Who are Morgan ?
Morgan is the biggest surviving independent British car manufacturer. A family run company, now in third generation ownership, the Morgan Motor Company currently hand-builds around 600 cars a year.
The Morgan Motor Company was founded by H.F.S. Morgan, who produced first motor car, the three-wheeler Runabout in 1909, these early three-wheelers soon earned themselves a reputation as giant killers on the circuits of the day, particularly in Super Sports Aero form with its powerful 1100cc JAP, V-twin motorcycle engine. Indeed these cars are still much prized and can often be seen in action at historical race meetings, cheekily snapping at the heels of many an unwieldy pre-war Bentley !
It wasn’t until 1936 that HFS introduced his first 4-wheeler, the 4/4 (originally 4-4, for 4-cylinder, 4-wheeler). Designed from the outset to be powerful and light-weight, the 4/4 was immediately pressed into service in races and rallies. The companies own George Goodhall winning the 10hp class of the RAC rally in 1937, 1938 and again in 1939 aboard a 4/4. The more powerful Plus 4 model, a more sporting development of the 4/4, was first shown at the Earl’s Court Motor Show 1950, although deliveries did not begin until 1952. The Plus 4 immediately replaced the 4/4, as “the” sporting Morgan.
Its finest hour was undoubtedly in 1962, when Chris Lawrence’s Plus 4 Super Sports, TOK 258, took a class win at the Le Mans 24 hour race.
Today’s traditional range can trace its lineage directly back to the 4/4 of 1936. They maintain, the same separate steel chassis, sliding pillar independent front suspension, ash body frame and hand-formed body panels, much as they always have. Apart from the introduction of a more rounded nose in 1954, the lines of today’s Morgan is much the same as that of the original 1936 car.
People often ask if a Morgan is a modern or a classic car? Perhaps the best way to describe today’s Morgan is as a living classic. Morgan’s traditional range is unique in the motoring world, having been in continual production for over 70 years.
Whilst other manufacturers are always searching for the latest trends to keep buyers happy, the people at Morgan have a rather different philosophy. Skills and crafts are handed down from generation to generation, whilst the product is refined by a process of continual evolution. Morgans are still hand-built in much the same way they have always been. Hand-formed alloy panels are fitted to traditional ash body-frames, all of which sits on a galvanised steel chassis, even the interiors are still trimmed by hand, just like everything else at the Morgan factory.
If the look and basic layout of today’s Morgan would be familiar to the buyer of 1950’s, its performance and refinement would certainly confound him. Today’s Plus 4, as offered by The Classic Route, houses a 145 bhp, 2.0 litre, 16 valve, twin-cam, Ford engine, mated to a super-slick 5-speed gearbox, a world away from the original Plus 4s, 68 bhp, pushrod Standard-Vanguard engine and rustic Moss 4-speed gearbox.
A modern Morgan’s performance is in fact something that shocks the casual observer. Powerful engines combined with the lightweight Morgan chassis guarantee electrifying performance.