There aren't a lot of independent British automakers around these days. Rolls-Royce and Mini are owned by BMW. Bentley by Volkswagen. Jaguar and Land Rover report to Tata in India, and Aston Martin is owned by an international coalition of investors. Morgan, however, stands as an exception. Morgan still builds its cars by hand, much as it has for the last 100 years. In fact some of them are still based on wooden frames, and thousands flock to the factory in Malvern to see how they're made.

The Aero Coupe may be modern by Morgan standards, but in the broader market is definitely still very much an old-school proposition. In the latest episode of Car and Driver: Abroad, Jethro Bovingdon takes the wheel of an Aero Coupe to see why Morgan is still around, building cars by hand in the English countryside.

And to see how it measures up against a more modern compatriot, he takes it to the picturesque (and misty) Anglesey Coastal Circuit in Wales along with an Aston Martin V8 Vantage S. Both cars are modern takes on a classic and quintessentially British formula. They also both happen to feature DOHC 32-valve V8 engines displacing approximately 4.8 liters (4.7 in the Aston's case), mounted up front and driving the rear wheels. They both hit 60 in 4.5 seconds and cost about $140,000. The Morgan weighs over 700 lbs less, though. So how do they measure up? Watch the artfully-produced video to see for yourself.