Thus, though other aspects of Morgan bodywork may still vary from car to car, a precise front fender shape is shared by them all.

As for these other variations, for example, Morgan cites that passenger compartments have now been lengthened by 2 inches. The doors are extended aft as well, still retaining their hand-formed inward curvature, top to bottom.

The reason for this lengthened passenger compartment is one of immense significance to Morgan and its sales around the world: A Morgan can now be had with driver and passenger airbags; indeed, in our market these passive restraints are standard equipment. The steering-wheel hub for the driver's bag is ungracefully large; the passenger's bag resides rather more artfully behind a flip-out panel of matched burled walnut. Knee bolsters

are part of the passive-safety scheme; though they look a bit clunky, they never actually get in the way and, in fact, the right-side one does double duty as a parcel shelf

It was no mean feat for a small company like Morgan to engineer airbags, especially within the confines of a classic cockpit renowned for its elbows-out driving position; hence that added 2 in. The rear deck is revised as well, though the wheelbase remains at 98.0 in. (or as Morgan prefers calling it, 8 ft. 2 in.).

The seating position is a tad lower now as well, to the benefit of head room-and the unlikely assumption that one might even erect the top. And, in classic sports-car fashion, "erect" is the correct word as well. You fiddle the frame into place, then affix the canvas with snaps and fasteners. If the weather's really inclement, there are side curtains as well, and the atmosphere becomes downright cozy. All the better to enjoy our Plus 8's AM/FM/CD.

Isis Imports' Bill Fink knows my love of music, and I can't help accepting some responsibility/blame that such a device is fitted to our test car. As the controls are nestled quite far forward in the center console, the system has a remote control that's affixed with Velcro within easy reach.

But, after all, Morgans aren't about Mozart-or even Rasputina, for that matter. They're about driving, in an elemental manner that has attracted enthusiasts for nearly a century.

Here's where I might wax eloquent about donning stringback gloves, sighting along a louvered bonnet, blah, blah, blah. But, instead, I propose that a Morgan Plus 8 is one helluva neat sports car by modern standards. And, in substantiation of this, I cite the views of my colleagues-with nary a Morgan diehard among them.

About the engine, shared with the US-specification Land Rover Discovery: "At first," said one staff member, "I was put off by not hearing the classic rasp of a British four or six. But the V-8 won me over in a big way. It really scoots this low roadster down the road!

"The gear ratios," he continued, "are perfectly matched for spirited acceleration runs."

Well, yes and no. In the real world, you're never at a loss for torque. However, in the rarefied realm of road tests, the gearing is tantalizingly short of reaching 60 mph at 2nd-gear redline, and this clearly played a role in our Plus 8's 6.7-second 0-60 run. In analysis, the leap from 50 to 60 mph (including that requisite 2-3 shift) takes longer than from 60 to 70, even though one is evidently on a steeper part of the acceleration curve.