The seller of this 1959 Morgan Plus 4 touts it as a possible period rally car. They present some proof, but don’t offer any documentation or photos to back up the claim. I thought it would be fun to review the evidence and let everyone here come to their own conclusions. Some race history may add to the car’s value, but either way this is going to be a very expensive project. Find it here on eBay out of Atlanta, Georgia where bidding ends in less than 8 hours!

The first evidence of this Morgan’s racing past is the Moto-Lita steering wheel. That in itself does not mean much. Many sports car owners swapped out their steering wheels for smaller ones in order to make ingress easier. It was a common occurrence with the back of enthusiast magazines crammed full of ads offering them. But when you combine it with a few other modifications it does make you wonder about the car’s history.

Take a closer look at that dash. Normally there would be a slab of wood where that engine turned aluminum panel now resides. Again, this could have just been a previous owner’s attempt at making it their own. Look even closer though and you will notice a kill switch, hour meter, and map light amongst a whole slew of gauges. Now this makes me start to think this really could have seen some road rally duty.

Now lets take a peek under the hood. Power was normally provided by a Triumph TR3 engine, but this doesn’t appear to a standard offering here. The finned HRG valve cover hints at what might be inside, but the seller had not cracked open the block to see what internal modifications may have been made. Again, this could have just been a cosmetic upgrade that a previous owner made or it could mean that this engine was indeed hopped up for sporting purposes.

No obvious changes to the exterior are evident except what appears to be a leather hood strap. Many events required an external fastener to make sure the the hood stayed in place. Even if all these little changes were not actually done in order to participate in rallies, this is still a highly desirable car. It will sell and it will be interesting to see if the next owner keeps the upgrades or takes everything back to factory stock. Personally, I would be tempted to keep all the little tweaks as they add character and make you wonder about the car’s past. So, what do you think? Could this really be a period rally car or is it just someone’s interpretation of one?