Morgan – An English Enigma

Martyn Webb has been the Archivist at the Morgan Motor Company in Malvern since 2009. His first book, Morgan, Malvern & Motoring, published by Crowood Press in 2008, told the story of early developments in motoring and the formative years of the Morgan Motor Company. This volume; Morgan, an English Enigma, takes the story further; through the Vintage and Classic periods, to the late 1960s. Martyn bought his first Morgan, a 1953 Plus 4, in 1985, thus fulfilling a desire to own a classic machine built in his home town. A vintage Morgan Aero dating from 1923 soon followed, the three-wheeler providing a fascinating comparison with the later four-wheeled car. Today, Martyn lives less than a mile from the factory in Malvern Link and currently owns four of the company’s cars. He has a background in aircraft engineering but subsequently changed career, and established a restoration business specialising in fine woodworking; experiences that equipped him well to appreciate both the technical and design aspects of Morgan cars. A keen motor sport enthusiast, Martyn’s current project is the restoration of the competition-prepared 1956 Plus 4 that was raced, with great success, by Chris Lawrence in the late 1950s. His first book, Morgan, Malvern & Motoring (Crowood, 2008), told the story of early developments in motoring and the formative years of the Morgan Motor Company.