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Morgan Cars

Morgan's traditional appearance is not only a cosmetic feature - the company and its motor cars are traditional from start to finish each car lovingly hand built by dedicated craftsmen.

The founder H F S Morgan produced his first three-wheeler in 1910 for his own amusement. It was only when people began trying to place orders that he seriously considered commercial production.

By the time production of the JAP-engined motor began in 1910, the basic Morgan formula was already set in place: a simple design with a bought-in engine offering high power-to-weight ratio, hand-built at a reasonable cost.

The vehicles proved themselves in reliability trials and when a 2-seater was offered at the 1911 Olympia motor show, Morgan was overwhelmed with orders. The car even caught the attention of the owner of Harrods - a model appeared the window of the store, the only car ever to do so. 

Mr. Morgan approached a number of larger manufacturers to help with production. That they were not interested probably  determined  the fiercely independent stance Morgan has taken ever since.

A Ford engine first debuted in 1933, and the first four-wheeled Morgan appeared in 1936, 

Using the patented sliding pillar independent front suspension and powered by a 1.1-litre Coventry Climax engine, the four wheeler set the pattern and style of all Morgan's to follow..

Along with most of the British motor industry, Morgan was involved in a drive for exports after the second world war. The company's flexible production system and ability to use Aluminium and wood instead of scarce steel actually enabled it to become the country's largest car producer for a short time.

The growing success of the 4 wheeler and fading order book for the three-wheeler designs meant the 3 wheeler was soon consigned to the history books.

During years since, although gradual developments have been made to the vehicle designs, they remain essentially the same cars. 

In 1953 the flat grille was replaced by a curved one, and the headlamps were faired into the wings. The separate chassis is now galvanized and the ash frames supporting the hand-rolled body panels are preserved from woodworm and rot with Cuprinol.

In 1963 Morgan produced there only real failure the  Plus Four Plus, a glass-fibre bodied coupé in true 60's style was supposed to bring Morgan into the Modern era.. Just 26 were made before the company went back to building traditional  Morgan's and no attempt has been made since to style the cars as anything but vintage.

A wide variety of engines have been used; the fastest Morgan was added in 1968. The Plus Eight used Rover's lightweight 3.5-litre V8 engine. Today's the 3.9-litre version develops 190bhp and will launch you to 60mph in just 5.4sec, fast enough for the Morgan's pre-war chassis.

Other engine options are Ford's Zetec, and Rover's K- and T-series.

During the 1980s, Morgan attracted much publicity by vocally disagreeing with the analysis of their company by business guru Sir John Harvey-Jones in his TV programme 'Troubleshooter'. 

Maverick Morgan has indeed stuck to its traditional business method and the result is that despite the vintage chassis, jarring ride and spartan cockpit, there is a waiting list for its totally hand built Four Four and Plus Eight cars which is measured not in days or weeks but in years.

The year 2000 has seen a rare event for Morgan - the launch of an all new model. The Aero 8,.

The new 8 mixes traditional looks with race car developed aerodynamics. whilst its body is  built on a traditional Morgan ash frame. It overlays a ultra modern race car chassis. Even more surprisingly Morgan also managed to get a supply of BMW engines, something very few other companies have managed to achieve.