Talk Morgan Forums Community The Malvern Arms John Sheally II

That is very sad. RIP.

I found a couple of images of John`s Morgans which I suspect were taken by him. The BDA engined 4/4 looks to have been quite a machine and would have been the ultimate 4//4 for enjoying my local roads, when I asked the question Which Morgan all those years back.
Not sure if the SS was John`s but suspect he took the image.
In the side on image of John`s Morgan special, it displays his flair for both colour and design...
I also remember one of John`s images of his trike sitting in his garage parked on a carpet without an oil stain on it, I think i asked him about that and as best I can remember he said that he liked to work clean...






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RIP John.

When I imported my +8 to.USA in 1976, John was a great help negotiating the import regs which at the time were onerous. Mine was the first +8 in the area and I lived about 2 miles from his house so we got together frequently. I also auto crossed with him mainly to admire his competitive spirit, even in the +8 I could never come close to his lap times.

When he moved and I gave up my USA mog membership we lost touch but he will be forever remembered as Mr Morgan USA.

I cannot count how many Morgans JHS2 owned in his life.


That SS was the car he owned and loved the most of all. His love of it made it the most famous of all that line-up, certainly the most photographed. But he ran into a problem with it, as many enthusiasts/restorers do from time to time. After he had finished it, he became paranoid of the least little ding. He stopped driving it, which was anything but his style. He did the smart thing and sold it to Adrien Van der Croft, the racer/collector. JHS would push his cars, mostly Morgans, past perfection..in every way. He would chrome his brake drums!😉 I only polish mine! And then he would go out and win the next race with them! With eMog, many of his private tweaks became part of the MMC stock lineup.

He actually became famous in the UK before the US. He was a regular with all the British community's of the day. He was a very close friend of Peter Morgan. He later captained his very winning USA Morgan racing team, with the MMC as a sponsor. In John's day, many more mog were sold in the US than anywhere else. I have 1000s of his images. He sent me his portfolio on a number of DVDs I have stored. He did the same with other people. He wanted to share.

He became the winningest racer in Morgan history. I remember the day he won his 1000th first place. He sent the winning cup to PM. It was Sheally who spoke to Peter Morgan and Mark Aston after my car was destroyed in the US. The Works subsequently took on the project of recreating my Morgan at the Works in 2002. It was the only way I could have brought a a similar mog into Canada 20 years ago.

John came from a different Morgan world. Back then, our racing/concours heroes and club/company stalwarts were very much larger than life. Chris Lawrence, Richard Sheppard-Barron, Lou Spence, John Sheally, John Worrall, Ken & Janet Hill, Peter Morgan and many others.. JHS2 was as large as they come. It was a rough, tough, bunch who'd race every week and party all night. Sheally first became world famous with his images of glossy Morgans with women draped over them. They transcended a single marque. Morgans attracted beauties and celebrati like bees to honey. That was the mogger perception of the day, tough guys/gals..fast racing cars with all-marque concours wins and gorgeous women. It was much fun.

Of course, after you and I pass, George, that'll all be over. 😛😂😂

P.S. The pics of the ladies are not John's. Merely part of his collection but they convey the mood of the day that he helped to create. I have all of his images...perhaps some too risque for a public forum despite them being wonderful examples of the photggraphic art.

gmg

Sad loss indeed, although I never had the pleasure of meeting him in person.
His frequent, enlightening and always gentlemanly topical contributions to eMog
were always a pleasure to read and stimulate forum member participation in, whatever the subject.
Now, another huge void in the global Morgan community, surely never to be filled.
Condolences to his family and close friends, RIP John....

John had some wise philosophies. Aside from being a stellar racer and concours preparer, he was an excellent mechanic. He worked on many Morgans aside from his own, cherry-picking the subjects. When it came to advice, he would voice his opinion, invariably right, from his deep experience and industry contacts. However, when the questioner decided to take another route instead, he had learned not to be bothered, regardless of the often sad consequences.

I came to understand that. One learns relatively little from success..while mistakes teach an immense amount. JHS had a system he used in practice laps. He would push his new steed of the moment far past its limits in the practice runs, looking scary and wild to spectators. He explained that was the only way he could quickly determine the limits of the car. He then invariably proceeded to win the race. That is a system I never followed. (wryly) But it is a testament to how much confidence he had in his ability to get out of trouble.

There are so many actions of racers that often go unseen, even to a world eager to pay anything for them. John could pick them out where others could not. JHS2 and I attended the Montreal Grand Prix together once. Both Schumacher brothers were racing, against each other. We were seated at a hairpin turn. See if you can see the gesture made at high speed! Picture by John.

Sheally was a lot of fun. And yes, I imagine the constant presence and exchanges with the celebrati is sadly missed by many. I stay in touch.

From a dull memory, I think John`s USA Coast to coast trip was printed in Miscellany, thus may be in the archives somewhere. I seem to remember mention of a gun being used during the trip, but then my memory is not to be trusted..

I was lucky enough to have met him at aUK annual mog Day many moons ago. A very nice chap.we chatted for about an hour talking Morgan's. I think (memory failing) he explained the difference between American autocross and the British version that I was competing in at that time.A Great loss to the Morgan world. RIP JHS.

When John reached the end of his trans continual trip, he put the 3 wheeler out of its misery by shooting it in the rear with his Colt 45. No major damage was done and John shipped the car back to Virginia where it was rebuilt by a local craftsman.

Thanks for the heads up on the shooting incident George.

I had thought a Colt 45 had been used, but was concerned that I was perhaps having yet another senior moment.. Seems John really was larger than life...