[SSR?] Morgan 3 Wheeler

Syd · Post by **Syd** » Fri Apr 04, 2014 7:18 pm

I have the California Air Resources Board's Engine Certification page bookmarked, looking for the Genuine Rainbow Unicorn to appear. Yesterday I noticed a new engine certification for the Morgan 3Wheeler company.

WTH is this?

SockyTX · Post by **SockyTX** » Fri Apr 04, 2014 7:33 pm

I saw 1 of these in My city last month and snapped a pic, didn't know what to think, kind cool it looked like it was put together well

pugbuddy · Post by **pugbuddy** » Fri Apr 04, 2014 8:24 pm

Oh heck yes! This is AWESOME!

OldGuy · Post by **OldGuy** » Fri Apr 04, 2014 10:36 pm

If memory serves, Morgan has been hand-building cars, per custom order, for perhaps 90 years or more in Malvern Link, England. They are still built in the same old factory. There used to be a dealer in San Francisco, and several other places in the US. I don't think they import them anymore.

If you ever saw what looked like an old mid-50s MG, but didn't quite look the same, it may have been a Morgan. Very well built and good performing cars. And quite pricey and desirable. A Morgan Plus 4 is on my dream list of cars that I'd like to own.

Morgan made 3 wheelers, very successfully, for several decades. 2 Wheels in front, 1 in the rear. The engine was mounted right at the very front, probably air-cooled, and I believe it was a 2 cylinder. Neat cars.

charlie55 · Post by **charlie55** » Fri Apr 04, 2014 11:30 pm

Morgans were featured on a recent "How It's Made - Dream Cars":

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x1jdwc ... shortfilms

Post by **jrsjr** » Fri Apr 04, 2014 11:59 pm

Syd wrote:WTH is this?

It's a modern take on a very VERY old Morgan design that actually dates back to before the First World War. The latest take on the Mog was actually designed here in the USA by Liberty and bought back by the Morgan Motor Company in the UK. So it really has a very cool US/UK connection. Morgan is a for-reals car company that sells very expensive, hand-made, 4-wheel sports cars, so this is not some fly-by-night outfit. Go to any British car meet-up and somebody will be there with a Morgan. They're awesome. Now they are going to sell the new Mog here. As the narrator in Cannery Row famously said, "Once again the world was spinning in greased grooves."

If I win the lottery...

P.S. The real secret to driving the old Mogs well was to master the art of the power slide. The rear wheel was very narrow and hard so it would break loose in a turn very easily. The rear wheel was the drive wheel so power fishtailing was the only way to drive it fast around a curve, sort of like a Porsche, except the front/rear weight bias is backwards relative to a Porsche. The new Mog will have modern sticky rubber, so the old driving style that made the original such a screaming hoot to drive won't work unless it has enough power to spin up the rear wheel, which I doubt.

Syd · Post by **Syd** » Sat Apr 05, 2014 6:19 am

Guess I need to expand my intertubes experience beyond MB and MV.

Dooglas · Post by **Dooglas** » Sat Apr 05, 2014 3:09 pm

jrsjr wrote:The real secret to driving the old Mogs well was to master the art of the power slide.

Watch this wonderful comparative road test of the Morgan 3 and the Caterham 7. Beautiful video but you will also see some nice power cornering with the Morgan 3.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=htI3weS49cc

Dooglas · Post by **Dooglas** » Sat Apr 05, 2014 3:13 pm

OldGuy wrote:There used to be a dealer in San Francisco, and several other places in the US. I don't think they import them anymore.

Oh yes. Iris Imports, SF, was and is.

http://www.morgancars-usa.com/

Post by **jrsjr** » Sat Apr 05, 2014 4:46 pm

Dooglas wrote:
jrsjr wrote:The real secret to driving the old Mogs well was to master the art of the power slide.
Watch this wonderful comparative road test of the Morgan 3 and the Caterham 7. Beautiful video but you will also see some nice power cornering with the Morgan 3.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=htI3weS49cc

Thank you! The scene at 3:20 pretty much shows the dynamics of successfully pitching a Mog into a turn. The Caterham 7 is a great classic car, but my heart belongs to the Mog. I wish they'd run it down an unpaved country road so you could really see it claw its way around a bend with the steering wheel heeled all the way over and that light 3 wheel car skittering sideways with the rear wheel spinning and then clawing its way out of the turn as it comes back into line. Lovely. Just lovely. <Sniff>

brianwheelies · Post by **brianwheelies** » Sat Apr 05, 2014 8:46 pm

Dooglas wrote:
jrsjr wrote:The real secret to driving the old Mogs well was to master the art of the power slide.
Watch this wonderful comparative road test of the Morgan 3 and the Caterham 7. Beautiful video but you will also see some nice power cornering with the Morgan 3.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=htI3weS49cc

The Caterham 7 (or Lotus) and the Morgan Aero are two of my favorites. Would love to have that 3 wheeler as well.

Tazio · Post by **Tazio** » Sat Apr 05, 2014 11:32 pm

There is a Morgan dealer in Santa Monica, been there for many years. Here's the link: http://www.morganwest.net/

I raced an ex-factory Sebring Morgan in the early 60's until I totaled it at the Meadowdale track in N. Illinois.

Always wanted a pre-war Morgan Super Sports which this new one looks like. I see Jay Leno with his in the Santa Monica mountains occasionally. He was at the Rock Store 2 or 3 weeks ago.

OldGuy · Post by **OldGuy** » Sat Apr 05, 2014 11:40 pm

Tazio, that's very cool. Well, except for the part about totaling the Morgan!

I worked at a drugstore in the very early 70's, after high school, as a delivery boy. The shop next door was an art studio; I think they did stained glass. The owner had a Morgan, so I got to admire it most every day. I have really appreciated and liked them ever since.

I like the 50's and 60's Morgans with the Triumph running gear.

Post by **jrsjr** » Sat Apr 05, 2014 11:59 pm

SockyTX wrote:I saw 1 of these in My city last month and snapped a pic, didn't know what to think, kind cool it looked like it was put together well

I wonder if it's possible that what you saw was a Triking. The Triking was a very similar design, patterned after the Mog, of course, that ran a Moto Guzzi motor.

Rippinyarn · Post by **Rippinyarn** » Mon Apr 07, 2014 1:41 pm

Here's Leno's try in a pre-production version. He finds out a lot about how low it really is!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_CvVr9jU4I0

I have a small deposit on an Elio http://www.eliomotors.com, which I hope will be very frugal, and almost as fun but with a fraction of the cost (and pedigree) of the Morgan.

agrogod · Post by **agrogod** » Mon Apr 07, 2014 6:22 pm

Rippinyarn wrote:Here's Leno's try in a pre-production version. He finds out a lot about how low it really is!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_CvVr9jU4I0

I have a small deposit on an Elio http://www.eliomotors.com, which I hope will be very frugal, and almost as fun but with a fraction of the cost (and pedigree) of the Morgan.

To heck with the Morgan, the Elio is a way cooler concept in design and innovation. Since I have started the ball rolling on my newest venture into the land of investing, this is such a unique concept I am considering in investing in this company. Not only are they US based but just the simple fact that there are actively trying to get out of work Americans back into the workforce is incentive alone for me. I just hope this catches on and they don't go the way of the defunct Saturn Co..

jrstone · Post by **jrstone** » Mon Apr 07, 2014 9:46 pm

I went to a vintage race at Circuit of the Americas last year and there were a couple Morgan 3 Wheelers in the Pre-War group. They were slow, but sure looked like a lot of fun.

jrstone · Post by **jrstone** » Mon Apr 07, 2014 9:50 pm

agrogod wrote: I just hope this catches on and they don't go the way of the defunct Saturn Co..

The fact that the best car Saturn ever sold was 0% American says a lot. They killed off the brand just as it was starting to get interesting.

Modern Buddy

[SSR?] Morgan 3 Wheeler

[SSR?] Morgan 3 Wheeler

Re: [SSR?] Morgan 3 Wheeler