50 watches and 50 cars: Morgan celebrates 50th birthday of Plus 8

With the 50th anniversary of the Morgan Plus 8 comes a new watch and a special edition Plus 8, the last Morgan sports car to be powered by a naturally aspirated V8. 

The family-owned marque hasn’t strayed too far from its original Plus 8 design, which made its debut at the Earls Court Motor Show in 1968. Fast-forward 50 years, and the Malvern outfit released its Plus 8 50th Anniversary Edition at the Geneva Motor Show on Tuesday.

The 4.8-litre BMW V8 takes the 1100kg Plus 8 to 155mph, and 0-62mph in 4.5sec, though this will be the last Morgan to feature the engine. Fittingly, just 50 will be produced.

With the car, Morgan has also launched a timepiece from Christopher Ward, which also makes the dashboard for the car itself. The C1 Morgan Plus 8 Chronometer will contain a small piece of the very first Morgan Plus 8, and, expectedly, the UK brand will be producing just 50 of the timepieces.