2011 Morgan Threewheeler

The Morgan Motor Company has decided to bring back the classic with the release of their 2011 Morgan Threewheeler. The car will be launched at the 2011 Geneva motor show, with UK sales expected in summer 2011. Prices will be announced at launch, but CAR understands around £30,000 is likely.

Around 30,000 examples of the original model were built between 1909 to 1953. But while the new version retains the old school looks, Morgan has thoroughly updated the design.

Power will be provided by an 1800cc Harley Davidson 'Screaming Eagle' engine with approximately 100 hp (75 kW / 101 PS). It will be paired to a Mazda-sourced five-speed manual transmission, which should allow the 500kg (1100 lb) trike to accelerate from 0-60 mph in 4.5 seconds and hit a top speed of 115 mph (185 km/h).

The interior is decked out in aircraft style with toggle switches, a "bomb release" style start button and black or tan leather seating, and the three wheels are gloss black wire, with gloss black wheel arches and lamps.

It's based on a tubular frame wrapped in aluminium superformed bodywork. The leather-padded cockpit will be protected by two rollover bars, but there is no hood available. Morgan claims a kerbweight of 500kg.

Buyers will be able to select one of eight exterior color choices, which are all complimented by black components in matte or gloss finish.

Source: Morgan




Press Release

The Morgan Threewheeler

The success of the Morgan Motor Company was founded on the manufacture of an icon, the Morgan Threewheeler. This brilliant but simple design by engineer Harry Morgan (HFS) became one of the most successful lightweight cars of the early days of motoring. From 1909 to 1953 around 30,000 Morgan Threewheelers were manufactured in Malvern and many more were made under license by Darmont Morgan in France. For many lucky owners it was their first experience of the freedom that car ownership could bring. Fast acceleration combined with a cruising range of over 50 miles to a gallon of petrol was an unbeatable combination in the day. On the race track the car became very successful, famously winning the French Grand Prix in 1913 and regularly lapping the banked Brooklands track at an average speed of over 100 mph. Stirling Moss who owned one is on record as saying "My Morgan was a great babe magnet".

Whilst the world is a very different place in 2011 the time is right to relaunch this exceptional design. Young people may not have experienced the same thrill as the early Threewheeler pilots and perhaps cult status is assured for a car with such an emphasis on simple honest functionality. The future of road transport in the 21st Century has two big issues, the conservation of precious resources and the protection of our beautiful natural environment. Downsizing and a philosophy of simplicity are ways of dealing with these problems.The Morgan Threewheeler is a proven answer to these problems. In 2011 the Morgan Motor Company is to expand its range and go back to its roots.

The 2011 Morgan Threewheeler is a fusion of modern technology into a classic design. By fitting the latest "Screaming Eagle" 1800 cc engine from Harley Davidson and a Mazda 5 speed gearbox the car provides 'get in and drive' simplicity and reliability. A sturdy tubular frame and two rollover bars surround the passenger compartment. An aerodynamic super formed 'bullet' hull protects the occupants from the weather. However the feeling of freedom and contact with the road through the front wheels will bring to mind the joy of driving cars from the 20's and 30's but with none of their fragility or temperament. A leather padded aircraft style cockpit indulges the feeling of 'flying through the air'. Refining the original design has produced a unique 21st century vehicle. A sub 500kgs overall weight and a slippery hull provides the ultimate in performance and fuel economy. The Morgan Three wheeler has unrivalled power to weight for its on the road price.

Specification
The specification ensures the driver and passenger have exactly what they need whilst encapsulating the original Morgan Threewheeler's DNA. The attractive themes apparent in the successful Sport range of traditional Morgans forms the basis of the specification of the cars. Eight Sport colours with black detailing and a choice of black or tan leather are offered.

Weight: 500kg (Est.)
Power: 100bhp (at wheel) (Est.)
Top Speed: 115mph (Est.)
0-60 : 4.5 seconds (Est.)
Engine: 1800cc 'V twin'
Gearbox: 5 speed + reverse
Super formed aluminium body
Motorcycle homologation
Choice of 8 sport colours
Gloss black wheel arches and lamps
Gloss black wire wheels
Matt black exhausts + gloss heat shield
Nickel colored cowl
Super formed aluminium body
Gloss black roll hoops
Twin flyscreens
Black or tan leather
Leather seats, dash and side pads
Exposed tubular black chassis
Leather steering wheel + alloy centre
Black anodized dash panel
Aluminium 'aircraft' toggle switches
Body Colored trim panels
'Bomb release' style start button
'Bespoke' specifications for the Morgan Threewheeler will be available, as with any Morgan, but at increased cost and following a run of standard cars off the production line.

Morgan Aero SuperSports Revealed

In this 100th year of operations for Morgan Motor Company, the specialty manufacturer has announced they will be putting the Morgan Aero SuperSports on the market. To this day, Morgan is still owned by the family of entrepreneur HFS Morgan, and it shows in many of the design characteristics still seen on their cars today.





Press Release

Morgan Aero SuperSports

Throughout 2009 the Morgan Motor Company is celebrating one hundred years of continuous manufacture of motorcars. The company has remained in one family's ownership since the founder HFS Morgan made his first car in 1909.

As part of the Centenary celebrations Morgan announces a truly special model.

Designed and engineered in house, the Morgan Aero SuperSports is a lightweight aluminium sports car with a luxurious specification. The interior features a comfortable combination of polished hardwoods, hand stitched leather and electronic technology to create a driving environment that is efficient, ergonomic and sumptuous. In spite of all this opulence the overall weight of the car is still minimal so the car is responsive to driver inputs and economical to run. The unique way Morgan can achieve this is down to our use of aircraft style superformed aluminium outer panels and the skills of our craftsmen to hand finish the assembly of each car.

This technology debuted in the 100 AeroMax coupes built by the factory in 2008 and 2009.

Such was demand for this model, that Morgan have taken the decision to produce the Morgan Aero SuperSports. A limited edition, the car makes use of two aluminium detachable roof panels. These can either turn the car effectively in to a coupe or when detached bring fresh air and the aromas of the seasons to the driving experience without undue wind disturbance to spoil the journey. The panels can be stored conveniently in the boot.

The car of course benefits from the lightweight aluminium Aero chassis which is adhesively bonded for class leading rigidity. Exceeding global crash protection standards, this is also the platform used by the Morgan Aero Eight GT3 currently competing successfully in the 2009 International FIA GT3 Championship. This chassis combined with the aluminium 4.8 litre BMW V8 engine and a choice of 6 speed automatic or manual gearboxes offers an unrivalled driving experience. No other automatic car offers such dynamic power transmission.

Drawn by Matthew Humphries, and engineered for production by the experienced "Morgan Design" team, the new Aero Super Sports is due to enter production in early 2010. A deposit of £25,000 is required to ensure the supply of one of these exciting new models. It is anticipated to cost around £127,000 including VAT.

Charles Morgan, Grandson of the founder said " The Morgan Aero SuperSports is a luxurious flamboyant sports car which also remains true to Morgan's philosophy of lightweight minimalist simplicity. It is a celebration of our love of cars and the romance of travel and is a fitting model to announce during Morgan's Centenary year."
via:World Car Fans



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Morgan SuperSports Junior 3-wheeler pedal car revealed

The SuperSport Junior Pedal Car is built to 2/3 scale and is based on the original Morgan 3-wheel vehicles built by Morgan founder HFS Morgan at the beginning of the 20th Century.


Morgan will make only 500 of the SuperSport Junior Pedal Car. Each will sell for 2,510 UK pounds, or 2,642 euros. Leather upholstery will cost you an extra 250 pounds.


The car features high quality materials to keep the weight down and is made from aluminum. Morgan Motor Company says it has designed this pedal-powered car for 6 to 13 year olds.


Okay, let's get this out of the way: It's a tricycle. A very expensive tricycle.


But what if they made this car for adults? Larger and with a battery and no pedals? Yes, that's a great idea. An electric car!


via:World Car Fans



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Morgan AeroMax goes into production

Morgan AeroMax goes into production

Morgan's funky retro-modern AeroMax coupe, originally built as a custom vehicle and displayed at the 2006 Geneva Motor Show, is going into production. The startling AeroMax combines Morgan's familiar lines with a modern envelope body. It's a love-it or hate-it design, but enough people love it that Morgan will build 100 of them.

The AeroMax features an all-aluminum body bolted to Morgan's signature ash wood frame. The complex body's twin rear windows are powered, allowing access to the luggage compartment with its available fitted Connolly luggage. Power is provided by a 4.8 liter V8 sourced from BMW, and the AeroMax is rated at 367bhp. In addition to being possibly the most aerodynamic-looking Morgan ever, the AeroMax is also the first Morgan to have an automatic transmission, as it's equipped with a six-speed ZF autobox. Morgan claims a 4.2-second 0-100km/h run and a 170mph top speed.

The modern technology bolted to the AeroMax' wood frame also includes electronic brakeforce distribution (EBD), cruise control, a tire pressure monitor and anti-lock brakes.

The AeroMax is in production at Malvern, with the first cars to be delivered soon.






Press Release

Morgan AeroMax Enters Limited Production

Two years after world debut
Just 2 years after its debut at the 2006 Geneva Autoshow as a one off built to order for one of Morgan’s discerning customers, the AeroMax coupe has entered series production at the Morgan factory.
Such was the interest surrounding this unique design that it was decided, with the kind permission of its owner, to make a limited production run of 100 cars, all of which were sold within just a few weeks of its announcement.
Following a two year intense period of production development, and a number of minor improvements to the overall design, the first customer AeroMax is shortly to be delivered.
No expense has been spared in ensuring that the production quality mirrors expectations. Innovations include a world first, the use of high tech super formed aluminium panels for the entire body. This process allows the most complex of shapes to be made in aluminium which are then fitted over a traditional ash frame. Beautifully detailed inside, the coachbuilt ash frame proves that construction of the Morgan AeroMax remains true to Morgan philosophy. Using this unique mix of technology and high quality materials, the AeroMax is assembled with care and dedication by the craftsman and women in Malvern. This method of construction offers a minimum of carbon emissions and maximum sustainability.
The body is bolted to a stiff yet lightweight Aero 8 chassis which from 2008 is fitted with the 367Bhp 4.8 litre BMW V8 engine. This gives AeroMax performance to match its looks. For the first time a Morgan can have an automatic gearbox. The latest ZF 6HP 26 gearbox gives the fastest change in the world and endows the automatic with better acceleration and fuel economy than the manual thanks to its lock up clutch, low power loss and instant change characteristics. It also delivers lower CO2 emissions, 267 g/km, a figure not normally associated with a 0-62 mph (100 kph) capability of just 4.2 seconds and a top speed in excess of 170mph.
This will be the first Morgan to use Canbus software to control not only the engine functions but also some body technology such as lighting, wipers and instrumentation. Reassurance and security are provided by Electronic Brake Distribution, cruise control, tyre pressure monitoring, ABS and Siemens electronic airbags.
The twin electrically operated glass rear windows allow easy access for the optional stitched calf leather Connolly luggage.
The technically advanced engine and lightweight construction give the best of all worlds – performance, economy and low emissions, yet still with all of the safety systems one would expect in a modern performance car.
Morgan believes with AeroMax it leads the way in exclusive bespoke low volume car construction using quality raw materials and advanced technologies that are not available to Morgan’s competitors in the world of luxury car production. Owners of the Morgan AeroMax will be joining a very exclusive club with a unique opportunity to share their motoring dreams.

Source: Morgan




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Morgan AeroMax and GT3 On Show at Geneva

First Morgan GT

Following confirmation last year that just 100 AeroMax’ are to be built from early 2008, just 29 of the planned 100 remain unsold such has been the response to this unique vehicle.

The first Gran Turismo coupe from the Malvern factory since the unique Plus Four Plus in the 1960s, the new car was styled by in response to a special request from Swiss Morgan owner and enthusiast, Eric I Sturdza. The AeroMax uses the sophisticated aluminium chassis from the Aero Eight but is coachbuilt in the traditional Morgan fashion using a laminated ash wood skeleton skinned in “A class” superformed lightweight aluminium panels.

The AeroMax combines lightweight construction with advanced technology. The car is available with a 6 speed manual gearbox or the latest ZF automatic 6 speed transmission to increase economy and reduce emissions. Reassurance and security are provided by Electronic Brake Distribution, cruise control, tyre pressure monitoring, ABS and Siemens electronic airbags. The engine is the latest 4.8 litre all alloy V8 from BMW. BMW’s unique valvetronic technology combined with Morgan’s light weight construction leads to very low Co2 emissions as well as the high performance expected of an environmentally responsible supercar. This will be the first Morgan to use Canbus technology to control not only the engine functions but also the body technology such as lighting, wipers and instrumentation.

The all up weight minus driver and fuel is expected to be under 1200Kg.

The high output engine and lightweight construction give the best of all worlds – performance, economy and low emissions, yet still with all of the safety systems one would expect in a modern performance car.

Morgan is delighted with progress on the project and believes the company leads the way in exclusive low volume construction techniques using quality raw materials that are not available to Morgan’s competitors in the world of low volume luxury mass production.

First race May 6th

Following a short break, Morgan rejoins the international race circuit with the latest version of the Aero 8 GT3.

The 3 car “AutoGT Racing” team, sponsored by Banque Baring Brothers Sturdza S.A., and run by the renowned F1 racers Jean Pierre Jabouille and legend Jacques Laffite will appear for the first race of the season at Silverstone on May 6 2007.

Lafitte commented, “we are so looking forward to running this car. We are convinced the basics are there, and now have the team and the funding to make the project prove the potential”

Fitted with a dry sump 5.0 litre BMW V8, with some 420 Bhp, a Holinger 6 speed sequential gearbox, reworked suspension and racing brakes, carbon bodywork and revised aerodynamics the package looks highly competitive.

With a top driver line up, Jacques Laffite, Frederic O’neil, Marguerite Laffite, Georges Alexandre Sturdza, Frederic Makowiecki and Jean Francoise Le Roch the team are both optimistic and excited about the prospects for the coming year.

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Morgan LIFECar Project

Zero emission vehicle from Morgan

• LIFECar project promises to demonstrate an efficient high performance fuel cell sports car within three years

• The green car will deliver on performance and looks as well as emission reduction

A wholly British partnership has unveiled plans to develop the world’s first environmentally clean sports car, powered by a fuel cell which converts hydrogen into electricity.

The partnership is made up of legendary British sports car manufacturer, the Morgan Motor Company, QinetiQ, Cranfield and Oxford Universities, BOC and OSCar.

The new vehicle, known as LIFECar, will be ultra quiet and its exhaust systems will produce only water vapour. It promises a clean vehicle combined with sound motoring performance and stylish good looks.

Part-funded by the Department for Trade and Industry (DTI), LIFECar is a two and half-year long project which marks a step change in vehicle power technology, producing a combination of performance, range and fuel economy that will be essential to the motoring world of the future.

LIFECar will be based on the Morgan Aero Eight, and is powered by a QinetiQ-made fuel cell, which converts hydrogen – and oxygen taken from the air around it – into electrical energy. It will be clean, quiet and economic, and the only waste product from the car will be water. The car's power system will be incredibly efficient, producing significant improvements over current fuel cell prototype vehicles, with the fuel cell powering four separate electric motors, one at each drive wheel.

The key to delivering this step change in energy efficiency lies in a combination of factors, including weight reduction and a different design approach. This approach exploits opportunities across the vehicle to reduce energy losses and requirements.

Regenerative braking and surplus energy will be used to charge ultra-capacitors, which will release their energy when the car is accelerating. This architecture will allow the car to have a much smaller fuel cell than is conventionally regarded as necessary: it will only be as large as is required to provide cruising speed, approximately 24 kW, as opposed to around 85kW proposed by most competitor systems.

Speaking at this year's Society of Motor Manufacturers International Business Group, where the plans were unveiled, Charles Morgan, corporate strategy director of the Morgan Motor Company and LIFECar project director, said: "This is a project which captures the imagination. LIFECar promises to combine advanced technology while retaining the best in traditional ways of designing and building cars. A sports car that is beautiful, brilliant to drive but pollution free must be a goal worth striving for."

Costing a total of £1.9m, with a mix of industry and DTI funding, the two and half year project will be broken down into the following areas of responsibility:

• BOC Developing the hydrogen refuelling plantCranfield University Systems simulation, on-board computing and control of the fuel-cell hybrid powertrain. Also responsible for analysis of the integrated design process used.

• Vehicle controller and control algorithm, together with modelling softwareMorgan Motor Company Providing the car platform and assembling the final concept carOxford University Undertaking the design and control (note C) of the electric motorsOSCar Responsible for overall system design and architectureQinetiQ Developing Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell (PEMFC)

Technical Background

The car's fuel cell system operates by electrochemically combining on-board hydrogen with oxygen taken from the air outside. Although in most respects fuel cells are more like engines than batteries, to the extent that they generate energy from fuel in a tank rather than store energy, like batteries, they use electrodes (solid electrical conductors) with an electrolyte (an electrically conductive medium). When the hydrogen molecules come into contact with the negative electrodes, the molecules split into protons and electrons. The protons are then carried across the proton exchange membrane to the positive electrode of the fuel cell whilst the electrons travel around the external circuit as electricity. The molecules of the hydrogen and oxygen are combined chemically, with water as the only waste product. The only emission from the QinetiQ fuel cell will be water vapour. The electric power generated by the fuel cells powers the electric motors and turns the wheels of the vehicle.

LIFECar Consortium - Quotations

Stephen Evans, Professor of Life Cycle Engineering, Cranfield University: "Cranfield University is developing computer simulation models for the main vehicle components; such as the fuel cell, the hydrogen storage system and the electrical machine. These models will allow University engineers to predict the performance of the vehicle and its environmental impact long before any physical components have been manufactured and tested. These models will then be used to develop the sophisticated control software and electronics, which are necessary to integrate and manage the vehicle’s on-board hydrogen and electrical power systems. Cranfield University will also be acting as ‘project observer’ to ensure that the design techniques used are made known to others."

Dave Wardle, European Manager of Hydrogen Energy for BOC: "The future of the hydrogen economy, and hydrogen-powered motoring in particular, is central to both our society and our company. This project has our total support, since if offers a real chance of bringing forward a time in which hydrogen fuel is a realistic option for motorists."

Dr Malcolm McCulloch of Oxford University: "It is obvious that in our transition to a sustainable society we will have to adopt electric power for cars, and they will have to be very efficient ones at that. To do this we will need to push the envelope in the design of electric motors and their control gear, which will be Oxford’s contribution to LIFECar."

Hugo Spowers of OSCar Automotive: "This project is the first fruit of a great deal of work on the whole system design of fuel cell powered vehicles. We hope to be able to demonstrate that the perceived barriers to the adoption of hydrogen-fuelled motoring, the high costs of fuel cells and hydrogen storage are, if not bogus, much less of a problem than is conventionally thought."

Ian Whiting of QinetiQ: "LIFECar is about catching the first big wave in the energy revolution, which is set to transform the motoring industry in the same way that the computer industry was transformed by the personal computer decades ago."

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Morgan Aeromax to be Produced

The Morgan Motor Company is delighted to announce that following an exhaustive study into the viability of producing the stunning AeroMax Coupe, production is due to commence in January 2008.

A limited run of just 100 individually numbered coach built coupes will be constructed at a rate of 1 -2 cars per week, the final model leaving production lines in Morgan's Centenary year – 2009.

Pricing is anticipated to be around £94,000 + VAT and will be supplied strictly on a first come first served basis.

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