lines with modern detailing, and it had a massive influence on the recently-launched Morgan Supersport, the company's six-cylinder flagship sports car.
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OK, so what about the Morgan Midsummer?
Obviously enough, the Midsummer Coupe is a solid-roofed version of the Midsummer, but as Morgan puts it, "goes far beyond simply enclosing the original concept.”
Yes, it's recognisably still a Midsummer, but the roof is really well integrated into the overall design, rather than just looking like someone glued a hardtop permanently in place. It's not just a Midsummer with a top on; Morgan has gone back to basics and reworked the car's structure to turn it into a true coupe. As with so many limited-run sports cars - and only nine Midsummer Coupes will be made - this one started at the behest of a single wealthy customer…
"Midsummer Coupé began with a conversation. A client came to us with an idea and, rather than asking how closely we could meet that brief, we asked ourselves how far we could take it. Special projects like this bring together the same designers, engineers and craftspeople who create every Morgan sports car, giving them the opportunity to apply their skills in different ways. Working closely with each client, they explore new ideas, refine new techniques and continue to develop the knowledge that defines Morgan coachbuilding today. Only nine clients will own a Midsummer Coupé, but the impact of the project extends far beyond those commissions and experiences. Every challenge we overcome, every technique we develop and every lesson we learn strengthens Morgan's ability to bring to life distinctive and joyful sports cars,” said Matthew Hole, Managing Director, Morgan Motor Company.
Did Pininfarina work on the Morgan Midsummer Coupe too?
Absolutely, and that's probably why the design looks so 'right.' And it's not just about the design, either. Morgan wanted the Coupe to extend the Midsummer's abilities, so it gets 'full weather sealing' and 'effective climate control', turning it into what might just be the best all-round Morgan. In fact, given prevailing Irish weather conditions, it might just be the best Morgan for us…
That's a tantalising prospect…
Indeed. Morgan went to the lengths of designing special 'windows within windows' which sit atop entirely new doors, to create the Coupe's silhouette. Most of the car's bodywork is made from aluminium, but there's also a proportion of stainless steel, which is referenced in a central 'spine' made of that hard-wearing material, which is mirrored on the inside too and which has overtones of classics such as the Bugatti Atlantique. The roof of the Coupe is actually glazed, so although it's a fixed roof, you still get a small flavour of that open Morgan experience.
"Midsummer Coupé represents the culmination of an extraordinary creative journey. What began as a celebration of coachbuilding, craftsmanship and collaboration has evolved into one of the most ambitious and rewarding projects we've ever undertaken. Working alongside the team at Pininfarina, together with our own designers and engineers, has been both a privilege and immensely rewarding. Midsummer Coupé marks the closing chapter of that remarkable collaboration, but it also represents a defining moment in Morgan's coachbuilding story. What makes this project special, however, is the people who commission it. Each of the nine Midsummer Coupés will emerge from a close creative partnership with our designers, engineers and craftspeople, resulting in nine completely individual interpretations of the same vision. For us, that is the ultimate expression of coachbuilding. Midsummer Coupé demonstrates what Morgan is capable of today and opens the door to a future defined by exceptional commissions, meaningful collaborations and some of the most ambitious projects in our history. The journey is only just beginning,” said Jonathan Wells, Chief Design Officer, Morgan Motor Company.
It's quite the design job
It goes much deeper than that. Obviously, the whole chassis (made from aerospace-grade aluminium and bonded and riveted together) is naturally stiffer than that of the roadster, thanks to having a fixed roof, but Morgan has gone further than that, adding billet-machined aluminium A-pillars, bonded structural glazing and a countersunk riveted construction. Even the windscreen is bonded directly into the car's structure for greater rigidity, as is the glass roof.
That all seems quite high tech…
It is, but Morgan is still retaining its traditional coachbuilding skills. Each panel of hand-formed takes hundreds of hours to create a finished car. In spite of this, the tolerances for the bodywork are incredibly exacting: the Midsummer Coupé body is assembled on a precision surface table that is laser-scanned to ensure an accuracy of 0.3mm across its length. Underneath, of course, Morgan still uses its traditional Ash wood frames for some panels, keeping alive a tradition that extends back to the 1930s.
What's the interior like?
Gorgeous, in a word. There are handmade laminated wood panels, constructed from multiple veneers, each approximately 0.6mm thick, covering lots of the dashboard, and Morgan at last seems to have managed to design a new gear selector to hide the old BMW one it had been using.
BMW gear selector?
Yup. As with the regular Supersports, the Midsummer Coupe uses a 3.0-litre turbo BMW straight-six petrol engine, combined with an eight-speed ZF automatic gearbox. That engine provides 340hp, and the whole car only weighs around 1,200kg.
Shame they're only making nine…
Well, ten technically. You see, this Midsummer Coupe in the photos is the prototype, and that's going to live, eventually, in the Louwman Collection in The Hague, where it will be displayed as part of one of the world's most significant collections of historic automobiles. Then, nine customer cars - each likely to be entirely bespoke and unique - will be made.
Want one? You're probably too late, but don't despair. The Midsummer roadster was a huge influence for Morgan's Supersport production model, so we wouldn't be at all surprised to see, eventually, a Supersport Coupe too…