Appreciated by enthusiasts all over the world, in 2009 the Morgan Motor Car celebrates its centenary, an anniversary which the Greenwich Concours will champion with a class devoted to the marque this year. The very fact that 1909 was the first year of the brand confirms that Morgan were not pioneers of the industry - it is more than 20 years since Mercedes toasted that occasion and countless other marques centenaries have come and gone. However Morgan has always had its own territory in the market, they have always produced cars that were a little different from the norm. Be it their generations of Vee-twin engined three wheelers or the four wheeled cars such as the car offered here, the common thread has been that they have always provided fun, open top, sporting motoring for a relatively modest outlay and it is those characteristics have ensured the brand’s enduring appeal. Their survival might also be attributable to the numerous television and film appearances of the cars, none being more famous than Peter Sellers use of one in ‘The Party’ or that of Kathleen Turner and Michael Douglas fighting over one in ‘War of the Roses’. Their first four-seater, four-wheeled sports car - the Standard 10-engined 4/4 -appeared in 1937, forming the mainstay of production up to 1950 when it was superseded by the larger and more powerful Standard Vanguard-engined Plus 4. With 70% more power than the 4/4 courtesy of the 2,088cc Vanguard engine, the Plus 4 represented a major step forward in the evolution of the Morgan sports car. Although the traditional chassis layout was retained - what else would one expect from Morgan? - it did undergo extensive alteration, gaining in both wheelbase and track dimensions while being considerably strengthened. The centrally mounted Moss gearbox was carried over from the 4/4. The new cars soon proved popular and were even successful in competition, the company winning the team award at the RAC International Rally in 1951, a victory which was repeated the following year and on both occasions drivers included founder H.F.S. Morgan’s son Peter Morgan. As the cataloguer can personally attest to, the Vanguard-engined cars roll along the road with a reassuringly throaty exhaust tone, and defined by the enthusiastic following that they have always had today means that there are a large number of events for which they are eligible. A black plate ex-California car, this Morgan has received recent cosmetic attention with a repaint in sky blue livery, and new top and interior trim in black fabric, all of which seem to have been carried out to a high standard, the bodywork appearing particularly straight. Beneath the surface, it retains details such as the correct dashboard instrumentation, four spoke steering wheel, steel disc wheels etc. Demand for new Morgans has always exceeded their supply, indeed when an early reality TV show made it their project to send a professional trouble shooter to try to bring the ratios of supply closer to their demand, the principal result was that the coverage it received only served to swell the order book requests! An alternative is to dive in and buy a historic Morgan, of which this is a fine example and would make thoroughly enjoyable Summer family motoring.
Appreciated by enthusiasts all over the world, in 2009 the Morgan Motor Car celebrates its centenary, an anniversary which the Greenwich Concours will champion with a class devoted to the marque this year. The very fact that 1909 was the first year of the brand confirms that Morgan were not pioneers of the industry - it is more than 20 years since Mercedes toasted that occasion and countless other marques centenaries have come and gone. However Morgan has always had its own territory in the market, they have always produced cars that were a little different from the norm. Be it their generations of Vee-twin engined three wheelers or the four wheeled cars such as the car offered here, the common thread has been that they have always provided fun, open top, sporting motoring for a relatively modest outlay and it is those characteristics have ensured the brand’s enduring appeal. Their survival might also be attributable to the numerous television and film appearances of the cars, none being more famous than Peter Sellers use of one in ‘The Party’ or that of Kathleen Turner and Michael Douglas fighting over one in ‘War of the Roses’. Their first four-seater, four-wheeled sports car - the Standard 10-engined 4/4 -appeared in 1937, forming the mainstay of production up to 1950 when it was superseded by the larger and more powerful Standard Vanguard-engined Plus 4. With 70% more power than the 4/4 courtesy of the 2,088cc Vanguard engine, the Plus 4 represented a major step forward in the evolution of the Morgan sports car. Although the traditional chassis layout was retained - what else would one expect from Morgan? - it did undergo extensive alteration, gaining in both wheelbase and track dimensions while being considerably strengthened. The centrally mounted Moss gearbox was carried over from the 4/4. The new cars soon proved popular and were even successful in competition, the company winning the team award at the RAC International Rally in 1951, a victory which was repeated the following year and on both occasions drivers included founder H.F.S. Morgan’s son Peter Morgan. As the cataloguer can personally attest to, the Vanguard-engined cars roll along the road with a reassuringly throaty exhaust tone, and defined by the enthusiastic following that they have always had today means that there are a large number of events for which they are eligible. A black plate ex-California car, this Morgan has received recent cosmetic attention with a repaint in sky blue livery, and new top and interior trim in black fabric, all of which seem to have been carried out to a high standard, the bodywork appearing particularly straight. Beneath the surface, it retains details such as the correct dashboard instrumentation, four spoke steering wheel, steel disc wheels etc. Demand for new Morgans has always exceeded their supply, indeed when an early reality TV show made it their project to send a professional trouble shooter to try to bring the ratios of supply closer to their demand, the principal result was that the coverage it received only served to swell the order book requests! An alternative is to dive in and buy a historic Morgan, of which this is a fine example and would make thoroughly enjoyable Summer family motoring.
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.jpg "Source: Christie's")
.jpg "Source: Christie's")
