MOTORING

Motoring

he Morgan Motor Company site consists

Tof a seemingly erratic complex of red brick buildings located in Malvern Wells, part of the picturesque and sprawling conurbation made up of the various Malverns, which hug the sinuous flanks of the hills from which they take their name. An area that benefitted from the emerging Victorian market for both holidays and health, today it has the comfortable charm that comes with grand granite mansions and Gothic civic buildings spaciously distributed along leafy boulevards. It is perhaps a step too far to suggest that the Morgan, long seen as the sports car that time and progress overlooked, is influenced by its immediate environment, but it certainly sits in “The three-wheeler grew into a practical solution for families who could stretch beyond a motorcycle but still couldn’t quite afford a conventional car. It just so happens that the sporting models with their small size, low weight and powerful motorbikesourced engine were also formidable track weapons”

Racks of chassis waiting patiently to be turned into cars

sympathy with the area. Or does it?

The best way to find out would be a visit to the factory, where we were allocated ‘Cousin Nick’ (a moniker validated by official recognition) to guide us on a personal tour before getting up close to its latest products. We met him in the new Experience Centre to the rear of the factory, an avant-garde building employing materials used in the cars within a design that references both the cars themselves and the ever-dominating hillside. From here the short walk to the factory buildings took us past racks of new chassis waiting patiently in the yard. Notably they were bonded aluminium structures, owing more to current aerospace techniques than the blacksmith of a century ago, hinting how much things have changed since the company was founded by HFS Morgan in 1909.

Initially he only made three-wheeled light cars, but through the decades motorised mobility became more affordable and so the models changed to suit the market’s requirements. The threewheeler grew into a practical solution for families who could stretch beyond a motorcycle but still couldn’t quite afford a conventional car. It just so happens that the sporting models with their small size, low weight and powerful motorbike-sourced engine were also formidable track weapons.

The author at the fourth wheel of Morgan’s new three-wheeler

1936 saw the 4/4 introduced, the designation unimaginatively referencing four cylinders in the engine and a wheel at each corner of the rectangular chassis. This was the genesis of the Morgan car from the Second World War onwards. Originally sporting a conventional flat radiator, this gave way to the now familiar curved cowl without too much upset post-War. However, an attempt to update the overall aesthetics with the Plus4Plus of 1963 proved less successful. It’s difficult to know what was seen as so objectionable about this pretty, delicate and exquisitely proportioned fibreglass bodied variant, but having invested so much in the development, it proved an expensive failure Morgan could not afford to ignore.

Little wonder then, that the original sliding pillar front suspension design, along with a prewar style ladder chassis and aluminium body panels secured to an ash wood frame, would be perpetuated until the new millennium. It appeared, at least, that Morgan had become the antonym of ‘progress’, a view that was reinforced by Sir John Harvey Jones’ visit as part of his Troubleshooter series for the BBC in 1990. Suggestions of subtle changes to improve production flow and work rate without undermining the essence of the hand-built sports car were rebuffed. The response from the public was an increase in orders, but with a timescale of around eight years between placing your order and receiving your car, something had to change. In addition, as with other small-volume companies, adaptation would also become inevitable from a reliance on outsourced components, as these were either modified or made obsolete.

However, it would be a mistake to think that change has been limited to dealing with supply issues and slightly rearranging the production line. Today the wings are no longer hand beaten on site, a process that brings an inherent variation, but are moulded from hot Aluminium sheets by Superform instead. Gone is the ladder chassis, replaced by those bonded aluminium fabrications we had seen in the yard, the latest generation having twice the torsional rigidity of Morgan’s initial version from 2000. The wooden body frames continue, but the greater repeatability and reduced tolerances of wings and chassis mean that these, with the panels that are still hand-formed, can now be built up on jigs rather than having to be matched to specific cars. The sliding pillars are consigned

The small size of a 1930s racing Morgan contrasted with a Lagonda of similar vintage

to history, as a more sophisticated suspension handles the performance powered by modern BMW engines. Whisper it softly, but some of those recommendations from Sir John Harvey Jones have now been implemented as well. Crucially the DNA of Morgan, the essence, remains not only present but defiantly intact in a world where even Lamborghini – whose own DNA will forever be entwined with gloriously impractical hypercars – has felt compelled to build an SUV.

There were concerns raised when the Morgan family sold their majority holding to InvestIndustrial in 2019, but thankfully not only have these proved unfounded, but the company has instead been energised and enabled. Fears of relocation from the original factory buildings, dating from between 1914 to 1918 and still the heart of the assembly line, were countered by the investment that has led to the new Experience Centre, among other site improvements. True, the four-seat Morgan has fallen by the wayside, but an ongoing expansion of the range has accelerated. The Three-wheeler was resurrected, with a new design that clearly references the racers of the 20s and 30s; an electric trike was stymied only by the failure of their partner in the venture, and the insane off-road XTC was born from a chance suggestion. All those that made it to production have sold well and sit against a continued development with an eye to the future. The Twocylinder engine of the Three-wheeler recently ceased production, so Morgan once more had to respond to a new challenge. The result is the newly unveiled Super 3 with a Three-cylinder Ford engine (a ‘3/3’ as it were) which continues to bring in a new, younger customer base while ensuring that the old guard isn’t excluded. It should come as no surprise that specialists have already been taken on to develop Morgan’s electric technology, enabling them to flourish in the future. It would appear that Morgan does change after all, but purely in a way where the fundamentals stay the same. It’s all about evolution rather than revolution.

Our thanks to Cousin Nick and PR & Communications Manager James Gilbert for their time and help. n

The Three-Wheeler Morgan of 2011 was the perfect ‘cheap’ Morgan, designed to appeal to new and old customers alike. With a ‘two wheels at the front’ layout and beetle-backed, function driven styling, coupled to motorcycle-derived vee-twin up front, it was a clever update of the famous racing variants from the pre-war years. Not dramatically quick but quick enough; fun, quirky and with paint jobs that playfully referenced WW1 military schemes from fighter aircraft to dazzle camouflaged ships. The unflinching focus, hinted at through aircraft inspired instruments and Eurofighter sourced starter button, promised much in return for the commitment demanded from the owner. Now that engine has been phased out and a replacement trike has been created, this time powered by a Ford-sourced inline three-cylinder engine driving through a Mazda MX5 gearbox.

The Super 3 is more than simply a re-packaging exercise, and although the basic architecture is the same, most notably the new engine is concealed under the bonnet. Rather than taking the opportunity to create a fully integrated nose, Morgan has instead retained the basic principle of leaving the structure unadorned and proudly on display. The main element at the front is now the cast cross member, but push rod suspension and mesh guarded intakes are also readily visible with no attempt to disguise or hide them. The flat cockpit sides and concave sculpted rear flank with arched boot lid are visually more distant from the original pre-war inspiration and could have looked awkward. Instead, overall, it feels like a cohesive natural progression building on what has gone before. The cast wheels, whose large planar surfaces reference back to disc wheel covers of the 20’s and 30’s, help underline a strong Bauhaus ethos: the hand of the stylist is apparent but it enhances the aesthetics imposed by the functional underpinnings, rather than seeking to deny their existence.

The opportunity has also been taken to soften, just a little, the experience of ownership. Customers no longer have to rely purely on the limited space available in the moulded tray above the rear wheel for stowing luggage, and there are integrated mounts for Morgan-supplied panniers. The front mudguards extend further down, eliminating the shower of muddy water previously aimed squarely at the driver’s face when charging through puddles on corners. The cockpit is slightly wider, so you don’t have to be on quite such good terms with passengers, and there’s plenty of legroom available with the adjustable pedals, a pragmatic solution to avoid the expense of adjustable seats. The aircraft-inspired dashboard remains, with all of the controls falling naturally to hand, but now a sculpted screen deflects air over the heads of the occupants. The view from the driver’s seat to the short nose and narrow wheels, fixed outboard at the end of utilitarian suspension arms, promises accuracy and joy unmatched by most technology-heavy alternatives generally available today.