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In these efforts Morgan and his friends were signally successful as the little trike was rather better built than most; sales followed and inevitably with them a proliferation of models such as Standard, Family, De Luxe, Aero, Grand Prix, etc.
It is rather difficult in this day and age to visualize what anyone would want the a 3-wheeler, as whatever bump the front wheels miss the back one is sure to catch. They were rather tippy in fact, after some unpleasant moments at Brooklands the trikes were made to run with motorcycle sidecar outfits but they were cheap to buy, cheap to run, benefited from low insurance and Road Fund rates as they weighed under 8 cwt along with the plebeian sidecar outfits, the only family transportation that the downtrodden masses could afford. I donıt think anyone realizes today how low wages really were in the early days of cyclecars and that the mere addition of fitting a screen wiper might just push a prospective customer over to a slightly cheaper make. The first 2-seater Moggie, awash with such creature comforts as a windscreen, collapsibe top and wheel steering sold at £65 which was toward the top of the range, really; 65 quid was a fortune to some folk (a farm worker or factory hand was lucky to take home 5 quid a month) but now just might pay for a night at the Dorchester, not counting room service. However, performance was exhilarating, using a variety of air- and water-cooled 1000-cc big twins which grew to encompass JAP, Anzani, Matchless, MAG, Blackburne or anything else that could be shoehorned in (including a Brough Superior, the Vincent HRD of its time), while in a pinch impecunious customers of used models could plug in a 500-cc thumper. |
Racing successes abounded in the hands of people like E.B. War, W.G. McMinnie and the ever-popular Gwenda Hawkes and along with racing practice went detail modifications like grease-gun fittings on the rockers, reliable magnetos, decent brakes and 3-speed boxes. Even the deathwatch beetle, along with partners woodworm, teredo and gribble, traveled stylishly in the wood-framed body. The knell sounded for bike-engine Morgans when enterprising car manufacturers like Austin, Morris and Ford started making really cheap baby saloons with all the amenities; young brides might have been gushingly enthusiastic in their courting days, indifferent to greasy shoes, laddered stockings, kidney-freezing drafts and unexpected pools of oil in the lap of their best silk frocks but somehow domesticity, especially after Little Buggins arrived, made the charms of a 50-mph shower of Castrol R from the rockerbox seem less sporting. Low initial and running costs kept Morgan in business, and always there was the hard core of enthusiasts to absorb some of his tiny production, but the writing was on the wall. In 1935 approx the factory commenced fitting the 8- and 10-hp (fiscal) flathead Ford Popular, still retaining chain drive (!); this hybrid was called the F type and carried on for years while at its side, as a definite leap into the 19th century, the classic 4/4 which still had a separate gearbox and a choice over the years of i over e Climax or Standard Ten engine (both a bit more than 1100 cc) was brought in with a normal "car" back axle of all things. These handsome little fellows were immensely successful in spite of rather individual handling, coal-cart ride and the streamlining of a barn door and in various disguises won quite a few competition events besides keeping Morgan solvent. |
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