Road Test: Morgan Plus Eight 4.8 V8 2dr

Remember TVR? Morgan clearly does. Its new roofless, windowless Plus 8 Speedster follows a similarly animalistic recipe to those Blackpool-bred brutes of old, sending 367bhp through just 1,100kg.

But while Chimaeras and Griffiths were notoriously keen to explore the deepest recesses of Great British undergrowth, the Speedster is altogether friendlier. With its BMW-sourced V8 bubbling over with torque in every gear at just about any speed, its rear axle will shake its hips under even modest throttle applications. But it does so progressively and gives you an accessible plane on which to get a feel for its limits.

Yet the Speedster’s greatest joy lies in its details. It can’t be poured down a twisting road like a Lotus, but it feels considerably more special. The V8’s crackles and pops are outrageous, especially through the must-have side-exit exhausts. And once you’re suitably clothed and helmeted, it’s a cosy place to travel. £69,995 may buy you a lot of talented sports car, but none is quite as beguilingly odd and leftfield as this.