(5 Mar 2015) Morgan's new Aero 8 updates the classic British sports car with a few modern tweaks for the enthusiast.
With its classic "yacht" styling, coupled with a modern BMW engine, how will this new Morgan go down with petrol heads in Geneva?

It is 15 years since the Morgan Aero 8 launched at the Geneva Motor Show, so it's a fitting return for this updated model.
The original Aero 8 was an important vehicle for the Morgan brand, who had previously been associated with a more classic approach.
Jonathan Wells, Head of Design Styling at the Morgan Motor Company explains: "Fifteen years ago to this day, Morgan launched the Aero 8 at the Geneva Motor Show and on this anniversary, we are bring this Aero back to life. The Aero for us represented a step into the 21st Century, it was an all-aluminium BMW V8-powered super car and this car positioned the brand globally as a high-performance super car manufacturer."
The new Aero 8 might look visually similar to its predecessor, and retains many of the styling cues that owners and enthusiasts love so much.
However, Wells - whose job it was to redesign the chassis - explains just what's going on below the surface.
He says: "This Aero 8 for me, I wanted to focus the attention on the cabin, this is an open top car and that sense of escapism needed to be controlled in the way we styled the vehicle, so the actual shoulder line that runs around the side of the car is also that of a yacht or a boat deck."
But the most fun of Morgan ownership is customisation and modification - the new Aero 8 is no exception.
"We have our biggest ever options list for any Morgan and you really can transform this to be very unique. It can take quite a classic guise or something much more modern with the carbon race seats and 'infotainment' if you'd like to do that," says Wells.
The Aero 8 still packs the same 4.8-litre V8 engine but gets a few more horse power unleashed thanks to new electronic engine mapping software.
The joy of Morgans has always been their super feather weight chassis, this car tips the scales at just over 1,000kg (around 2,204lbs)
He adds: "Morgans can be dressed in all different guises, there's a very eclectic list of colour that come out of the factory, a bit like the characters of our customers. We have a lot of young chaps that want something unique and bespoke and personal to them and we have a lot of owners who have aspired for a Morgan throughout their lives and perhaps bought them in their later years."
So is this the car to make Morgan to the next level? Not according to Stephanie Brinley, Senior Analyst at IHS Automotive.
She thinks it's a "gorgeous" car but still can't shake off its hobbyist status.
"Well, it looks amazing, but the Morgan is one of those hobby cars, it is completely a hobby car. So it's a lot of fun and it's really interesting to update it, make it a lot more modern so you can drive it a bit, but really, there's a bunch of people with a lot of money and interest in keeping that look alive, there's a few of them out there. It's gorgeous, but it's a hobby," she says.
The Aero 8 goes into production at the end of the year.
The Geneva International Motor Show opens to the public from March 5 to 15th with around 700,000 visitors expected.


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