Just because there isn’t a roundel on the hood doesn’t mean there’s not a BMW engine under there. BMW has a long history of sharing its powertrains with other manufacturers. One of the quirkiest – aside from the ultra off-road-cool Ineos Grenadier – is almost certainly the Morgan Plus Four and its more powerful brother, the Morgan Plus Six. The former, Morgan has announced, is at long last coming to the United States market. That signals the first time ever that a Morgan product with four wheels has made landfall in the States in over fifteen years.

The Morgan Plus Four roadster combines retro styling with modern interior amenities and gets a lot of praise for its engaging and unique driving experience. But, partially because the brand hasn’t changed its styling much in the last century (literally), Morgan has a small problem: the Plus Four doesn’t meet U.S. safety standards. Not to worry – there’s a loophole for that. It’ll be sold under the replica car bill, which allows exclusions for vehicles that “resemble the body of another motor vehicle that was manufactured not less than 25 years before the manufacture of the replica vehicle.” As a result, Morgan will be able to deliver up to 325 cars per year – and the company says that the first 200 or so have already been spoken for at the respectable price of $74,500.

The BMW Bits

While you’ll have a hard time confusing the open-top Morgan with anything else on the road, it’s a little bit of a different story from behind the wheel. You’ll note a collection of touches that are distinctly BMW in look and feel. The gear shift, for example, is lifted right out of last-gen BMW products, as is the steering column. Of course, the Morgan Plus Four also boasts a BMW-sourced turbo B48 2.0-liter four-cylinder under the hood. Good for 255 horsepower here, it’ll propel the relatively light Morgan from zero to 60 mph in around 4.8 seconds. The engine connects to an eight-speed auto or six-speed manual transmission.

Despite the Morgan Plus Four’s retro looks – which, ironically, are most of the reason the car can even be sold in the U.S. in the first place – the modern powertrain under the sheet metal promises a good time. We look forward to seeing the car on the roads of America very soon.

Source: Hagerty / Photos: Morgan