Our hotel in Worcestershire is proud to share the gorgeous town of Malvern with the Morgan Motor Company, so much so we have decided to provide you with a brief history of their classic three (and four) – wheelers, just for the fun of it.
The Morgan Motor Company Ltd. was established in 1909 by H.F.S Morgan, who kicked things off with the introduction of the Morgan three-wheeler in the same year. Since then, the car has developed and changed and Morgan’s four-wheeled creations have become world-famous for their unique exterior, comfortable interior and top class performance that has stood the test of time. Let’s take a trip down memory lane to find out how the Morgan Motorcar Company came to be the international point of interest in Malvern that it is today.
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Known widely as ‘H.F.S’, Henry Frederick Stanley Morgan started his working life as an employee of the Great Western Railway. He purchased his first car in 1902, at the age of 21, and became an enthusiast almost immediately.
In 1905, with the encouragement of his father George, H.F.S bought a house called Chestnut Villa in Malvern and opened a garage called the Malvern Link. Here he attended to the needs of Edwardian motorists and became a dealer for Darracq, Wolseley, Siddeley and Rover cars.
Despite the success of the Malvern Link garage, Morgan’s passion for engineering meant he was soon experimenting with ideas for a motor car of his own design. H.F.S. had invaluable assistance from Mr Stephenson-Peach, the engineering master at Malvern College, in whose workshops much of the development work was carried out.
In 1909, he designed and built a car for his own use: The Morgan Three-Wheeler.
The first batch production of Morgans, made in 1910, were simple seat machines and The Runabouts (as the machines were to be called) were unveiled to the public at the Olympia motorcycle show in London. As the car was lightweight and just as fast as others available on the market, it quickly became a commercial success. Despite the interest shown, just a few of these were built and sold, mainly due to their old fashioned steering and single seat. However, to prove the soundness of the design, one month later, H.F.S. Morgan entered the Runabout in the MCC London to Exeter Trial, and his remarkable performance won a Gold Medal, providing the company and the car with excellent exposure.
Morgan continued to design, build and produce beautiful motorcars until he died, aged 77, in 1959. After that, Peter Morgan, son of H.F.S, ran the company until a few years before his death in 2003 and, from there, Morgan Motorcars have seen a number of people leading the company to success.
The beauty of these classic cars is that they bend and shape with the times, and throughout the noughties and tweenies the company has gone from strength to strength. The Aero Range has seen a constant evolution, and 2011 saw the re-launch of the Morgan 3 Wheeler, a modern interpretation of a classic design which is testament to how important development is to the company and how these classic cars transcend time.
We are looking forward to seeing what Morgan Motor Cars have in store for us in the coming years, but if you are looking for things to do in Worcester during your stay at the Bank House, then the Morgan Car Company might be worth a wander if you would like to find out a little more about this classic car.
If four wheels aren’t really your thing, find out what else is on in Worcester over on our News page. Or, if you fancy booking yourself in for a stay at our Worcester hotel, you can do that too.
