SUPER NIGHT OUT

ver one hundred people were gathered

Otogether to hear Jon’s talk, mostly Morgan aficionados with a few other potential customers, but all were keen to hear the fascinating story of the development of the Super 3 from the great man himself.

Jon began by thanking Henry for his kind introduction, stating that it was great to be out and about now; having been locked away for the past couple of years for many reasons - not least of which because he was developing new products. He went on to state that evenings like this are really useful because of the feedback given by audiences who may well come up with ideas that Morgan themselves may not have actually thought of before. To start Jon told of how he joined MMC in 2009, a very exciting time to join the company as it was just celebrating it’s Centenary. He joined as the second designer, his predecessor having joined two years earlier, who had been quite an “analogue guy”; using pencil and paper whilst Jon’s background was a more digital approach. Photoshop and digital modelling being his stock tools of his trade so he initially used these techniques to create plans and information that would be understood by the craftsmen and engineers at Morgan - and as soon “as the team realised that we could colour in I was set to work designing the brochures and photography, this has eventually resulted in the multimedia team at Morgan that I now head. We enjoy doing the product design, shows and events, and portraying the brand in terms of posters and design.

“That for me summarises what’s best about Morgan, it’s a very inclusive, very holistic business”

Gesturing towards the Super 3, Jon then went on to say that he was by no means fully responsible for that but that it was a team effort. But what had been the reasoning behind it?

“Super 3 was a new challenge, a challenge that originated with a requirement to update the power train of the three-wheeler, it was becoming increasingly difficult - because of legislation - to obtain a replacement engine for the V-twin for the existing M3W. remarkably, the price of the power train of the old 3W at the end of its production was the same as the Morgan plus 6, so continuing with it was not economically viable. Finding a replacement engine involved a consultation process with “our most charming and intelligent dealers, and Henry ” to find out what it was that our customers loved about the M3W. It was this research that made us realise that 3W owners could basically be split into quite distinctive camps. The first group just loved the fact that it was a Morgan, and that our origins were in the building of three wheelers, so this gave us the heritage model. The second camp, were people that just loved the fact that

it was a 3W, and that it was crazy and different; so this second camp gave us a far more contemporary design of car. And the third camp was all about adventure, so the third car was designed around touring and trips.

“But to go back to the requirement for the new power train it seemed obvious to us that we should initially look for a new motorcycle engine, thus maintaining the character of the M3W.” Jon was then ver y surprised to discover that this was ver y difficult to do, he looked at British partners that fitted large motorcycle engines and of course they went to BMW who do large capacity boxer engines (horizontally opposed) and without exception all these motorcycle engines had an internal gearbox. These were all sequential gearboxes and would be ver y hard to reengineer, notwithstanding the fact that none of them had a reverse gear either. So having discounted using a motorcycle engine Morgan then went on to look at their other partners and quickly realised that Ford had a three cylinder naturally aspirated engine that perfectly fitted in the car. This engine is incredibly ugly to look at, it’s all plastic because it’s designed to be inside of the car; so that’s where they put it.

Jon’s brief quickly became to create a lower cost 3W in terms of materials, and to place the engine inside of the car. Not only did Jon have to fit the engine inside the car, but he also had to fit in not only a cooling pack (the engine was not air-cooled) and taller people than had previously been comfortably accommodated ( Jon quipped that he is much taller than his predecessor.) All these ambitions had to be achieved within two years. Jon then went on to describe the design process once the engine had been decided upon. “The engine itself needed to be placed just behind the line joining front wheels which is important for the dynamic mass of the 3W as that is the best place for the engine in terms of stability and safety. “Also the aesthetics require that it should look like it’s towed by its front wheels. This aesthetic applies across all Morgan models including the 4 wheelers, the idea is that of a horse and cart; with the business end out front that is very

mechanical, very engineered - and then there’s beautiful coach work behind it. The proportions of all Morgans being that the occupants sit in the back, just behind the midpoint between the front and rear wheels, so the engine mounts sat squarely between the two front wheels, and initially the design team wondered how they should cover them up, but the more they wondered how they should cover them up, the more they realised that they should make them part of the visual design of the car to give it its new character. It has always been the mechanical aesthetic of the 3W that the engineering, as on a motorbike, is visible. And so, this cast aluminium mounting is also used to duct the outside air into the internal cooling packs, not only that but it also forms the headlight brackets, every single part of the car has to do more than one job, that casting aesthetic is also used on the rear casting where it contains the boot hinge.” (It’s good to know that despite being Morgan’s first monocoque designed car, that the car still carries with it Peter Morgan’s honesty of design where the function of every part of the car is clear to anyone looking at it.)

“But this design ethos also enabled us to keep the quality good but the cost as low as possible.”

Not only is Super 3 Morgan’s first monocoque, but it is also the first car without any wood! Jon told that

there had been a special meeting called at the Factory to decide “where to put the wood?”!

The meetings conclusion was that there would be not wood. Wood has been used in all other cars before because it serves a purpose, not because of “cliché or tradition”. In the Super 3 it would serve no purpose. W hilst in the “Door Car”, as Jon described the four wheelers, wood serves both as a safe and strong part of its coach built body and to maintain the Company’s sustainability targets, the strength of Super 3 is maintained by the flat aluminium body sides. These sides carry the new and innovative “Side Blades” an innovation that Jon and the team are particularly proud of as they allow many accessories to be fitted.

Last but not least, Jon explained how noise and character were really important for Super 3, as it was never going to compete with the outgoing “punchy, thumpy” V twin on the outgoing M3W with the noise of induction and exhaust that engine makes. But the vehicle is still a motorbike, so it can have a sharp edge on the exhaust that makes the “warble” of the three cylinder engine, “Like half a 911”. A car would never be allowed that exhaust!

The Super 3 is now in full production, so get on down to your dealer and see, hear and drive it for yourself.