AUTO MUSEUM ONLINE ,classic cars,classic trucks

Morgan Cars / The Morgan Aero 8

The Morgan Motor Company is a British automaker founded in 1910. The company was founded by Harry Frederick Stanley Morgan and is still run by a member of the Morgan family, a grandson. This is quite a feat considering how many car companies merged or went out of business during the 1930’s to 1950’s. The fact that the company not only stayed independent but remained within the same family for over 100 years is quite unique.

There are other good reasons why the Morgan Motor Company is different. First, all cars are hand made by it’s 160+ employees. Secondly, there is a waiting list that can last for a few years or more. The story about Morgan cars is that some people have waited up to an incredible ten years for their Morgan automobile.

Thirdly, real wood is used in car interiors. Those three attributes alone set the company far apart from it’s competitors and in addition to this, the company, as mentioned above, is independent. It’s not a subsidiary of anyone.

Setting the Morgan Motor Company and the Morgan cars apart from other automakers even more is that the company produced a series of three-wheel vehicles for twenty years between 1932 and 1952. These were the F Models and were categorized as “cycle cars”. For some people it represents a cross between a motorcycle and automobile but clearly is a car. The cars had a pressed steel chassis and a four cylinder Ford Side-Valve engine. The sports styled three wheeler is popular in Europe and could have a good market in the U.S. as well. Morgans first four wheel vehicle was offered for sale in 1936 while still manufacturing the popular three wheelers.

The 2007 Morgan Aero 8 shown in this article is truly a unique sports car. The automobile has an alloy chassis and frame, independent suspension and does not utilize anti-roll bars which is highly unusual for sports cars. The engine of the Aero 8 is a BMW supplied 4.4L V8. The car is 14 feet in length. The Aero series included models I, II,III, IV and the Aero America which is the one shown here. The car can reach a top speed of 170 MPH (That’s fast) with 367 HP.

morgan automobiles — Morgan Aero 8 interior

Incredibly, the Morgan Aero 8 was the first design change for the company since 1948. That’s well over sixty years without a new design. The Aero 8 was in the planning stages for some five years prior to going into production. A new Morgan Aero 8 has a price tag north of $200,000.

See our articles on the 1974 Alfa Romeo GTV 2000

The Powerful 1965 Sunbeam Tiger MK-1

Also, the milestone car, the 1962 Studebaker Gran Turismo Hawk

For those visiting Worcestershire England, the Morgan Motor Company offers tours of their car manufacturing plant. This guided tour also covers their museum which displays many automobiles. Watching such beautiful automobiles being produced by hand has got to be a great experience for any car enthusiast. According to the Morgan Motor Company website…Traditional car manufacturing combined with exciting cutting edge technology creates a tour like no other!

2007 morgan aero 8 convertible — Aero 8 American

A great website to check out for Morgan memorabilia is the Morgan Memorabilia Museum at morganmemorabiliamuseum.com. The museum is located in Fullerton California.

The Automobile Driving Museum near Los Angeles has on display a 1935 Morgan Three-Wheeler. The museum is housed in a large brick building, located in an industrial area, just one block east of Sepulveda Boulevard, with cross streets being Mariposa and Maple Avenues. The city of El Segundo is south of the West Los Angeles Airport and north of Manhattan Beach.

Another good museum for Morgan automobiles and just about any vintage car is the excellent Blackhawk Automotive Museum in Danville California in the Bat Area. The Blackhawk Museum has over ninety vintage and classic cars on display.

(Photos are from author’s private collection)

Convertible Rolls Royce / Rolls Phantom

The car pictured in this article is a 1927 Rolls Royce Phantom One Dietrich Victoria Convertible. The convertible Rolls Royce car is high on the collector’s list. The Rolls Royce Motors has been producing automobiles since 1904. For over 100 years this company has been an automotive icon. The company was founded by Charles Stewart Rolls and Henry Royce. Charles Rolls was an engineer who reportedly was dissatisfied with the car he was driving and wanted to build a better one.

ArizonaNewMTYexas 066 — 1927 Rolls Royce Phantom One Convertible

He partnered with Henry Royce who was a businessman and aviator with good talents for marketing. History would go on to prove that it was a good combination.

During the first two years Rolls Royce built forty cars all withe a four cylinder 20 HP engine. In 1906 the six cylinder Silver Ghost was introduced with quite a lot of fanfare. The company entered their Silver Ghost in the Tourist Trophy Race and came in number one. This did much in showcasing the attributes of the new Silver Ghost to the public.The Silver Ghost acquired the reputation for durability and reliability which was what the public seemed to want. As far as marketing their cars, Rolls Royce targeted the wealthy element of society and their prices proved it.

The Rolls Phantom model replaced the Silver Ghost model. The Silver Ghost was the only model the company produced for it’s first fifteen years. The New Phantom came on the scene in 1925 with a larger engine than the Silver Ghost but utilized the same frame as the Silver Ghost. The Rolls Phantom was the flagship model for the company. The best upgrade from the Silver Ghost was the engine which was cast in three blocks, each containing two cylinders. The engine was attached to the four speed gearbox with rubber coupling. The Phantom I arrived in 1927 and the Rolls Phantom II in 1929. The automobile was produced both in England and in the United States.

ArizonaNewMTYexas 065 — Rolls Royce Phantom One Victoria Convertible

The automobile did have some differences between the British and U.S. manufactured models. The British car had the fuel gauge at the fuel tank whereas many American models had it on the dashboard. There were also some differences with the transmissions and wheelbase length. Another interesting thing was that while the chassis and mechanical parts were made by Rolls Royce, the body was produced by several coach builders with the owner choosing which one to employ. One well known coach builder for Rolls Royce was Barker & Company. Barker was the recommended body builder for Rolls Royce at one time. Nevertheless, the customer did have the option to use others. Barker did work for other automotive companies in addition to Rolls Royce and Bentley, such as with Mercedes-Benz. Bentley was acquired by Rolls Royce during the Great Depression.

Some might remember when the Rolls Royce auto company was involved in building jet engines. At one point, the company was nationalized because of the cost of building jet engines but the automotive sector was eventually spun off by the British government as the Rolls Royce Company in 1973.

ArizonaNewMTYexas 063 — Rolls Royce Phantom One with beautiful spoke wheels, hood ornament and trim

One company manufacturing cars and jet engines apparently wasn’t a good business model.

Vintage Rolls Royce automobiles are among the highest priced cars on the classic used car market. Vintage and used are really two different things. Whereas many will say that new rolls Royce models depreciate rapidly, finding and buying a vintage Rolls may and probably does have all the depreciation priced in. If you’re fortunate to have the opportunity to invest in an older model at the right price and in the right condition, it could work out to be both a fine investment and a lot of fun to own.

Some of the best venues to view classic Rolls Royce models include the Blackhawk Museum in Danville California about 25 miles east of the San Francisco Bay area, the Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles California, the new LeMay Museum in Tacoma Washington, the Springfield Museums Auto Gallery in Springfield Massachusetts and the Northeast Classic Car Museum in Norwich New York. There of course are more throughout the U.S.

(Photos are from author’s private collection)

Kaiser Auto / Kaiser Dragon

The Kaiser Motor Corporation, formerly the Kaiser -Frazer Corporation, was one of several independent auto makers who fell victim to the Big Three when the post World War Two car demand began to wane. The biggest challenge for the non-three major auto makers, Ford GM and Chrysler, was having the financial resources necessary to tool up for new designs.

ArizonaNewMTYexas 080 — The 1953 Kaiser Dragon was offered in two tone colors

In other words, to keep pace with their peers, the independents had to spend large sums of money to produce new models which the public demanded. During the time that Henry J. Kaiser and Joseph W. Frazer were partnered tofether the company produced automobiles under each name. When Frazer departed the company in 1953 because he and Kaiser couldn’t get along well, the Frazer nameplate went as well.

All of the cars built by Kaiser-Frazer and then by Kaiser Motor Corporation were built at the company’s Willow Run factory. The Willow Run plant was located about 30 miles west of Detroit Michigan. There really is a lot of history connected with Willow Run and World War Two. An aircraft factory was built there in 1941. The Willow Run plant was producing an incredible one bomber per hour by August 1944.

ArizonaNewMTYexas 079 — 1953 Kaiser Dragon

Willow Run had also been the major Detroit airport prior to the building out of Detroit Metropolitan Airport, several miles closer in to the city.

The Kaiser Dragon shown was a luxury hardtop model. Included with this car was a gold plated hood ornament, a glove box nameplate and power steering. The engine, a flat head six cylinder, put out 118 HP. Prior to the 1953 model year, the Dragon was simply a trim option in 1951, not a separate model. Beginning in 1953, the Kaiser Dragon was a new model. This coincided with the new name of the Kaiser Motor Corporation.

The two things that the Kaiser Dragon had going against it was it’s relatively high price and the fact that it’s speed time from 0 to 60 MPH was considered slow. Kaiser’s main competitor would have been GM’s Buick. Most people would consider the Kaiser Dragon as a sales failure although it’s a great vintage car for today’s auto collectors. The best estimate of sales figures for the 1951 trim package model and the 1953 full model was about 1,600. This fact by itself makes the 1953 Kaiser Dragon a rare find.

When a vintage car collector talks about the Kaiser Dragon, he or she is really talking about car interior designer Carleton Spencer. The Kaiser Dragon’s interior was a Carleton Spencer creation form A to Z. It was said the Spencer based many of his interior design ideas from House and Garden Magazine.

Spencer was well known for his unique color selections. Spencer however is best known for his unusual alligator-pattern synthetic material called “Dragon Vinyl.” The term Dragon Vinyl was used so that buyers wouldn’t think they were sitting on real alligator skin. As mentioned above, this Dragon Vinyl was introduced as a trim option in the 1951 Kaiser models. That trim option in 1951 cost $125.

At about the same time that the company’s name was changed to Kaiser Motor Corporation in 1953, Kaiser picked up the assets and liabilities of the Willys-Overland Corporation. Willys-Overland was the builder of both passenger cars and jeeps. The name was then changed to Willys Motors. Willys had a manufacturing plant in Toledo Ohio.

In 1955 the company was put under the holding company of Kaiser Industries. Among other things, Kaiser had been a large west coast shipbuilder during World War Two in Richmond California. Kaiser was also a major steel maker.

The Kaiser designs eventually became outdated and as mentioned above, the retooling cost needed to keep pace with the Big Three was staggering. Nash Motor Car Company had the same problem which eventually led them to be a part of American Motors Corporation. The end of Kaiser as an independent United States auto builder came in 1955 when all passenger cars under the Kaiser and Wiilys nameplate was stopped. The Willow Run plant closed but the company continued to build jeeps out of the Toledo factory. In 1963 the jeep brand name was changed to Kaiser Jeep. In 1969 Kaiser Industries left the automobile business entirely and ended up selling the jeep line to American Motors Corporation.

(Photos from author’s private collection)