Talk Morgan Forums Community The Malvern Arms Factory Visit - long story and photos to follow...

Hi all! Long time forum-watcher here (occasional poster) and finally, I feel like I can say, a true Morgan man. I've been enamoured with the brand since the age of 12 or 13 when I started watching a US TV show called "NCIS" starring David McCallum as a medical examiner who just so happens to drive '60s Morgan 4/4. A bizarre start, but more likely a beginning than ever seeing one (of any age/type) on the roads here in the States!
Fast forward about 12 years, and on Tues (8/16), I finally got to make that happen. I took a late train from London on Monday and arrived in Malvern with no map, no lodging, and no idea of what to do before my 10am tour. So, fortunately, I passed by "The Morgan" and seeming almost providential, I popped in and promptly downed 3pts of Wye Valleys "Butty Batch" and managed to use their WiFi to arrange accommodation for the night.
I awoke early, got to the Factory (way too) early, and was immediately "at home". While waiting, I nervously and excitedly drank enough coffee and tea to heighten the senses of a moderately sedated horse...and then the tour began. Let it be said, from the start, David James, my tour lead, should be put up for sainthood for withstanding my barrage of questions alone. I was, I feel, totally insufferable and he was as competent as he was kind. For those that have done the tour and experienced the majesty - without becoming adjusted to it - you would probably agree that it is just sensory overload from the very start. I could have spent hours in each phase of the cars production, quietly observing the craftsmen and craftswomen (in an attempt to be equitable, though interestingly, I did not see one! I know there are plenty of skilled women that likely work in each phase of production) work. Things that stuck out: I was stunned at the number of S5 Aero's going through, I was excited by the many choices of bespoke options I saw individuals choosing on various cars (that I didn't know existed), and I was altogether chuffed just to have finally been able to check this item off my bucket list. Completing the tour in the sterilised light of the PDI booths was perfect - the care and attention shown to each car, down to the last moment it's under roof at the factory, is indicative of so much more than a car company shuffling product out the door. It is a passion and culture carefully cultivated over more than a hundred years, one that has stood the test of time and will continue to give future generations another century or more of enjoyment!

Afterwards, I arranged a very short drive in a M3W with Steve (not Morris!) and was, as expected, thrilled with the ride. It is not a model I'm entirely sure will ever make it into my garage - as I'm still hopeful in the prospect of one of the Trads making it in there first - but someday, dare to dream, I'd love to have one.

The tour could not have come at a better time in my trip, I'd been in country for about four days and was getting slightly dismayed at my fortune of not having had my butt in the seat of a Mog sooner! My whole trip had been planned around borrowing a friends '91 4/4 and touring the whole of England/Scotland, but was waylaid just a few weeks ago by unexpected repairs and the whole trip ground to a halt. Hiring from MMC or dealers was impossible because of my age, not yet being 25, and would have proved almost prohibitively expensive for a weeks hire even if the insurers would have allowed it. Anyway! Not one to pass up a trip to the UK I came anyway and have experienced, since last Thursday, some of the finest weather I think I've ever been in! I came expecting 12-18C rain and instead have been rewarded with 20-28C and sunshine!

I'm in Edinburgh currently, at an Apple store, having had a stroke of miserable luck with my iPhone (hence no photos yet) but already cannot wait to be back in Malvern one day pulling through the gates in a Morgan of my own. I got my first job at 14 and have, since that day, socked away a very small amount of almost every paycheck towards a Morgan. The account balance has risen and fallen through University, significant others, house downpayments, etc. but has always been there. With the hope that four wheeled traditional mogs will make their way back stateside in the next year or so, I'm hoping I can make that timeline coincide with the purchase of my lifetime Morgan. We just have to watch and wait!

So, if you've stuck with me through this post, thanks!
I felt this "experience" needed to be catalogued and shared so that for those who hadn't visited, for those that have, and for all others...they could see what it was like for someone who daily dreams of all things Morgan to finally visit Morgan-Mecca.

I will update this post with photos of some things I felt were worth capturing (interesting Moggies going through build, etc) and if anyone has a car/M3W going through a certain phase of build and thinks I might've snapped a photo, let me know and I'd be happy to share it publicly or privately.
Stay tuned for another post roughly a year from now! Since my original trip was postponed, I have every reason in the world to return and do it over again. Unfortunately, I'll have to find other another moggie to drive as my friend intends on "gifting" his to his daughter in Ireland in Christmas (a known deal, not spoiling any surprises lest Elizabeth be reading!) so if there are any ideas outside of hiring from MMC, please let me know!

Wishing everyone well...if you've got a Mog in the garage, do me a favour today and go for a drive! It would do my heart well to know a few hundred well enjoyed miles were logged across the globe today simply because you could!

Cheers,

Scott/(Matt)

What a lovely post..!

Well done Scott...or Matt...even. I have to say we do take the facility of a tour for granted at times. For us Brits, it's maybe just a few hours drive or a day off work, that sort of thing, but the factory will be heartened to read this.

Several of the tour guides are registered on the forum, and I know they all take great pride in the factory and the product, so thank you on behalf of them..!

In the meantime, several pints of UK beer has side effects of it's own..it's famed for changing ladies appearances as the night wears on..

Well done..

Well done sir. Have just taken my Roadster to Heathrow & back as per instructions


Glad it lived up to your expectations & I hope to get to own a Mog.

Scott/Matt, where in Florida? I am in Sanford, northeast of Orlando, and have a few Morgans that you might like to experience. And, there are others in the area.

Cheers,

Thanks for your feedback i have exactly the same when i visit Malvern with my lovely 4/4. i hope you get your soon as possible

A shame that you didn't stay there a day later...I'd have driven you over to the pub at Much Marcle to meet some other TMers!

Glad you enjoyed your tour with David.

What a great post.
I never get tired of going round the factory.

Do thou know that the Mog16 is on the weekend?????
If you can get to the Milton Keynes area you'll get Morgan overload!!!!!

Hello Scott/Matt

We'll done for what you have done so far. I was 8 when I decided I would have a Morgan one day. A bit like you I took out a policy to save up for a Morgan which I hoped to have done by the time I was 30. Unfortunately the money as there but I had a major back injury so the money was spent on an XJ6 to be able to drive about. Marriage and kinds got in the way, the back got fixed and then just before I was 50 I bought my Morgan. You will achieve it, sometimes it takes longer than you hope for but believe it and it will happen.

Yours is a lovely story and great for all us old burgers to know that another generation at aged 24 totally gets what Morgan's are all about. Hope you enjoy your time over here and we're all on here to help you and hopefully one day soon to realise your dream.

Well done, sir!
You are close to the final stage of fullfilling a dream/wish.
To fall in love with a car and dream of owning one and get this close is a great story.
You know you want to.......

I remember first seeing a Morgan in bits.
My dad was a coachbuilder and doing some major work on it. He loved Morgans and took me to see it. I thought it would be great to have one. I was 7 at the time.
When in my early 50's I was about to build a Lotus 7 type and nearly signed the dotted line. I saw a Morgan in a photo and started to look at them. Ummed and aghed before seeing one for sale in Allon White dealers. 1993 4/4. Phoned on a Tuesday to seeif it was there. Phil said yes and agreed to hold it for me after saying I would be there on the Thursday. I put it on the computer and told I was gojng to see it. moment!
She was non- commital...in man thought that was as good as OK!
Went with chequebook. Loved the car. Did the deal. Picked it up 2 weeks later and drove home smiling . Took a long route deliberately!
NEVER regretted it and now have moved to a lovely 2002 Plus8.
If you are as smitten as your story suggests it looks like a case of "when I get one" not IF"! Contact your local Morgan club(s) and keep things moving. They will help you in your quest.

I forgot to mention that my father's Best Man had a 3 wheeler back in 1951 and so he took my dad to get married in it. Morgan's were well in my genes long before I was born.