Morgan: First and Last of the Real Sports Cars by Brian Laban
Founded over 90 years ago in Malvern Link, a West Midland backwater of rural England, Morgan is one of the oldest sports car makers in the world, probably the most independent, certainly the quirkiest. Perhaps personified by the plus 8, the Morgan's shape and presence are unmistakable: long bonnet with fly-pressed louvres; distinctive wheel-arches; wire wheels; upholstered by Connolly; the colour of your choice. And you almost know by the way it moves that it is coach-built on a wooden sub-frame. Idiosyncratic; a unique car. Adored, much coveted, its famous waiting list has proved a potent marketing tool. 1930's throwback? Anachronism? In 2000, Morgan's exciting new project, the Aero, developed in association with BMW, confirmed that neither the car nor the company fits any such mould. Morgan: First and Last of the Real Sports Cars, is anything but a trip down memory lane. It offers a fascinating family-based history, the story of three generations with the same deep-rooted ideals but with individual ways of expressing them. How has Morgan survived in the cut-throat industry? What are the keys of its success? Dogged Determination? Business Acumen? Luck? Branding? Customer Loyalty? How has the company survived the periodic slumps, stayed solvent and still managed consistently to manufacture beautifully crafted cars which engender such passionate feelings? This book, researched and written with the full co-operation of the Morgan family, tells it all - the past, the present, the future, the story of a very British company