How Morgan Cars Are Made: by Hand, Out of Wood

Doing what they do best, and not changing in a changing world: this seems to work for Morgan

The
Morgan Motor Company is proudly independent (even Ferrari is owned by
Fiat, every sports car company seems to be a subsidiary of a larger
manufacturer these days). These cars are not cheap ($44,000 for a base
model, some cost as much as $300,000), the waiting list is more than a
year (each car is made by hand) - can this company survive the severely
affected luxury market?




London-based photographer Mark Obstfeld, who also wrote about the "James Bond's Latest Supercar" Aston Martin
for DRB, returns with a look at this classic British car company which
makes their cars still largely by hand, and largely out of... wood:



The Morgan Motor Company will celebrate its 100th anniversary in 2011 - its long and lustrous history can be traced on this page
- and is till run by the same family; the current CEO is grandson of
the founder. The factory is a sight to behold (guided tours can be
arranged on their website) and it's quite revealing to see how much
tender-loving care goes into a hand-built car. Perhaps of interest is
that, while the shell is metal, much of the car is still made of wood:


Workers putting finishing touches to a near complete car

A
welder joining sections of the metal shell - this was later shown to be
so expertly done that no joins are visible at all (the wood can be seen
in this photo) -



Side-wings mounted onto the chasis

Working
on the wood interior (left); worker uses metal shears to individually
shape a hood - because Morgans are handmade, each is slightly different
and has to be done this way:




Inside one of the construction rooms

Mr.
H.F.S. Morgan guided the company for almost fifity years, beginning in
1913... "After a hair-raising first drive in a 3 h.p. Benz that ran
away with him down the 1-in-6 gradient of a hill between Bromyard and
Hereford, he emerged intact but considerably poorer." That was in 1906,
the Benz did not kill him - and in 1910 Morgan patented his own
three-wheeler "Roundabout" . In 1913 the company was formed and has been
a family business ever since.

One of the oldest surviving (re-conditioned) Morgan sports 4/4 cars:



The
Morgan Motor Company had just opened a small museum and showroom,
inaugurated by HRH The Princess Royal (Princess Anne). Here is the
finished room (the Morgans appear to be quite popular despite the
economic crunch):



Inside the museum, a collection of vintage toy Morgans:



An original 3-wheeler from the 1920's:


photos by Mark Obstfeld (right), left - ModernMechanix

The fabulous 1964 Morgan Plus Four Plus (restoration by owner Dennis Glavis):


photos via The Morgan Motor Company

Also 1964 model - the Morgan SLR - has an enchanting shape and graceful lines:


(image via)

A rather loud Morgan Aero8 (which we got to take for a spin) -



Futuristic-looking Morgan "AeroMax" (see images here) and The Morgan "Life" - zero-emission concept car, with Qinetiq hydrogen fuel cell: