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The Morgan Motor Company is a British motor car manufacturer. The company was founded in 1909 by Henry Frederick Stanley Morgan. Morgan is based in Malvern Link, an area of Malvern,
Worcestershire and employs 163 people. Morgan produced 640 cars in 2007. All the cars are assembled by hand. The waiting list for a car is approximately one to two years, although it has been as high as ten years in
the past. The Visitor Centre and Museum features a guided tour of the factory and exhibits about the company's history.
The Morgan Motor Company
H.F. S. Morgan began manufacture in 1910, The Morgan name made its very first public appearance at the Olympia Motor Show in 1910/ Two three-wheelers, both single seaters fitted respectively with 8 hp
Twin and 4 hp Single cylinder J.A.P. engines, secured some orders, but it soon became apparent that for the vehicles to be universally popular they would have to become two-seaters. The Morgan Motor Company was
formed as a private Limited Company in 1912 with the Reverend H.G. Morgan as Chairman and his son as Managing Director. The site of the first factory was on the Worcester road leading into Great Malvern
A brief history of the marque with highlights of the cars evolution
Although the first 4 wheel Morgan was introduced in 1936, the first Morgan ever was produced in prototype form in 1909. Two single
seater versions were exhibited at the 1910 Olympia Exhibition with J.A.P. engines, an 8 h.p. twin and a 4 h.p. single.
They were fast too. By 1925 a H. Bear covered a flying kilometre
at 104.68 m.p.h. in an unsupercharged Morgan 1100 c.c. - a world record! Designed as a speed machine the three-wheeler was a success in competition, eventually being banned from racing
against four-wheelers on the ground that it was unstable. In fact it was too fast for its class!
Production of the three-wheeler continued until 1951.
1938 Super Sport
Classic with its Matchless 990 c.c. 50-deg vee-twin, water cooled o.h.v. And all for £136 10s and £4 road tax.
1953 +4
One of the last "flat-rads". Morganese for flat radiator. They
introduced the "cowled" styling in 1954. At the same time they also changed the engine to a 1991 cc Triumph TR2 unit producing 90 bhp. As was said at the time 'the Morgan has joined the select
company of 100 mph cars.' By this time you would have paid a total of £829 17s 6d for your car which included British purchase tax of £244 17s 6d. If you wanted a heater it would have cost
you another £8 12s!
1959 4/4
The 4/4 Series II was introduced in 1956 equipped with an 1172 cc Ford Engine. Acceleration figures where not that exciting at 0 to
60 mph in 29.4 seconds, but it was 9.5 seconds quicker than the similarly engined Ford Prefect. A review at the time said 'The Four-Four is a creature of compromise. Main items on the debit
side are performance which is not exciting in standard form, difficulty in getting in and out, the laborious hood mechanism and the lack of accommodation for luggage.' Some new Morgan owners
would probably say that not much has changed apart from the performance!
1991 Plus 8
The Plus 8 made its debut in 1968. Powered by a 3.5 litre V8
Rover producing 160.5 bhp at 5200 rpm. A report in the September issue of Autocar stated 'If, as many still do, you think more than 4 1/4 inch of front suspension movement is cissy, that a quickly
erected top and winding windows are effete, and that beat-proof synchromesh on all gears is a sign of moral decay, then here is a car for you.'
It was quick, in fact up to 60 mph it could beat the 4.2 litre
engined Jaguar E Type of the time. It lost out at higher speeds, due to the superior aerodynamics of the E Type, but with a top speed of about 124 mph it wasn't exactly slow!
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