dW SPECIAL: MORGAN MOTORS FACTORY TOUR

   Henry Frederick Stanley Morgan, or for short HFS Morgan, built his first vehicle in 1909. The legend has it that he built it to travel easier and faster through the steep hills of the Malvern area, in the English counties of Worcestershire, Herefordshire.  He called it The Runabout and it was a three wheeler with a Peugeot engine.  It was ''three wheels, a front mounted engine, one seat and tiller steering on top of the independent suspension''. Light, easy to maintain and pretty fast for its time.

    In 1910, thanks to the increasing interest of the public in his cycle car, HFS entered production. And so Morgan Car Company was born. What a better way to showcase your mechanical feat other than racing. After a few weeks after its launch at the Olympia Motor Show in London, HFS himself entered The Roundabout in the MCC's (Motor Cycling Club) London to Exeter Trial, winning the Gold metal. After a ''brainstorming'' with the public, he soon found out why there were not many orders being placed. The fact that it was a single seater was a major turn off for the actual buying public. Needless to say, a second seat was added soon and Morgan 3 Wheeler was a hit. Racing and record-breaking laps at the Brooklands autodrome and Donighton soon followed. The Morgan Three Wheeler pretty much dominated racing in the UK, with multiple variations of modified engines like JAP, Blackburne, MAG, British Anzani and Matchless. Morgan never produced their own engine. The M3W's production was seized in 1950 with the last model leaving the factory in Malvern in 1953. 

   The Morgan +4, the ''proper'' four wheeled handbuilt British racing car pretty much took over the assembly line since 1950. The first +4 used a 2088cc, 68hp Vanguard engine. The rest, as they say, is history.

   It only felt proper to start this special with the history quote about Morgan from my previous related article where I featured my awesome experience out and about with a Three Wheeler. If you can't remember, click here. Doing the Factory Tour in that very same day was the cherry on top of the cake. It only took me a bit more time to get into the groove and actually post up the factory tour experience. It's a romantic thing, you can't rush this :) 

 ^ Inside  the Morgan  museum.

 God I love that red 1920's Super Sports Aero JAP overhead valve v-twin. On the right a F4 Morgan, car look-a-like in the front, a 3rd wheel in the back. The red sports Morgan on the left in the back is the Plus Four Plus, the one and only fiberglass Morgan with a hard top. More on that one, here. Next to it a Morgan Plus4, don't know much about that one, sorry. The grey Morgan in the back is The Aeromax. Built by Morgan for the Prince Sturdza of Romania. More on that one, here. 

Chassis Shop

Morgan production starts in the chassis shop. Each platform is carefully hand-assembled  by their expert technicians. Engine, gearbox and package configurations are defined around a lightweight, high-performance structure.

 Woodshop

Hand-crafted from lightweight ash wood, the frame acts as the structure from which the exterior aluminium body panels and interior leather work are hung. 

Ash has always been used in Morgan cars: but its continued use is not simply nostalgic. Ash is lightweight and durable and incredible flexible to work with. 

^The legend has  it that this jig is almost 100 years old. In this mold Morgan woodworkers are putting the ash wood pieces for fenders and other articulated parts. 

 

 TIN SHOP 

Working with lightweight aluminium the highly-skilled craftsmen in the tin shop fuse traditional techniques with ultra-modern processes. This achieves the free-flowing panels that adorn the body of each Morgan. 

 Paint Shop 

 

The latest methods of automotive painting are used to ensure that the finish of every Morgan car is as stunning as the design itself. 

TRIM

 

The cockpit of a Morgan offers a delight for the senses. Each of our cars requires at least four hides of the finest leather to trim, a task that takes our craftsmen over 30 hours to complete. 

 Final Finish

 

 PDI 

 

Following a rigorous road and testing process each car is brought into the final stage of production - PDI (pre delivery inspection).

 THE 3 WHEELER DEPT.

 I'm really happy that I finally had the chance to see the factory in Pickersleigh Road and to really see how the old craftsmanship techniques are blending in with the modern technology. The Morgan factory really is a place of wonder and magic for any petrolhead and I do urge any of you if and when you have the chance to make the trip and enjoy the tour. 

   Find out more about Morgan on Instagram  and on their website, here.

PS: This feature was not in any way a promotional material or backed by the Morgan Company. 

      Quotes used from a Morgan leaflet book.