01:00 AM EDT on Saturday, July 1, 2006

The Morgan Plus 4 doesn't look like a family car, but this red 1964 owned by Jim Prior of Cranston is driven by his wife, two daughters and two sons, and sometimes carries the grandchildren, too.

But it's not a daily driver, and never has been. A true sports car, the odometer shows only 7,700 miles, and an appraiser and a New York Morgan dealer think this is correct. "As far as we know I'm the fourth owner," said Prior, who found the car through word of mouth in the Smoky Mountains of North Carolina in 2000.

It had been sitting in a garage for 10 years and wasn't in bad shape, but Prior "took it right down to the chassis," during his two-year restoration. His son rewired it, and a pro did the repaint in a nonfactory color that is close to the original.

Much of the Morgan, hand-made in Britain, is original. The chrome needed only polishing, and the 15-inch, 72-spoke wire wheels came with the car. But Prior put in a new leather interior and replaced the top, the convertible boot and the tonneau cover. He also installed a new stainless steel exhaust system.

And he rebuilt the engine, a four-cylinder Triumph TR 4 powerplant, making 102 hp, and the car has the original four-speed Morse transmission and Morse rear end, both of which are also used on Jaguars.

Interesting touches include a leather hood strap -- a nod to the British racing heritage -- large fog lights and tiny running lights near the twin fender-mounted rear-view mirrors, and a spare tire mounted continental-style in the rear.

The car's only option is a heater -- there's not even a radio or defroster. Prior jury-rigged a defroster by running a vacuum cleaner hose from the heater that he hooks to the dashboard.

Prior, a retired union mason, said he had wanted a Morgan since he first saw one at the age of 16 at a dealership on Mineral Spring Avenue in North Providence. "I looked for a long time, but not seriously," he said. "Then I went to a show in Lee, Mass., asked a lot of questions and joined the Morgan club. About a year later, I got a call, went down to North Carolina, and scooped it up."

Last October, he and his wife, Joan, visited the factory in Malvern Link, Worcestershire, England, and spent the day watching the process. It takes 30 days to assemble a Morgan, and there is a one-year waiting list for a new one. The running gear has changed because of availability, but new Plus 4s, like those before it, have frames made of ash wood that has a metal veneer.

The '64 Plus 4 looks like it could be 10 years older, and the new ones have the same styling. "They're all the same," Prior says. Morgan now also makes the Arrow 8, which has a Rover V8 engine.

Prior takes his Morgan to cruise nights and car shows and drives it on weekends. And he encourages other family members to take it for a spin. "I didn't do all this to have it sit in the garage," he said.

1964 Morgan Plus 4

ENGINE/TRANSMISSION: 123-cc inline 6; Morse four-speed manual.

COLOR: 1940 Ford maroon.

MILEAGE: 7,700.

PLATE: Antique 4100.

CAN BE SEEN: Mondays at Cranston Burger King, Tuesdays at A&W, Smithfield, and Wednesdays at Denny's in Coventry.

CONDITION: Pristine restoration.

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