Morgan +4 Competition
August 11 1881, saw the birth of Henry Frederick Stanley Morgan To Florence and the Reverend Prebendary Henry George Morgan, in Morton Jeffries Court, the Manor House of the village of Morton Jeffries in Herefordshire,England.
Interested in art and engineering at a young age is parents allowed him to follow his muse.
He studied at the Crystal Palace Engineering College. After graduation His father got him a job as an apprentice to William Dean and then CJ Churchyard the chief engineers of the Great Western Railway at Swindon. This type of work was the starting point for other automotive luminaries. W.O. Bentley and Henry Royce came from similar training.
Finished with his apprenticeship he struck out on his own and opened a garage selling Wolseleys and Darracs. With business doing well he he was able to concentrate on his own automotive designs. His first creation was a 3 wheeled cyclecar powered by a 7 hp Peogeot engine. On it’s debut in 1909 at shelley Walsh it created quite a stir. Morgan was besieged with requests to build similar cars. He began to think about actually becoming an automotive manufacturer. Over the years his 3 wheel design was refined and became a more powerful machine. But by 1929 sales of the various models was down and continued to drop through 1935. Christmas of 35, the announcement was made that there would now be a 4 wheel Morgan motorcar.
In 1936 a four wheeled Morgan was on display at the London and Paris Exhibitions . to set it apart from the three wheeled models it was called the 4-4. 4 wheels 4 cylinders. Morgan had another success on his hands.
The car proved itself in racing. In 1938 Miss Prudence Fawcett a novice driver entered the 24 hours of Le Mans with co-driver Geoff White and placed 13 overall. White came back a year later with co-driver Dick Anthony and came in 15 overall and second in class.
During the war years Morgan’s machine shops built precision parts for the Oerlikon gun as well as hydraulic undercarriage parts for war planes.
Post war Morgan took a while to start production again. A few cars were built from spare parts stored during the war. bodies were supplied by whom ever bought the rolling chassis.
Morgans continued their racing success all through the 40s and 50s. But the car was starting to look dated.So in 1953 a interim change to the cowl and headlamps gave it a more modern appearance, by 54 the design was more concrete. And not much has changed since.
This +4 Competition was despatched from the factory March 2,1967. Almost identical to the Super Sport. it had the SS’s radiator and cowl as well as the Laurence tuned exhaust system, Weber carburetors with the bonnet bulge to cover them and 72 spoke wire wheels. Where the Super Sport had a body clad in aluminum the Competition was a steel bodied car. And is actually a more rare machine then the SS as only 42 were built, compared to the massive 104 of it’s lightweight brother.
Climbing into this car is stepping back in time. Not just to 1967, but further back. As I said not a lot has changed in these autos. One of the Competitions little extras is Armstrong Selectaride rear lever arm shock absorbers. They are adjustable from a knob on the dash, in Morgan speak from soft to hard, in real world speak from rock hard to bone shattering. If that is not enough the banjo style wheel and bladder filled seat cushion will help to protect your delicate constitution.
The steering wheel separates the Smiths tachometer and speedometer then to the left all the necessary switches, further left a multi-gage handles amps, oil, fuel and water. The Moggy fires up willingly on the key and all kinds of wonderful sounds are dumping out just under your right elbow. heading out the car is nimble and light, it handles like it’s on rails “Morgan rails,” but rails.
Apply the Welly and it moves like the proverbial scalded! You can hear the Webers sucking in air for all they are worth. Hopefully your quest takes you on glass smooth roads. If not your dentist will be able to add that new extension on their weekend home. That all fades away as you put miles behind you, because even though this is an ancient agricultural design it just works. it transports you to a bygone era that’s nice to still have around.
To Quote a notorious Top Gear presenter in reference to these cars.”As fine a British institution as cold showers and buggery, and about as comfortable, the Morgan Plus 4 is an antiquated indulgence that you shouldn’t want but absolutely will the second you step aboard.”
Case closed.
My thanks to Bob Millstein and Briarcliff Classic & Imported Car Service to allow me to beat myself up with a smile on my face in this car.
That car looks so good. I would like to own one. I can imagine what it would be like to actually drive a car like that. I like attending classic car shows but most of the vehicles there on show are usually quite expensive. I guess it takes a lot of time for the average busy person to renovate them.
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