"Perhaps one of you has an idea for the following. My friend owns the 1953 +4 DHC which reputedly was used by Chris Lawrence for testing his developments. The engine in the car has still a Lawrencetune inlet manifold with 2 Weber DCOE carburetors and the cylinder head seems to be "special" too, as is the exhaust manifold.
The engine number is simply X 773 E. A Chris Lawrence number?? A Triumph number?? Reconditioned engine??
Frank"
Hello, Frank.
You have a tough question, but I'll give it a try because I also have a 1953 +4. I assume your friend's 1953 DHC is a flat rad, and not a curved-grill model made in late 1953, which would be 1954 model year. Do you know his Chassis Number?
My 1953 +4 is chassis P2629 with engine V559ME. The prefix V denotes Vanguard, which was Standard-Triumph's best-selling large car at the time. According to Ken Hill's The Four-wheeled Morgan, Vol.1 p.44, the last 1953 Flat rad was Chassis P2756 or P2761. All cars made afterward had Triumph engines (with a prefix TS) except some of the DHCs which could get a Vanguard engine as an option.
There were 658 Plus 4 flatrads made betwwn 1950 and 1953, and their engines were numbered from V1ME to about V700ME. Thus, your friend's engine numbered X 773 E is outside the range of numbers for original 1953 Plus 4s. Also, the suffix E would usually mean the engine was installed in a Standard-Triumph car, while the suffix ME was used for engines sent to Morgan.
My best guess is that this engine X 773 E was one of the Vanguard engines that was supplied to Morgan to be used as an option on DHCs in 1954 and 1955. In this event the actual number should be V773ME. Is your friend sure that the X is not really a V, and that there isn't a weakly-struck M between the 3 and the E?
But I have a question: Why would Chris Lawrence use a 1953 DHC as a test vehicle, when it is slower, heavier, and more expensive than a roadster?
