The Morgan Motor Company

 

In 1904, Henry Fredrick Stanley Morgan left his job working on the Great Western Railway and opened up a motor sales and servicing shop. Initially he designed and built one car, a personal single seat three-wheel runabout. By 1910, though, he had established the Morgan Motor Company and started manufacturing and selling his automobiles.

Initially the cars were all three wheelers. This seems odd by today's standards but at the time England was taxing vehicles based on the number of wheels. The way it was calculated a three wheel car qualified as a motorcycle and would be taxed at a much lower rate.

 As was the case with many early automobiles, sales success came along with, or even after, success on the race track. Morgan was no different. He entered his three wheel runabout in its first race in 1912 but was narrowly beaten. He came back strong the next year and won numerous races and endurance contests. These gave Morgans the reputation of being strong, reliable cars. The sales soon followed.

The early cars were powered by what was essentially an enhanced motorcycle engine. But by the mid 1920s some larger engines were being used. These proved popular both on the track and with buyers. Racing success continued to drive the sales effort until a near fatal crash occurred in 1924 causing a ban on three wheel racing.

 While they continued to make three wheel automobiles until 1952, the 1930s saw the introduction of the 4-4, the company's first four wheel vehicle. The name was simple in that the car had four wheels and was powered by a four cylinder engine.  Following World War II Morgan began expanding its options and by providing larger four cylinder engines. In 1968 they introduced the +8 which sported a Rover V8 power plant. More and more models were introduced, all with significant success. Morgans are still being hand built today in the same city of Malvern, Worchester where they were initially built.

 I've told the story many times of taking my youngest son, Josh, to a car show when he was about 10. There, sitting in the parking lot, was a Morgan that caught his attention. It was like no car he had ever seen before. As he was admiring the classic the owner came up and said, "You know, there's only one real way to look at this car." With that he opened the driver's door and allowed Josh to sit behind the wheel. Grinning like the Cheshire Cat, Josh looked at me and said, "Dad, this is the car I want to take my driver's license test in." As the laughter died down I replied, "If he'll let you you can do it. But then after you flunk that test you can re-take it in your mom's Volvo." Josh didn't get to take his driver's test in a Morgan but he did pass on his first try in his mom's Volvo.