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The lack of a soft and compliant suspension, any kind of trunk or storage space and racy 1930s style are just some of the endearing quirks of Morgan ownership. Fast forward to the 21^st Century in Northern California, don’t bother with the 20^th, (Morgan technical progress was a bit slow during the 20^th) and you find Bill Fink of Isis Motors, 35 years of Morgan on the west Coast of the US, and his baby, the Morgan LS1.

Talk about the wanting to drive the hairy Beast, holy smokes Batman. Over 350 horses at 5,200 RPM and 335 foot pounds of torque at 4,000 RPM in a 2,350 pound car on a 98 inch wheelbase, read flyweight, put in perspective that’s less than 200 pounds more that the Lotus Elise that makes due with 130 to 160 horses and less torque. Can you say “rocket ship” ? Would you rather say “fake-out” ? The Morgan LS1 looks like it just came off a British Car dealer’s showroom floor in 1951. Press the lever, pull the cut-down door out towards you, slip in under the wheel, check the mirrors and the pedals and turn the key. The bright red LS1 made a guest appearance at Western Automotive Journalists Future of Automotive Propulsion just for fun as one of the presenters was Paul Drayson, new Minister of Science for the United

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Kingdom (who says journalists don’t have a sense of humor ?) But the biggest laugh came when Ed Kajer, Director of Electric Transportation for Southern California Edison was tossed the keys and told that he could drive the LS1 back to the San Francisco International Airport with a writer in tow. Ed, sporting an ear-to-ear grin, surely woke the neighbors with every snick of the shifter as he roared away that night. That’s a Corvette LS1 engine heart in there, backed up by that lovely six-speed manual. You have your choice, steer with the front wheels or steer with the rear wheels, that much power.