44-615: The Morgan Roadster is a model produced by the Morgan Motor Company . It was introduced in 2004 replacing the Morgan Plus 8 . The car is identical to its predecessor except for new modern Ford V6 mechanicals. The new engine develops similar power, though less torque, and is slightly lighter than the Rover V8 which results in increased performance and better fuel economy. Air conditioning is now standard on U.S. models. Like its predecessor,
88-503: A Blackburne engine was also available. The Grand Prix was priced £155, and the Family (with two notional child seats behind the front bench, setting a standard 2+2s would follow for generations) was £148 with air-cooled engine, or £158 with water-cooled engine. The Anzani -powered Aero was also available, for £148. MAG engines were also optional. Morgan's racing efforts suffered a blow in 1924, when E. B. Ware's JAP-engined car rolled at
132-467: A GWK ; Morgan returned later the same year, reaching nearly 60 mi (97 km). Morgan established its reputation via competition such as winning the 1913 Cyclecar Grand Prix at Amiens in France, driven by W. G. McMinnies , with an average speed of 42 mph (68 km/h) for the 163 mi (262 km) distance. This became the basis for the 'Grand Prix' model of 1913 to 1926, from which evolved
176-587: A 43 lb (20 kg) streamlined body, which covered 91.48 mi (147.22 km) in a one-hour trial at Brooklands, with a peak speed of over 100 mph (160 km/h). In 1925, the Standard's price had dropped to £95, and the Aero £130, compared to £149 for an Austin Chummy . Electric lighting by dynamo became standard that year. Front-wheel brakes and electric start (a £10 option) became available in 1927, while
220-449: A Fiat engine (1985–1988) and then a 4-cylinder Rover engine (1988–2000). Production was again suspended and the Plus 4 returned once more in 2004 with a 155 bhp (116 kW; 157 PS) Ford 4-cylinder. From October 1965 to April 1967 Morgan produced the two-seat +4 Competition, of which only 42 were built, about 11 of which survive. A limited edition Plus 4 was re-introduced in 2014 as
264-486: A Ford engine. Faced with the decreasing availability of large four-cylinder engines for use in their +4 models, Morgan began to install the recently available Rover V8 engine in their cars in 1968, giving these cars the model designation "+8". The engine displacement jumped from the 2.1 litres of the Triumph TR4 engine to 3.5, then 3.9 (1990), 4.0 (1998–2004), and with an optional 4.6-litre engine (1996–2000) all based on
308-462: A car for his own use. Previously he developed the first independent front suspension in the engineering shop of Malvern College . He began production a year later and the company prospered. Production of three-wheelers approached 1000 by World War I and quickly resumed with both racing and touring models. Morgan's first four-wheeler came in 1935 with three-wheelers phased out in 1952. Morgan continued to run it until he died at age 77 in 1959. In 1990,
352-576: A century, and is still used in the 21st century for framing the body shell. A visitor centre and museum have exhibits about the company's history from Edwardian times until the present day, developments in automobile technology, and a display of automobiles. There are also guided tours of the factory. H.F.S. Morgan quit the Great Western Railway in 1904 and co-founded a motor sales and servicing garage in Malvern Link. In 1909 he designed and built
396-465: A part of Investindustrial's investment, management and staff were rewarded with shares in the company, this appears nowhere in the information registered at Companies House. And though it was also announced that the Morgan family retained a minority shareholding and would continue to be involved in the company this does not appear on any statement filed with Companies House. The price of sale was approximately
440-418: A price of £250. The Morgan +4 was introduced in 1950 as a larger-engined ("plus") car than the 4/4. The +4 initially used the 2,088 cc (127.4 cu in) Standard Vanguard engine and at introduction sold for £625 (two-seater) or £723 (coupé). The +4 used Triumph TR2 (in 1953), TR3 (1956), or TR4A engines (until 1969). Plus 4 production was suspended in 1969 but brought back in 1985 with
484-471: A result of the programme and the company prospered. Sir John said he was very pleased to have been proven wrong in Morgan's case. Peter Morgan , son of HFS, ran the company until a few years before his death in 2003. He was replaced as chairman by Alan Garnett, a non-family director, from 2003 to 2006. After Garnett's resignation, a four-man management team was established. Charles Morgan (son of Peter), Matthew Parkin, Tim Whitworth and Steve Morris made up
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#1732856037475528-479: A speed of 113 mph (182 km/h) in a race-tuned Super Sports. Morgan three-wheelers benefitted from an annual tax of just £4, half the tax on the Austin 7 , provided they remained under 8 cwt . Morgans were also licence-built in France by Darmont . By 1930, however, inexpensive four-wheeled cars were proliferating, led by the £100 Ford Popular . Morgan, and partner George Goodall , countered by putting
572-447: A £236 drophead in 1938. Coventry Climax eventually ceased making engines available, so Morgan switched to a tuned 1,267 cc (77.3 cu in) Standard Motor Company Ten , producing 39 hp (29 kW ; 40 PS ). In 1938, a 4/4 was entered at Le Mans . This led to production of factory replicas, with fold-down windscreen, cycle fenders (mudguards) , smaller- displacement engine, and single spare wheels, with
616-810: Is Royal Ivory, Corsa Red, Indigo Blue, Connaught Green, and Black, but any single colour or two-tone combination from the ICI Autocolour range is available as an option. Fuel tank capacity : 55 L (15 US gal; 12 imp gal) Standard bolt on alloy wheels (5 stud) 6.5" x 15" (205/55/16 tyres) Optional 100% stainless wire wheels 72 spoke 7" x 16" (205/55/16 tyres) Indirect ratios: Single dry plate Tubular live axle with hypoid gears and limited slip. Minimum octane rating 95 Ron Electronic fuel injection. Sealed evaporative control system through charcoal canister. Tubular stainless manifolds (headers) to stainless steel twin exhaust with catalysts. Morgan Motor Company Morgan Motor Company Limited
660-541: Is a British motor car manufacturer owned by Italian investment group Investindustrial . It was founded in 1910 by Henry Frederick Stanley Morgan . Morgan is based in Malvern Link , an area of Malvern , and employs approximately 220 people. Morgan produce 850 cars per year, all assembled by hand. The waiting list for a car is approximately six months, but it has sometimes been as long as ten years. Morgan cars are unusual in that wood has been used in their construction for
704-546: Is now a global private equity firm focused on buyouts of mid-market companies in Europe and selectively in North America. With more than €11 billion of raised fund capital, the firm's investment subsidiaries seek to make control investments in mid-market companies and focuses on active ownership and buy-and-build in four core sectors: industrial manufacturing; healthcare and services; consumer; and technology. Investindustrial has
748-512: Is virtually the same. The later Roadsters were powered by a Ford UK Mondeo V6 producing 204 bhp (152 kW; 207 PS). In 2007, the Mondeo engine was replaced by a US-specification version of the same engine in the Roadster II. In 2011–12, the engine was replaced by the 3.7 Duratec Cyclone engine and output increased to 280 bhp (209 kW; 284 PS). The company calls this latest model
792-508: The Austin 7 and the original Morris Minor , with comparable economy and price and better comfort, made cyclecars less attractive. H.F.S. Morgan's first car design was a single-seat three-wheeled runabout , which was fabricated for his personal use in 1908, with help from William Stephenson-Peach, the father of friends, and the engineering master at Malvern College . Powered by a 7 hp (5.2 kW ; 7.1 PS ) Peugeot twin-cylinder engine (from an abandoned motorcycle project),
836-460: The Plus 4 Super Sports. Only 60 cars were made available, all right-hand-drive. A version of the +4, the +4+, was made from 1964 to 1967 with a fibreglass coupé body. The light weight and reduced drag improved the performance of the +4+ over the standard +4 in every aspect. However, traditional Morgan enthusiasts did not embrace this departure from Morgan custom, and mainstream enthusiasts did not embrace
880-453: The 'Aero', and 'Sports' models. Morgan himself won the "very tough" ACU Six Days' Trial in 1913, in the sidecar class. The same year, the company entered the MCC reliability trial, which it continued to do until 1975. Racing success led to demand the company proved unable to meet. These models used air-cooled or liquid-cooled variations of motorcycle engines. The engine was placed ahead of
924-557: The 1911 Olympia Motor Exhibition, he was convinced at the exhibition that there would be greater demand for a two-seat model. The Morgan Motor Company was registered as a private limited company only in 1912 with H.F.S. Morgan as managing director and his father, who had invested in his son's business, as its first chairman. In 1912, Morgan set out to win the trophy offered by The Light Car & Cyclecar for greatest distance covered in an hour, at Brooklands . The single-seater covered 55 mi (89 km), only to be narrowly beaten by
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#1732856037475968-523: The 8 hp (6.0 kW; 8.1 PS) 933 cc (56.9 cu in) and 10 hp (7.5 kW; 10 PS) 1,172 cc (71.5 cu in) Ford engine in their own cars. Morgan's last vee-twins were powered by Matchless engines displacing 990 cc (60 cu in); they were delivered to Australia after the Second World War . The vee-twin models were not returned to production after World War II. The Morgan Three Wheeler Club
1012-553: The GEMS Land Rover V8 produced 190 hp (140 kW). In 2004, Morgan came out with a traditional styled model to replace the departing Plus 8. The Mk I Roadsters with the Ford UK Mondeo V6 produced 223 bhp (166 kW, 226 PS) at 6150 rev/min. It had a Getrag gearbox with direct drive in 5th with a 3.08 axle ratio. Later Marks had a Ford gearbox with direct drive in 4th with a 3.73 axle ratio. The overall gearing
1056-640: The JCC 200 mi (320 km) at Brooklands; Ware was seriously hurt, leading to a ban on three-wheelers competing as cars. Electric headlamps were made available in 1924, at an £8 cost. The Popular, powered by a 976 cc (59.6 cu in) engine, sold for £110, the 1,098 cc (67 cu in) Aero for £148, and the one-seater £160. Like motorcycles, Morgans had hand throttles, Bowden-wire control mechanisms, and drip lubrication. Racing Morgans included Harold Beart 's 1,096 cc (66.9 cu in) Blackburne-engined special, with 3.33:1 top gear and
1100-721: The Roadster 3.7. In 2000, the Morgan Aero 8 was introduced and, as always, the wooden body substructure was ash . (Contrary to popular myth, however, the chassis is metal; aluminium for the Aero 8.) The Aero 8, with a BMW V8 engine in a car weighing less than a BMW Z4 and considerably less than a BMW M3 , (though more than traditional Morgans) is even faster than the Plus 8, delivering what Autoweek magazine termed supercar performance. The newest Aero 8 (series V), presented in March 2015, puts out 367 hp (274 kW) at 6100 rpm with
1144-597: The Standard and Family at £87 10 s , the Aero £110, and the Super Sports £145. In 1933, the Family was priced at only £80. Morgan's racing programme in 1927 earned the marque eleven gold medals and three silvers from fourteen entrants at MCC's London-Edinburgh Trials alone. The team was joined by Clive Lones and C. T. Jay , who won the 1929 Cyclecar Grand Prix at Brooklands, driving a 750 cc (46 cu in) Morgan-JAP, with an average speed of 64.7 mph (104.1 km/h). And in 1930, Gwenda Stewart turned in
1188-534: The Standard's price fell to £89, complete with a double-thickness windscreen and "electric hooter". By year's end, the Standard was even cheaper, £85, while the new Super Sports debuted, with an overhead valve JAP 10/40 water-cooled vee-twin, priced £155. The 10/40 engine was also available in the Aero, at £132, while a more sedate air-cooled JAP-powered Aero went for £119. The Family was priced at £102 (air-cooled) or £112 (water-cooled). These new, lower prices persisted through 1928. They would be lower still in 1929:
1232-466: The amount of the 2016 government grant which was used, at the time, to purchase back the land and buildings on Pickersleigh Road, that had been sold in 2005/6 to fund the company. The early cars were two-seat or four-seat three-wheelers , and are therefore considered to be cyclecars . Three-wheeled vehicles avoided the British tax on cars by being classified as motorcycles . Competition from small cars like
1276-495: The axis of the front wheels in a chassis made of steel tubes brazed into cast lugs. After the First World War , the company introduced an easily changed rear wheel, which customers had been seeking for several years. The 1921 Popular, powered by an 8 hp (6.0 kW; 8.1 PS) JAP and bodied in poplar , sold for £150. It was a sales success, the price dropping to £128, and the name changing to Standard, by 1923, when
1320-403: The car had a backbone chassis, an idea retained for all following Morgan three-wheelers, and used as little material and labour as Morgan could manage. A single-seat three-wheeler with coil-spring independent front suspension, unusual at the time, the driveshaft ran through the backbone tube to a two-speed transmission (with no reverse), and chain drive to each of the rear wheels. The steering
1364-406: The chassis consists of a standard ladder frame design and is built from galvanised steel with five tubular or box section cross members. The body is built of steel and aluminum around an ash frame. Suspension is traditional Morgan slider type up-front and solid axle / leaf spring at the rear. Unlike its predecessor, the Roadster was available as a 2-seater or a 4-seater. The standard colour range
Morgan Roadster - Misplaced Pages Continue
1408-467: The company suggesting a top speed of over 170 mph (270 km/h). Due to the Aero 8's light weight it can do 0–62 mph (100 km/h) in 4.5 seconds. During its customer production lifetime (2002–2009), the Aero was configured in five official versions, (I, II, III, IV, the Aero America and V) with mild variations in styling, engines, transmissions, braking and suspension. The company cancelled
1452-420: The company was subject of a critique by Sir John Harvey-Jones for his television programme Troubleshooter . Harvey-Jones recommended modernising production and clearing the order backlog. The company rejected the advice, arguing that traditional techniques were part of the appeal of the company, and that a waiting list helped the company deal with recessions and preserved their exclusivity. Sales increased as
1496-417: The factory as the 4/4 because it had a four- cylinder engine and four wheels, was released to the public in 1936. Powered by a 34 hp (25 kW ; 34 PS ) 1,122 cc (68.5 cu in) Coventry Climax engine, and carrying a pair of rear-mounted spare wheels, the new two-seater 4/4 sold for 185 guineas (£194 5 s ). It proved popular, and a four-place model was added in 1937, joined by
1540-551: The late Peter Morgan, as chairman. In 2016, he resigned as chairman and company director and was replaced as chairman by a new director, Dominic Riley. In January 2016, the company was once again UK government funded by a £6 million grant by the British Government after a series of visits from UK politicians and Royals. In August 2018, the name of Morgan Technologies, was allowed to change its name back to The Morgan Motor Company while
1584-536: The model in 2009 but relaunched it in 2015 for 2016 deliveries. The year of highest production for any Aero variation was 2002. Investindustrial Investindustrial is a global private equity firm focused on buyouts of mid-market companies in Europe and selectively in North America. It was founded in 1990 by Andrea Campanini Bonomi out of an industrial conglomerate. Founded in 1990 by Andrea Campanini Bonomi out of an industrial conglomerate to introduce Anglo-Saxon methodology to Southern Europe, Investindustrial
1628-467: The negative equity that had occurred over the Charles Morgan tenure. UK Company House In January, 2013, Morgan was removed as managing director, replaced by Morris, but continued as strategy director until October 2013 when he was removed both as an employee and member of the board of directors. At the end of 2013, the shareholders appointed Andrew Duncan, a local solicitor and very close friend of
1672-572: The new management team, and in 2010, after Parkin's resignation, Charles Morgan was named managing director. In 2010, the MMC became dormant and all assets were sold to a new company called Morgan Technologies for an unpaid 15 million and which took over all the former assets of the Morgan Motor Company, Aero Racing, the Morgan M3W Company and all other companies bearing the Morgan name. This cured
1716-528: The original company, founded by HFS Morgan in 1957, had its name changed to a numbered company and accordingly registered at UK Companies House. For most of its history, the company was owned by the Morgan family. A press release dated 5 March 2019 announced the acquisition of a majority stake in Morgan Motor Company Ltd by the Italian investment group Investindustrial . Though it was announced that as
1760-465: The same Land Rover block. However, this V8 was no heavier than the Triumph engine. These features made the +8 accelerate much more quickly than the early +4 and also improved its road-holding capability. Horsepower (143–204 bhp), weight and performance varied with emission and structural laws through its history. Thus powered, the car could accelerate from 0–60 mph in 5.6 seconds. In its final form,
1804-405: The seemingly archaic +4 chassis. Fifty were planned, but only 26 were built. Production of the 4/4 was halted during World War II but resumed afterwards. Production halted again in 1950 when the Standard engine ceased to be available but resumed in 1955 when a suitable replacement, the side-valve 1,172 cc Ford 100E engine was found and has continued ever since. The 4/4 now uses the +8 chassis and
Morgan Roadster - Misplaced Pages Continue
1848-562: Was built in 1911, adding a bonnet, windscreen, wheel steering, and crank starting; it was displayed at the 1911 Motor Cycle Show. An agency was taken up by the Harrods department store in London, with a selling price of £ 65. The Morgan became the only car ever to appear in a shop window at Harrods. Interest in his runabout led him to patent his design and begin production. While he initially showed single-seat and two-seat versions of his runabout at
1892-480: Was by tiller, and it had band brakes. It also had no body. With financial help from his father and his wife, the car went into production at premises in Pickersleigh Road, Malvern Link. Three single-seater cars were exhibited at the 1910 Motor Show at Olympia in London. In spite of great interest being shown, only a few orders were taken, and Morgan decided a two-seater was needed to meet market demand. This
1936-649: Was formed in 1945. The Morgan F-4 was introduced in 1933 at the Olympia Motor Cycle Show. The F-4 had a new pressed-steel chassis the four-cylinder Ford Sidevalve engine used in the Model Y , and a four-seat body. The F-4 was supplemented by the two-seat F-2 in 1935 and the more sporting F Super, with cycle-type wings and louvred bonnet tops, in 1937. Production of the Ford-engined three-wheelers continued until 1952. Morgan's first four-wheeler, designated by
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