The radiator had been completely worn through by the sides of the hood because it had not been taped where the hood made contact, but fortunately a new radiator that had been hand-built in England at some time was found. The front wire mesh grille was fabricated by blowing up an original photograph of the factory TT car, measuring the size of the mesh and then acquiring some stainless steel wire screen with the same mesh dimensions. Obviously, there was a great deal of detail work to be done in addition to the major reconstruction, but the comparative simplicity of the original design made the whole restoration project much easier and cheaper than would be the case with a more sophisticated, but not necessarily more effective car.

Documenting a classic car is always difficult, and particularly in the case of cars built by small companies where the record keeping has to be kept to a minimum and one model can be converted into another almost overnight in the shop. Fortunately, the history of John Artley's car was fairly well known when he bought it, and he has been able to bring its history up to date by correspondence.

It was certainly a works car for about 10 years and therefore went through many modifications during that period, over and above the three engines that it has had and apart from its conversion from a production 4/4 to a TT Replica. In its original form it was a trials and rally car and was driven quite extensively by H.F.S. Morgan himself. Among other events, H.F.S. won an award in the 1938 RAC Rally and a bronze medal in the 1938 MCC Edinburgh Trial. Apparently the car was then converted to TT specifications and is thought to have been entered for the TT race at Donington, although it was not listed as finishing. In 1939, the car competed in the Caledonia Rally, but apparently did not win anything. In 1947 it ran in the Daily Express Trophy Meeting, where it placed 2nd to a 1500-cc HRG in the production sports car race.

It was shortly after this event, and while the car was being prepared for another race, that the engine blew up and the Standard Special was installed. The car then appears to have been sold but it turned up from time to time in club events, and changed hands on several occasions. Later it spent quite a long period stored in a shed behind a pub. Apparently, the pub was the meeting place for local Morgan enthusiasts, who used to go out to the shed to look at it. The owner was always promising to restore it, but never did and finally the car was sold to the person from whom John Artley bought it.

At a time when classic cars of any kind, and many without much of a pedigree at all, are fetching uncommon amounts of money, it's a pleasure to come across someone like John Artley who has the good taste to recognize the significance and historical importance established by Morgan cars over the years. His TT Replica 4/4 is one of the most important cars in the Morgan family and the excellence of his restoration is certainly worth the time and effort he has put into it.