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I‘ve never seen anything like it. The 'production line' looks very similar to the Harrier Jump Jet Upgrade facilities at the RAF. Seeing a predator with its clothes off is always a bit intimidating. Lots of SAE-UK Corporate Members participate in its construction; Radshape helped with the cabin structure and Premier Sheet Metal supplied the body panels.
Its not just the Performance and therefore the driving experience of a Morgan that is dualistic in nature but the engineering in its production also. This car is prototyped on its own production line and this explains how the finished article remains true to the concept with only improvements not compromises. Retro-chic styling with the latest engine technology is mirrored in the materials used in its production. Super Alloys and ash, yes ash, the preferred wood for the legendary English Bow is heavily used in the construction. So heavily used in fact that the seat belts are tethered to the ash frame which sits internally to its metal counterpart. This provides a degree of spring in the car which I'm not sure exists elsewhere. In addition the springiness of using natural materials is an extraordinary crash test performance where strain energy and impulse of collision is absorbed by the flexural modulus of the wood, nature's version of a carbon composite. Bonded laminate layers in superfine layers of natural Ash are formed into shape in jigs to create the most elaborate shapes. The Ash must come from Northern Europe where its slower growth relative to warmer Southern Climates provides a better wood. It is humidity and density specified for an assured Quality during production and use. The timber-frame
 
construction draws heavily on hand-skilled craftsmanship. Just like the contrasting retro-chic design and race car performance the ash frame sits within a Superformed, innovative Aluminium alloy frame and skin, more at home in aerospace.
Morgan were the first Supercar manufacturer to use superforming technology back in '97 and are also most likely its heaviest user, all of the car body is made this way except for the odd piece that can't be moulded. Air pressure is used to draw the special Aluminium alloy up to 100% into a single sided moulding which is capable of producing extraordinarily shaped parts. At 500 degrees this process makes use of the special properties of the alloy to be drawn, the limit of drawing is
 
1000% but the Morgan uses only 10% of that. The large sweeping features to the front of the vehicle can be picked up with one hand and so can the frame and cabin structure. The production of this car is about weight saving to maximise engine performance. Backed up with the reliability of the BMW engine this car does not indulge in race car engine complexity. Except for those cars written off, all Morgans are in use that were produced since 1980. One of its entry level vehicles actually depreciated £50 over 4 years at the point it was sold last year. Part of the legacy of Morgan ownership is the facility to buy a new skin for the car if the manufactured version accumulates damage. In the words of Morgan, 'there is absolutely no obsolescence built in'.
 
 
 
 
 
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