In 1909 H.F.S. Morgan fitted a Peugeot engine meant for a motorcycle to a three-wheeled chassis in Malvern Link. More than a century later, Morgan still builds its cars on Pickersleigh Road.
- Country
-
United Kingdom - Active
- Since 1909
- Founded by
- H.F.S. Morgan
- Website
- Official website ↗
A garage, a Peugeot engine and three wheels
Morgan’s story starts with a young man in a Worcestershire garage who wanted a motorcycle and ended up building a car. Henry Frederick Stanley Morgan, known to everyone as H.F.S., ran a garage at Malvern Link. He had bought a Peugeot twin-cylinder engine, and in 1909 he fitted it to a light tubular chassis with three wheels. It was a single seater. It worked.
Morgan itself dates its founding to 1909. Single-seat three-wheelers went on show at the motor show of 1910, and H.F.S.’s father, a clergyman, helped finance the move into production. In 1912 the business became a private limited company, the Morgan Motor Company, with the Reverend H.G. Morgan as chairman and his son as managing director.
The name needs no decoding. It is simply the family name, and it has stayed on the cars ever since. So has the address: the factory is still on Pickersleigh Road in Malvern Link, where Morgan calls itself a coachbuilder, and the Morgan family, now in its fourth generation, still holds a share of the company.
The wings that barely moved for decades
Morgan’s emblem is known simply as the wings badge. As the name says, wings are the point. What it is meant to say is harder to pin down. Morgan has not published an official explanation of the wings that we could find, so we won’t invent one for it.
What we do know is how slowly it has changed. In 2007 Design Week reported that the design agency Deep had given the wings a makeover, aiming to modernise the logo while keeping its classic feel. According to that report, the logo had remained virtually unchanged until then, and the refreshed version was due to appear on all new Morgans from 2010.
A digital makeover, drawn in Malvern
The next step came in 2021. With the updates to the Plus Four and Plus Six for model year 2022, the redesigned wings badge appeared on a car for the first time. It was the logo’s first update in more than a decade, part of a wider refresh of Morgan’s brand identity.
This time no outside agency was involved. The badge was designed in house, and Morgan presented it as an example of a new kind of digital craftsmanship sitting alongside its traditional coachbuilding skills. Owners could even order it in a black finish, to go with an optional black grille.
From cyclecar to Plus Four
Few car makers change their recipe as rarely as Morgan. The 4/4 alone stayed in production for more than eight decades.
Landmark Morgans, decade by decade
- 1909: The first three-wheeler. A single-seat tubular chassis powered by a Peugeot V-twin engine originally meant for a motorcycle.
- 1936: 4/4. Built from 1936 to 2018, and according to Morgan the record holder as the longest running production vehicle in the world.
- 1950: Plus 4. Morgan’s most popular model since its launch, and a fixture of the range for seven decades.
- 2011: 3 Wheeler. A modern return to Morgan’s roots, built until the summer of 2021 and then followed by the Super 3.
- 2020: Plus Four. The all-new successor to the Plus 4, powered by a BMW 2.0 litre engine in a car weighing just over 1,000kg.
Morgan doesn’t build its own engines today. The last Plus 4 used a Ford unit, while the Plus Four runs on BMW power. In 2019 the investment group Investindustrial announced it would invest heavily in the company and became its majority shareholder. If you like small British sports car makers, compare the badge with those of Caterham, TVR and Ginetta, or browse more classic car logos.
Frequently asked questions
What does the Morgan logo mean?
The Morgan emblem is known as the wings badge. Morgan has not published an official explanation of what the wings stand for.
Who founded Morgan?
H.F.S. Morgan. He built his first three-wheeler in 1909, the year Morgan gives as its founding, and in 1912 the business became a private limited company with his father as chairman.
When did Morgan last change its logo?
In 2021. A redesigned wings badge, created in house, first appeared on the model year 2022 Plus Four and Plus Six. It was the logo’s first update in more than a decade.
Who owns Morgan?
Investindustrial is the majority shareholder after announcing a major investment in 2019. The Morgan family still holds a shareholding.
From Pickersleigh Road: the Morgan file
- Founded
- 1909
- Founder
- H.F.S. Morgan
- Country
- United Kingdom
- Headquarters
- Malvern Link, United Kingdom
- Parent company
- Investindustrial (majority shareholder)
- Current emblem
- The wings badge, redesigned in house and first used on cars in 2021
- Known for
- Hand-built sports cars and three-wheelers
- Website
- Official website ↗
