For the Morgan Enthusiast
If you missed out on a 110 anniversary car, fear not as there is one last chance to join the celebrations as Morgan Motor Company and Pashley Cycles have launched the Pashley-Morgan 110 Limited Edition bicycle. The companies’ design teams have worked together to create a unique bike that marks a fitting tribute to this significant anniversary.
Read more
Born in 1868 in south London, the middle of eight children, Fred was a gifted scientist and engineer, and won a scholarship to the Royal College of Science. At the age of 21, he joined the Forward Gas Engine Company in Birmingham, where he made some very successful refinements to the company’s engines, and, in 1892, resigned to try to sell his gas engine patents in America. This wasn’t successful – mains gas was expensive in the US, and rare outside major cities – so he came home, set up his own workshop and did subcontract work for various companies, including Forward.
Read more
Ah, this Island nation of ours completely surrounded by sea, I guess we could stay put and just enjoy the land but why limit ourselves when there is all that water to enjoy and explore and the opportunity to find some tasty food too! In order to get cracking with our sea going exploration we are going to need a boat and that is exactly what the great people at Cornish Crabbers can help us with, they make boats!
Read more
This article is for all Morgan’s with studded screens and not the easy-up type, as they never leak. There are two methods to stay dry; the first is to get a passenger with long arms, a good cloth and a bucket to wring out the cloth. The second, is to install a hidden gutter between the hood and the windscreen that stops the water getting in by channelling the water sideways towards the doors. Here we will concentrate on the second.
Read more
The hotel itself has such a history associated with it that it has warranted a book by Will Swales which is available for guests to take as a complimentary gift. I won’t go into too much detail here, but the distinctive black and white timber framed building dates back to Elizabethan times and was built between 1560-1570. The first records of the property functioning as a hotel date to 1702, when it was known as the “Plume of Feathers,” possibly as a declaration by the owners Thomas and Joane Pantall of their support for the young Prince of Wales and a hoped-for return of a Catholic king. At the time the country was ruled by Protestant monarchs William of Orange (a possible relation to myself ?) and his wife Mary.
Read more
Van drivers in the UK have been hit with fines worth £1.7 million in the last three years for incorrectly parking or stopping in a loading bay, according to research by Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles. Councils have issued an average of 13,000 parking fines a year since 2015 with figures rising by 10% year-on-year – highlighting how the rules around loading bays are increasingly unclear for van drivers.
Read more
Ah, cheese, a famous favourite food stuff that has passed in to our very own folklore complete with catchphrases, “Cheese Gromit” and of course Monty Python’s classic film Life of Brian and its parody of the Sermon on the Mount, “I think it was, blessed are the Cheesemakers” and is a product that has been with us for a very long time.
Read more
Just in case you have a mullered gear knob and wish to change it to the more traditional plain top or old type screw on gear knob the Mazda gear stick thread is M10 x 1.25 mm. Therefore, most after market Japanese knobs will work. Except for some of the 4/4’s as their gear sticks come unthreaded.
Read more
A-S was based in Coventry, the British Detroit, and came about through some large industrialists shuffling the deck. John Davenport Siddeley came to the automobile field, as many Victorians did, through bicycles. He worked for Humber Cycles before moving to the Pneumatic Tyre Company, but left when it became the Dunlop Tyre Company and set up on his own as the Clipper Tyre Company which later became the Continental Tyre Company. I hope you’re keeping up – there’s plenty more deck-shuffling to come!
Read more
Welcome to our latest feature on where to stay if making the pilgrimage to Malvern and the Morgan factory. This month we are at The Elms, Abberley, and should you be looking for a peaceful, relaxing and comfortable hotel in the beautiful countryside of Worcestershire, then this is your place. Granville Orange met up with General Manager Martin Page to review the hotel on behalf of our readers.
Read more
Morgan Motor company has announced that all Dealers will receive their Plus Six Demonstrators at August’s Thrill on the Hill. The event held at Prescott this year on 11th August will see Owners and Enthusiasts from all over the world bringing their own cars to drive up the Bugatti Owners’ Club Hill Climb track.
Read more
Allett Mowers is a British owned, Staffordshire based, high quality cylinder lawn mower manufacturer that has been helping us keep those beautiful greens looking just so since 1965. The business was founded by horticultural engineer Reginald Allett, who developed the 36” cylinder mower which quickly became the favourite tool of professional green keepers, groundsmen and domestic lawn aficionados. They say that if you want a bowling green style lawn then it is an Allett cylinder mower you will need to achieve this level of precision.
Read more
Over the past few instalments of What Could Have Been, we’ve looked at a number of motor manufacturers from the Coventry area; here’s another: Humber.
Many people (OK then, perhaps it’s just me) always assumed that Humber Limited was named for its location. Not so. The company name has nothing to do with the river that separates north Lincolnshire from the southern edge of the East Riding of Yorkshire, and everything to do with Mr Thomas Humber.
Read more
Situated at the foot of the Iron Age British Camp fort at the southern end of the Malvern Hills, this hotel will be no stranger to many readers. Indeed the hotel has featured in recent articles, including in this edition the article on the re-launch of the Elgar Route. The hotel is also an occasional meeting place for the Midlands MSCC for their monthly “Noggin and Natter”, and is on the Morgan factory test run. In fact passing as frequently as I do, it is rare not to see a Morgan parked outside, so you will be in good company if choosing to stay here.
Read more
Making its UK Debut at the MSCC’s Victory Mog event at Dunstan Hall, Norfolk, the Plus Six made a great impression on all who saw it, including Charles Morgan. The car looked absolutely splendid, bathed in sunshine. The Plus Six drew almost exclusively positive comments, though a few concerns were made about the lack of a manual gearbox. Everyone appreciated the looks and proportions of the car
Read more
Based and operating from the beautiful Worcestershire town of Malvern, home of lots of hand built stuff including a well-known motor car, you will find a family owned, and hand crafted jewellery business. Nothing unusual in that I hear you say, however, this particular creator is not, in both designs and materials, in any way usual. The company’s strapline is “Beautiful Products Handcrafted from Stainless Steel Bicycle Spokes” but the product range is certainly not limited by this and the range of designs and products is wide and varied considering the size of the outfit.
Read more
To continue from last months wheel bearing removal and inspection we are now going to install a bearing seat or cup ready for a new Tapered Roller Bearing (photo 0) to be installed.
Using a Bearing Press, take an Angled Drift/dolly that is the same shape as the seat or cup (photo 1a) and using the press install the seat (photo 1b) ensuring that afterwards that the seat or cup was installed correctly and was fitted “straight” (photo 1c).
Read more
f you join the dots of Greater Birmingham, Luton, Dagenham, Cowley and back to Birmingham, you’ll have a very long, thin diamond shape. Going back a few decades, most of the UK’s motor car production happened within that narrow rhomboid, and one of the liveliest spots within it was Coventry. One of the names the city was most proud of was Alvis, although the company was a relative latecomer to the party.
Read more
This month we have somewhere very special indeed for you – The Court House at Shelsley Walsh. Situated alongside the Oldest Motorsports Venue in the World, The Court House is the ideal place to stay, not only if you are attending any of the motoring events at Shelsley, but at any time of year. Not only that, the proprietors Keith and Lisa are very keen Morgan enthusiasts…. and more!
Read more
Preben has told MOG that If Silverstone goes well, they will also be racing at Masters Historic Racing in Spa, Belgium in the end of September. We wish the team luck and hope many readers still be at Silverstone, along with us, to support this great Mog on its return to the track. We certainly wouldn’t want to miss it.
Read more