Meticulous detail applied to handmade iconic British sports car

THREE raw materials; timber, aluminium and leather arrive at one end of a small group of unremarkable single story brick buildings nestled in the lee of the Malvern Hills in Worcestershire.

Inside they are transformed, as they have been for more than 100 years, into hand-built Morgan cars using traditional skills handed down through the generations.

About 800 cars are built to order every year, each one taking around 200 hours of work to complete as it passes through the gifted fingers of a workforce of 140 craftspeople. Many on the workshop floor have more than 30 years of experience, a handful have been bringing Morgan cars to life for 45 years.

Their creativity is future proofed with a flourishing apprenticeship programme while the fourth generation of the Morgan family remain custodians of the brand integrity.

In terms of car production it is as far away from the humming football field sized halls of twirling robotic arms as you can get.

This is meticulous detailed hands-on work with parts lovingly caressed with care and expertise into the finished article that makes each car unique. Dexterity sets the timetable here.

Once the colour choices are made by the new owner the chassis is dressed in a frame of English ash. This is lightweight and durable and the laminated sections are formed into shapes, the signature rear wheel arches using jigs that are 80 years old. The ash is then draped in the hand beaten lightweight aluminium.

It takes years to master making the perfect symmetrical curve of the bonnet and stamp a flawless line of louvres — by eye — down its length.

Finally, Scottish leather is used inside allowing for endless colour and stitching combinations.

Many car logos have wings, Aston Martin, Bentley and Mini to name three and so does Morgan but the origin of theirs is more evocative than most.

British First World War flying ace Captain Albert Ball, recipient of the Victoria Cross, DSO and Two Bars as well as the Military Cross, was an early Morgan customer when they made three wheeled cars.

He died at the age of 20, over France in 1917, fighting alongside fellow members of No 56 Squadron. He had been flying in combat for nearly a year at a time when the life expectancy of a new Royal Flying Corps pilot was just 11 days. The winged badge is believed to be a tribute to him and has continued to this day.

In Malvern a cloudless July sky lets the sun shine glint on a line of finished cars, each long low body looks eager to be driven; open top, two door, no luggage space, an iconic design that would have been recognised on these leafy green lanes in the Thirties. With the hood down it is easy to step past the tiny door and get settled into a seat that feels like it is just above the tarmac. The two wings that house the front wheels point the way ahead as they frame the famous bonnet with air vents that punctuate the top like wind blown sand dunes.

Inside less is more with everything in the spartan interior having the quality of bespoke luggage. There are modern intrusions like an ESC button but the raw ingredients are as they have been since 1936. A small flat letterbox windscreen is the only glass and with the hood down each passenger is open to the elements on each side from the elbow up.

Talking about the oily underpinnings feels as irrelevant as discussing the propeller on a slipper launch. They are mere enablers to the sensory circus of driving a Morgan. Suffice to say they cunningly pick the best engines and gearboxes to fuel the joy of darting around country byways. The current menu features fuss free engines and manual and auto gearbox options from BMW.

Without a plethora of acronym-laden aids this is paired back driving that concentrates the mind on the matter in hand. As a soundtrack play anything by Elgar and the holistic potency of the Morgan experience peaks along country lanes at about 50mph as the trees and fields swoosh by. This is a triple-distilled jigger slug of British motoring.

Owners will relish these moments as each car is tribute to the fine motor skills of the workforce and a paean to a bygone era when the fastest thing in the sky was a Spitfire.

A Morgan will nestle in amongst the other cars in their stable. Most will outlive the name on the documents as Morgan estimate that between 80 to 90 per cent of the four-wheel cars they have ever made are still on the road; each one a cherished heirloom, a sunny high day and holiday conveyance that will crunch the gravel outside the local pub at lunchtime for many years.

After a visit to the factory and a summer drive, I can absolutely see why.