DESIGN ARCHIVE: MORGAN MOTOR COMPANY

Design Archive: Morgan Motor Company

Estd. 1905

Location: Malvern Link, Worcestershire (UK)

The Morgan Motor Company is a British motor car manufacturer founded by Harry Frederick Stanley Morgan. It has an extensive design archive collection that traces back to the origins of the company, well over 100 years ago.

EARLY BEGINNINGS

The founder and the man who guided the destiny of the Morgan car for almost fifty years, Henry Fredrick Stanley Morgan was born in the village of Moreton Jeffries, Herefordshire, in August 1881.

In May 1905, Harry as he was known to family and personal friends (or simply ’H.F.S.’ throughout the industry) purchased a house called Chestnut Villa in Worcester Road , Malvern Link, a short distance from the railway station and built a small garage alongside. Here he set up business to attended to the needs of the Edwardian motorists and became a dealer for Darracq, Wolseley, Siddeley and Rover cars. Despite the success of the Malvern Link garage, Morgan’s passion for engineering meant that he was soon experimenting with ideas for a motor car of his own design.

The success of the Morgan Motor Company was founded on an icon, the Morgan Three-Wheeler. This brilliant but simple design by H.F.S. Morgan became one of the most successful lightweight cars of the early days of motoring. The principal of fitting a powerful motorcycle engine and simple transmission into a light-weight chassis and body inspired a new type of vehicle which generically became known as the ‘Cyclecar’. Thus the fashion for ‘new motoring’ introduced the freedom of the open road to those of more modest means. The Morgan Runabout was at the forefront of this movement and Harry Morgan can be regarded as the man who first introduced motoring for the masses.

The first production Morgans were simple single-seat machines steered with a tiller and powered by either a single cylinder 4 h.p. engine or an 8h.p. V-twin engine made by the London firm J.A. Prestwich. A patent was granted and the Runabouts (as the machines were to be called) were unveiled to the public at the Olympia motorcycle show in London in November 1910. 

Despite the interest shown just a few were built and sold, mainly because of the lack of a two-seat version and the somewhat old-fashioned tiller steering. However, to prove the soundness of the design, one month later H.F.S. Morgan entered the Runabout in the MCC London to Exeter Trial, and his remarkable performance won a Gold Medal. This was the first of many such victories in all forms of motor sport such as reliability trials, plus racing and record-breaking.

The following year a two-seat ‘Runabout’ was developed, equipped with wheel steering and even a hood. This proved a huge commercial success when it appeared at Olympia in 1911. This novel machine attracted the interest of the managing director of Harrods, Mr Burbridge, and as a result the car appeared in the shop window of the famous store, the only car ever to have done so. Harrods became the first Morgan dealer with an exclusive deal to sell all Morgan runabouts. Soon afterwards, a network of Morgan dealers was established around the country and The Morgan Motor Company was formed as a private Limited Company in 1912.

In the few years leading up to the outbreak of war in 1914 Morgan achieved numerous successes and world records in major reliability trials and on the race  track. This led to an increase in orders and it was soon obvious that the Worcester Road factory was too small to cope with the demand.

In December 1913, H.F.S. purchased a plot of land on Pickersleigh Road, Malvern Link, from Earl Beauchamp. This was open farmland just a quarter of a mile from the Worcester Road factory and here, in the summer of 1914, two large workshops were built. This is now the site of the present factory, which has traditionally been known as the "Works".

Development of the Pickersleigh Road site was soon curtailed by the outbreak of the First World War, and whilst car production continued at Worcester Road, the output dwindled as men were called up to fight and existing resources were allocated to munitions production. One wartime customer, the famous flying ace Capt. Albert Ball of the Royal Flying Corps, had ordered a special-bodied Grand Prix, of which he said “to drive this car was the nearest thing to flying without leaving the ground”. Alas, Capt. Ball was shot down and killed shortly after taking delivery of his car.

DEVELOPMENT OF THE THREE WHEELER, THE 20s and 30s

When peace returned in 1918 Morgan was one of the first manufacturers to resume full production mainly due to the simplicity of the design. Most manufacturing operations were now moved from the original Worcester Road works to the new factory in Pickersleigh Road. New models were added to the Morgan range, including a four-seater "Family" Runabout in 1911 and the Aero in 1920.

So advanced had H.F.S. Morgan’s first designs been, that little alteration, apart from bodywork modifications, were needed for several years. The car retained its sturdy, lightweight construction and the two-speed transmission system remained in production until the early 1930s.

Morgans were dominant on the trials hills, where they won more medals and trophies than any other comparable machine. 

Not only were the cars dominant in motorsport, they were now one of the most fashionable machines to be seen driving on the open road.

The factory also made more modest vehicles, the entry level machine being the Standard Runabout, plus the more luxuriously equipped DeLuxe, as well as the four-seater ‘Family’ model. Morgan even introduced a commercial Delivery Van based on the three wheeler chassis.

1933 was a vintage year for Morgan, bringing in its train a large number of World Records. 1933 also saw the advent of a new model known as the F-type fitted with a Ford engine. The first production F-type was a four-seat family tourer called the F4, this was followed soon after by the F2, a two-seater version. Featuring a conventional bonnet and radiator, this was one of the most popular three-wheelers ever produced and encouraged a number of other firms to copy the idea.

INTRODUCTION OF THE FOUR WHEELED MORGAN

In 1936, a four-wheeler was exhibited at the London and Paris Exhibitions. The new model was called the Morgan 4-4 to differentiate it from the three-wheeler, indicating four cylinders and four wheels. The car had a Z section full width steel chassis with boxed cross members and the body was an ash frame panelled in steel. The combination provided the durability of a coachbuilt car with the lightness required for a sports car.

The car was an immediate success and maintained Morgan’s reputation for building fine performance cars. In 1938 Miss Prudence Fawcett, a 25 year-old novice driver with little previous competition experience, entered for the Le Mans 24-hour race in a Morgan 4-4 tuned and prepared at the works. Together with co-driver Geoff White, Prudence completed the 24hours finishing 13th overall and qualifying for the Biennial Cup. Geoff White returned To Le Mans in 1939 and together with co-driver ’Dick’ Anthony, came 15th overall and second in class.

Car production stopped completely throughout the Second World War and the factory manufactured a variety of components for the war effort, which included carburettors, aircraft undercarriage and other precision engineering work. Sir Alan Cobham’s company Flight Refuelling Ltd. took over other workshops to develop wing anti-icing and in-flight refuelling systems using a modified a Handley Page ‘Hereford’ Bomber located in the factory.

In 1945 many skilled employees came back from the Forces to re-join the factory and car production resumed a year later. In 1947, after being demobilised, Peter Morgan, H.F.S.’ son, joined the firm as Development Engineer and Draughtsman.

The Morgan Three-Wheeler Club was formed by a small band of enthusiasts in 1945 and the club grew rapidly despite the company's decision to discontinue production of the vehicle. The last Morgan three-wheeler left the factory in 1953.

Representing the four-wheeler enthusiasts, the Morgan Sports Car Club was formed in July 1951 with thirty members. These two Clubs continue to support Morgan enthusiasts to this day, in the enjoyment of their cars.

A prototype for a new Morgan was built in 1949 with the Standard Vanguard 1.8 litre engine. 1950 saw the production of this car as the Plus Four. The car enjoyed immediate success in competition, with Morgans winning the team award in the R.A.C. Rally in 1951 and 1952. H.F.S.’s son Peter Morgan was a driver in both teams. The body styles adopted were an open two-seater, a four-seater and a Drophead Coupe. Due to its very high-power-to-weight-ratio the Plus Four also began to have many successes on the track. Although detailed modifications have been made over the years, and many other engines fitted, this iconic design remains in production.

Morgan success at the 24 hours endurance race at Le Mans, 1962.

The Morgan world suffered a great loss in 1959 with the death of the company founder H.F.S. Morgan. Harry Morgan was one of the great pioneers of Motoring and very much respected throughout the industry. Unfortunately he just missed the Company’s 50th anniversary celebrations which took place in April 1960.

1963 saw the introduction of an entirely new car called the Morgan Plus 4 Plus. This used a conventional Plus 4 chassis, but was fitted with an elegant glass fibre body made by E.B. Plastics Ltd., of Stoke-on-Trent. The car was not successful and during the four years that it was in production, just 26 were built. In 1964 the Morgan chassis was used as the basis for another radically different car, the Morgan SLR, a racing car designed by Chris Lawrence and John Sprinzel. The aerodynamic body gave a top speed far in excess of the 130 m.p.h. achieved by the Plus Four at Le Mans on the Mulsanne Straight.

THE FAMOUS MORGAN PLUS 8

In 1966 the Triumph TR engine was nearing the end of its life and a replacement engine (the aluminium Rover V8) was introduced for the new Morgan Plus Eight model which was announced to the public at the Earls Court Motor Show of 1968.

The Plus 8 maintained Morgan's reputation on the race track as seen here with the second prototype MMC11. This proved to be one of the most successful cars that the company has ever built and production continued for 36 years until the model was discontinued in 2004.

Throughout the 1980s and 1990s the Morgan Motor Company continued building the classic range of sports cars, the 4/4 being the entry level model, the Plus 4 for those who required a little more performance, and the very quick Plus 8 being top of the range.

MORGAN AERO AND LIFE CAR FOR THE 21ST CENTURY

In the mid 1990s a new Morgan began to take shape. In order to remain competitive on the race track and to maintain Morgan’s reputation for producing world class sports cars, Charles Morgan decided to develop an entirely new chassis.

The Aero 8 was finally unveiled to the public at the Geneva motor show in 2000. It was a remarkably advanced car using a strong. lightweight, bonded aluminium chassis and all aluminium body panels, still assembled around a wooden frame, creating a revolutionary new Morgan sports car.

In 2003 Peter Morgan died. Peter had steered the company successfully through some particularly difficult periods and the continued success of the Morgan Motor Company today, when almost all others have failed, is a fitting tribute to him.

In 2005 the AeroMax, a stunning new fixed head version of the Aero 8 was launched. A talented young graduate from Coventry University, Matthew Humphries, was responsible for its elegant design.

To emphasise the Morgan Motor Company’s commitment to environmentally clean, efficient sports cars, in 2008 the remarkable LIFE car was developed in collaboration with QinetiQ and other high-tech organisations.

This advanced hydrogen fuel cell powered car is designed to achieve the equivalent of 150 m.p.g., using electrical power stored in a bank of ultra capacitors and fed to 4 super-efficient electric motor-generators connected directly to each driving wheel.

The Morgan design team also developed another exciting supercar based on the Aero chassis. Forward of the windscreen, the car retained the sleek lines of the other Aeros, aft of the cockpit Matthew Humphries and his team designed a distinctive new shape. This now featured a capacious boot which would also accommodate the removable roof panels giving drivers the option of open air motoring in favourable conditions. Power came from the BMW B4.8 N62 engine which had been used in the Aero models since 2008.

CELEBRATING THE CENTENARY

In 2009 The Morgan Motor Company celebrated 100 years of manufacturing the most iconic of British sports cars. A visitor centre and museum were developed to the North East of the main factory site, displaying artefacts, images and a few of the cars from the past 100 years of production.

To mark the Centenary the new Aero model was launched to much acclaim. Called the Aero Super Sports, it revived the name given to the high performance three-wheeler in the 1930s. Morgan also added the Super Sports Pedal Car to the range. This very special limited edition machine for the younger enthusiast is hand-made in the factory in much the same way as the full size cars, using a wooden body frame and aluminium panels.

EMBARKING ON THE NEXT 100 YEARS

Today the Morgan Motor Company enjoys continued success with new designs under the direction of Charles Morgan, the grandson of the company's founder.

2009 and 2010 saw significant increase in the number of cars built and further development of the visitor centre and in 2010 Morgan announced a new supercar called the Eva GT. The goal is to manufacture a practical car that can be used every day and answer all a family’s transport needs.

Morgan has also decided to take the LIFE Car from a prototype to a fully fledged production vehicle and is currently developing LIFEcar2.

The other new car announced in 2010, is a new Morgan three-wheeler. It is now nearly sixty years since the last Morgan three-wheeler was built, and whilst the world is now a very different place the company considers now to be the right time to re-launch this exceptional design with an emphasis on simple, honest functionality. Road transport in the 21^st century faces two big issues, the conservation of resources and the protection of the environment. Downsizing and a philosophy of simplicity are ways of dealing with these problems. The Morgan three-wheeler, a fusion of modern technology into a classic design, is a proven answer that provides a ‘get in and drive’ simplicity and reliability.

 

Visit the Morgan Motor Company's website here

Obsessionistas would like to thank Charles Morgan, Beverley Moore, Martin Webb, Matthew Humphries and Jon Wells from The Morgan Motor Company for their support and help with this feature and allowing us to reproduce images and feature extracts from the company's archive collection.

Images © Morgan Motor Company and reproduced with their kind permission.