Morgan partners with Pininfarina for exclusive coachbuilt car

Morgan is working with the Italian design house Pininfarina on a special coachbuilt model, likely to be launched late next year.

It will be built in a limited production run at the British sports car company’s traditional Malvern Link factory.

Pininfarina is understood to be taking the lead in the design, described as “a limited run of individual commissions”.

The car will be a roadster “like every other Morgan” and will thus have the familiar front-engined, rear-wheel-drive, BMW-based mechanical package used in the Plus Four and Plus Six.

Further details won’t be announced for several months, but the project is understood to be distinct from Morgan's home-grown plan to launch future models moving its design style 20 years forward into the “jet age”.

No name has yet been revealed for the coachbuilt car, but its lines are understood to be quite distinctive. It will be Pininfarina’s unique take on Morgan’s unique silhouette.

The partner firms believe the car will celebrate their long histories: they describe it as “a celebration of more than two centuries of combined coachbuilding expertise”.

As well as widening Morgan’s model range, the new car is designed to further demonstrate the flexibility of the firm's extruded-aluminium monocoque chassis, which was unexpectedly used two years ago for the CXT, a Dakar Rally-inspired Plus Four off-roader.

Eight CXTs were made, which provides a possible clue to the size of the Pininfarina-Morgan’s production run.

This is believed to be the first time that Morgan has worked with an outside design house since it opened for business 114 years ago in 1909.

The project follows the CEO appointment 18 months ago of Massimo Fumarola, who has previous connections with low-volume Italian manufacturers including Lamborghini and Ferrari.

“Coachbuilding isn't constrained by trends or borders,” the Italian said. “We're discovering through this collaboration. The shared passion between Morgan and Pininfarina is clear, and we look forward to sharing much more with our community in due course.”