Henry Frederick Stanley Morgan was born in 1884, the son of a vicar.

Fortunately for Morgan enthusîasts, HFS, as he became known, wasn't forced to follow in his father's footsteps and become a man of the cloth. Instead, he chose engineering and apprenticed with the Great Western Railway.

By 1906, HFS was confident enough in bis skills that he and a partner opened a garage and automobile dealership near bis home in Malven, Worcestershire, England. Another soon followed, and HFS became prosperous enough to pursue a dream, building his own car. He'd bought a threewheel Eagle car a few years earlier, and this may have influenced his decision to make bis car a three-wheeler.

He welded Up a Hght but sturdy steel tube chassis and mounted a Peugeot V-2 air-cooled engine between the front wheels. A driveshaft passing through the central frame member took power to a rear-mounted two-speed gearbox, and then to the single rear wheel via two chains.

Steering was by a side-mounted tiller. Independent front suspension, a rarity in those days, was achieved by an ingenious sliding-pillar-and-coilspring arrangement invented by HFS. It would prove so simple, effective and durable that it would be used on all Morgans thereafter. The body was pretty much limited to a seat, hood and front fenders.

Morgan showed two of his cars at Londons Olympia motorcycle show in 1910, the same year the Morgan Motor Co. formed.

The motor show made HFS realize that he needed a two-passenger car, and also that he had to establish a reputation by proving his cars in competition.

Morgan entered his single seater in the London-to-Exeter trial on Boxing Day 1910, and won a gold medal. Thanks to a Morgan trait of a high power-to-weight ratio, a long line of successes would follow.
He also exhibited a two-seater prototype at the 1911 show, and the combination of Morgan's competition record, and two seats, brought many orders.

The company prospered building a variety of three-wheelers but in 1936 a four-wheel, four-cylinder Morgarn was added to the line, built in both two and-four-passenger forms.

The three-wheeler would continue to be sold in dwindling numbers, until it petered out in about 1951.

North America was introduced to Morgans when they began to be imported following the World War II. The models were the Four/Four and,  beginning in 1951 with the fitting of the Standard vanguard engine, the Plus Four.

Morgan flirted briefly with modern styling when the company introduced the Plus Four Plus in 1961, an aerodynamic coupe with a fibreglass body.

It was not well received by Morgan enthusiasts, and was discontinued three years later, after only 50 (Webmaster note: 26) had been built.

To keep the Morgan's performance contemporary, a new model, the Plus 8, was introduced in 1968. It was fitted with the Rover (previously Buick/Oldsmobile) (Webmaster note: known as the 215) 3.5-litre aluminium V-8
.
And contemporary it was;  Road & Track magazine recorded zero-to-60 mph acceleration time in 8.5 seconds, (Webmaster note: Road & Track actually recorded 0-60mph in 6.5 sec and a top speed of 122mph) and a top speed of 105 mph, certainly respectable considering the Plus 8's barn-door aerodynamics.

For emissions and Morgans haven't been sold much in  North America in the last 20 years, though a few Plus 8 have beat the emission regulations by being converted to run on liquid petroleum gas (Webmaster Note: he means propane).

HFS died in 1959. His son Peter took over as chairman 1958 and, at 76, is still active, although his
son Charles will likely assume the mantle soon.

The traditionally-styled Morgans are still being built at the rate of 10 oer wcek by artisans skilled in wood, steel, and fabric - much the way they were built in in 1910, '20 or '30.  Aluminium or steel sheeting is shape over hand-built oak frames. There are no assembly lines in Malvern Link.

Until spray painting was inaugurated in the 1960s, a man named Harold Jauncey painted every Morgan by hand - with a brush. Brush painting clamshell fenders, wooden underbodies, sliding pillar suspension - you get the idea that change comes slowly to Morgan.

But Morganists love it and are willing to wait the four to five years it takes to get a new Morgan. (Webmaster Note; 5-6 years in the UK: 12-18 months in the U.S. and Canada won't let any in because they want classic cars crash tested on Canadian soil rather than foreign soil further evidencing maple syrup caused brain damage afflicting Transport Canada.)

Edmonton Journal
1995