“FOR: Effortless performance, fine build, peerless character. AGAINST: Old world handling, massive waiting list” Autocar, 24th September 1997
Twenty-nine years later all the plus points in Autocar’s road test summary are still more than valid while at least 50% of the negatives have been resolved; the waiting list for this particular Morgan is now down to a more palatable ten days or less and it could be yours by mid-October. As for the handling, the scribes at Autocar really should give this expertly developed example a run; night and day, chalk and cheese, pick an antonym, any antonym.
Founded over 114 years ago by H.F.S. Morgan, the company is still hand building cars whose design had changed relatively little since they added a fourth wheel in the mid-1930s. We say relatively though it must be stressed, that is in the context of machinery produced between the World Wars compared to today; any of the current offering from the Blue Oval (Capri, Kuga, Puma, they all look exactly the same to us) parked next to a Model T makes a mid-1960s Morgan 4/4 (or even an end of production 2018 model) look like a carbon copy of the company’s very first example which rolled out of the Pickersleigh Avenue Factory in 1936. Of course, such sloth-like development is sure to result in financial ruin in the fast paced, ‘next big thing’ motorcar market. Except Morgan didn’t get that email (memo or even telegram) and it doesn’t seem to have done them any harm - as far as we know there has never been a ten year wait for any of Henry’s products. Though they railed against it, Ford were caught up in the General Motors fuelled concepts of ‘Built in Obsolescence’ and ‘Model Years’ that were cynically designed to drive demand. We’d also wager that out of the last 100 years, Morgan has had fewer with balance sheets in the red than Ford has…
This limited development resulted in a number of components remaining constant to a Morgan motorcar over the years. A traditional separate steel chassis combined with an ash frame to support the archetypal swept wing roadster bodywork was always the literal core of the cars. One feature that not only stood the test of time but became a Morgan signature was the sliding pillar independent front suspension. First seen on H.F.S.’s Runabout in 1909, it was a clever system that worked well and kept un-sprung weight down to a minimum. Drivetrains were much more frequently updated, not least because of the supply issues that resulted from major players ceasing production.
So while finding your niche and then steadfastly refusing to leave it seems to promote far more loyalty in your customers than a supermarket store card, it has to be said that having a fantastic product that consistently punches above its weight in motorsport for over 100 years certainly helps.
From the introduction in 1936 of the first Morgan with a four cylinder engine (prior to that, V twins had provided motive power) and four wheels (a 33% increase on previous models), named the 4/4 for some unfathomable reason, Morgan applied its ‘softly, softly’ approach to product development and it was not until February 1963 that the “Series V” eventually arrived. Continuing its policy of pilfering Ford power units, the 4/4 was powered by the 1498cc 116E engine, now referred to as the “Pre-crossflow” (only owners of crystal balls used that label at the time). Paired with Ford’s delightful four speed gearbox, the 65 BHP it offered in standard form was perfect for what was effectively the gateway model in Morgan’s range, though period sales records indicate a ‘GT’ specification engine was an option. A mere 639 cars were built before it was replaced by the crossflow engined Series VI which arrived in March 1968.
With regard to this particular 4/4’s history, we can get off to a flying start thanks to the copy of the relevant page from the Factory build log on file. This reveals that Chassis Number B998 (ah, the joy of pre-17 digit VINs, damn you ISO?3779) was originally configured with a non-GT 1498cc engine, green coachwork, a black interior, bucket seats, Brooklands steering wheel and a tonneau cover. It also confirms that the Morgan was dispatched to local (as in based in the old Morgan factory in Malvern local) Morgan Dealers ‘Bowman and Acock’ on 18th September 1964, and the invoice was paid four days later.
Though the identity of the first owner is not confirmed, a letter on file dated 11th October 1972 from The Zenith Carburetter Company Ltd regarding a replacement unit is addressed to a Mr R. Tomlinson of Coventry. A V5 registration document from May 1995 is also present showing Robert Tomlinson still owned the Morgan (we make that at least twenty-five years) and though it was now blue, it was apparently running its original engine (S35278 on the V5 though the Factory recorded it as S352781).
The next piece of the ownership jigsaw is a receipt and copy of a Bank Draft relating to the sale of the 4/4 by a Mr Richard Murgatroyd to a Mr Austen Oakes on 5th October 2013. At this stage, the intention was for Mr Oakes to indulge in a little gentle hillclimbing though, as often happens, things escalated fairly quickly and his son in law, Mr Simon Ashby, already a very successful competitor, took the project on. He prepared the 4/4 for more serious competition work and a raft of invoices from 2014 onwards bear witness to some very significant expenditure. The Morgan was initially fitted with a Lotus Twin Cam engine (a relatively easy swap from a 116E) and ‘Rocket’ four speed gearbox. The car proved very quick but of course you always want to go one better and a ‘full fat’ dry sump 1700cc BDA engine and five speed aluminium cased gearbox were installed. Mr Ashby duly won the ‘SpeedMog’ sprint and hillclimb championship in 2019, setting an impressive number of 2.0 litre class records along the way.
Invoices on file (and there are a lot of them, too many to detail here) from mid-2014 onwards demonstrate not only how committed Mr Ashby was to building one of the quickest four-cylinder Morgans in existence, but also just how eye-wateringly expensive that exercise is. A ‘tip of the iceberg’ selection from that thick stack are:
AVO adjustable rear telescopic shock absorber conversion kit
Koni front shock absorbers
Rutherford 185lb springs
5 ½” by 15” Minilite wheels with Avon CR6ZZ tyres
Given that these four items alone cost over £2,300 and 90% of the proverbial iceberg is underwater, clearly a substantial amount of money has been lavished on the Morgan and that’s before we get to the ‘big ticket’ powertrain items; the engine, gearbox and rear axle. Back of a fag packet maths would indicate that to replicate just these three key components would cost something in the region of this 4/4’s lower auction estimate, so it is well worth looking at them in a little more detail.
Working from the grill back, the engine is a Trevor Morris Engines built 1700 BDA (Number TME.112-12/17), the full specification of which can be seen in the photo gallery. It was run up on Northampton Motorsport’s dyno on 17th March 2018 where it gave 198.1 BHP virtually all the way from 7,500 to 8,500 RPM (please see the photo gallery). This not inconsiderable power is fed through a competition clutch to one of S P Components’ Tracsport aluminium cased T9 5 speed gearboxes. This contains one of their beautifully engineered semi-helical gear sets so the unit is not only considerably lighter (both bellhousing and casing but more importantly, rotating parts too) than the standard version but significantly stronger too. Gears are selected via a quick shift lever and it is hard to refrain from wheeling out the ‘rifle bolt’ cliché when describing its action.
From there drive is taken to a rear axle built by renowned “Specialists in Morgan sports cars, Historic Sports and Racing cars” (to quote their website) JB Sports Engineering, who designed this specification of axle to handle the sort of power and torque V8s produce. Fully rebuilt in 2018 with a brand new 4.9 ratio LSD, this is about as close to bulletproof as one can get.
Primarily a competition-oriented machine (though fully road legal and, ferocious sintered clutch aside, remarkably docile) we are not going to drill down into every stone chip and dent - do have a look in the photo gallery where we have tried to show any imperfections, or just pick up the phone and ask for specific details. Having said that, B998 is in very presentable order and wears its battle scars with pride; we like to call it ‘competition car chic’.
Some of the highlights we would bring your attention to are as follows:
In low light conditions (AKA a murky autumn morning), the paintwork could be mistaken for black but its true shade of dark green becomes evident once things brighten up.
For us, the Morgan’s low and wide stance, along with the lack of any bumpers, is a welcome spin off resulting from the car’s primary purpose, namely to get from start to finish in as little time as possible.
The apparently poor off side bonnet fit is intentional and the added spacer is a common modification on competition Morgans, designed to improve airflow to the engine bay and particularly the carburettors.
The body is for the most part steel with the rear wings now formed from fiberglass (though their quality is so good, you wouldn’t know it) while the spare wheel aperture cover is aluminium.
Inside, the lightweight bucket seats, elegantly simple wood dash and classic Smiths instruments (with just the one obviously modern Racetech item displaying water temperature) are arguably some of the 4/4’s strongest hints as to its real age; without those very 1960s items, it could be a 2016 model. Despite the lack of any carpets, the interior feels purposeful rather than austere while the detachable suede trimmed Momo steering wheel and competition adjustable bias pedal box make the car’s intent clear; here to win not look like a museum exhibit. The full harness belt is date expired but still good for road and track day use while the well fitted mohair full tonneau is a useful paddock accessory. The rear end is controlled by multilink suspension featuring anti-tramp bars and a panhard rod as well as the aforementioned telescopic shock absorbers while up front a trick ‘offset bush’ tweak complements the uprated shock absorbers.
The braided fluid lines and an aluminium fuel tank present are almost a given in a machine of this ilk. While we are on the nuts and bolts, the engine bay is beautifully detailed; not in a ‘polish everything’ way but in terms of lay out, labelling, pipe and cable runs and so on, the result of years of race preparation experience.
The BDB specification BDA engine (surely architecturally one of the all-time greats) is fitted with an Ark high torque starter and the almost obligatory twin 45 Webers. Cooling is taken care of by an aluminium radiator and electric fan while exhaust gasses exit via a beautiful, and doubtless highly efficient, stainless steel exhaust. When running, it idles with 50 psi showing on the oil pressure gauge (See photo gallery) remarkably smoothly for such a highly tuned engine with no nasty noises, smoke etc.
Less obvious is the ‘safety steering column’, designed to shear on impact rather than cause the driver any harm while four pot alloy HiSpec Motorsport brake callipers and appropriate discs hopefully minimise the chance of that impact happening in the first place.
Some spares accompany the Morgan; weather gear in the form of side screens, hood frame and (not particularly smart) hood, bumpers, aero screen and a pair of steel rear wings.
There is a comprehensive documents file with the car and this contains the invoices referenced above from the likes of New Elms, Shaun Pickering, Tony Thompson, Demon Tweeks, Tyresave, Lewis Engineering, Melvyn Rutter and Rally Design. Also included are various Registration Documents and the dynamometer printout from Northampton Motorsport.
With the targeted championship in the bag (and to be fair the outbreak of Covid), Mr Ashby focused his attentions elsewhere and eventually decided to pass the Morgan on to a new owner. The stage is now set for the next chapter in what is already the storied life of B998 and the only real conundrum will be in what direction to next take this wonderful machine. For us, with the money already spent on fitting it with one of the all-time great engines, giving it over three times the power it originally left Malvern with (not to mention 30% more than some +8 variants) sprints, hillclimbs and even circuit racing all look to be tempting options though, with perhaps a little tweaking to the drivetrain, a Sunday blast to the pub seems equally appealing.
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