COMPANY

Harry Frederick Stanley Morgan, who was often called HFS, founded the Morgan Motor Company in 1910. Morgan is a British motor car manufacturer, run by HFS until 1959, when he died at the age of 77. Peter Morgan, the creator's son began running the company at that time and kept things going until 2003, a couple of years before he died. Currently, Charles Morgan runs the Morgan Motor Company. He is the grandson of the original founder.

Morgan is located in a part of Malvern in the county of Worcestershire in England. The company has over 150 employees and in the year 2007, it produced over 650 cars. Each of the cars is assembled in a special manner, by hand. Potential buyers are put on a waiting list for a Morgan vehicle, which can be as long as two years, but in past years it has been as long as ten years.

The Morgan visitor center and museum attracts thousands of visitors each year. Visitors can take a guided tour of the factory and view exhibits that highlight the history of the company from its beginning to today. There are also displays on the technology of automobiles over the years as well as a showroom of the vehicles themselves.

The early Morgan cars were actually two or four seat vehicles on three wheels. They were considered cycle cars and they were popular in their day because they avoided the car tax in Britain. Once small cars came on the market from Austin and Morris, the cycle cars went out of style. The smaller cars had better prices and comfort in comparison to the cycle cars.

Once Morgan began making four-wheel vehicles, the standard for luxury heightened. The four seater came on to the auto scene in 1915 and after the Great War, the model was marketed to families and sold in large numbers. The demand for this form of transportation was large and the company built a new factory to produce up to fifty cars every week. That began Morgan's reputation as one of the largest British car producers.

In spite of the history of a traditional design, Morgan vehicles have always had a sports car performance. The cars are low in weight and their enthusiasts often call the vehicles, 'Moggies'. The vehicles have appeared in plenty of movies over the years including the 1968 movie, "The Party" and the 1989 movie, "War of the Roses".

During the 1950s and 1960s, the United States provided the Morgan Company with the largest marketplace. Over 85% of the cars produced with the Morgan brand made their way to the US. That phase ended when US safety and emission regulations were put into place in 1971. After that time, many of the Morgan imported vehicles were converted to run on other items in order to pass the regulation standards.

In 2005, the new Morgan Aero 8 model was created. The Morgan Company has said that it wants to re-apply to US dealers for certification in the future. For the time being, the only way to get a hand built, specialized Morgan car is by order. The waiting list is long but the Morgan enthusiasts all feel that the vehicles are worth the wait.