Morgan is a legendary company and for good reason. Yes, the cars are made of wood but the company has continued along while so many small companies have gone to rest.
Jon Wells has that job so many of us covet: car designer. With a very brief stop at TVR, Jon went right from university to the design department of Morgan, becoming part of the team that designed so of the best and fastest cars Morgan ever made. He also led the team that designed the new Super 3, the successor to the famous and unique Morgan 3-Wheeler. Jon explains his education, how the cars used to be designed before his time, the evolution of construction, how much wood is in the cars, why building a popular off-roader was such a surprise; and why the new Super 3 has a new engine.
Plus, we go around the table to list our Top 5 British roadsters of all time.
Recorded February 13, 2024
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So you’re the perfect person to talk about our favorite British roadsters okay I do have a Morgan on the list oh good I do all right well you start I’m not I got a list of five I’ve got a list of five all so you start yeah okay
What’s up everybody Welcome to the smok tire podcast today’s episode is brought to you by off the Record you know off the Record we talk about them all the time on this show they help you get out of tickets that’s that’s basically it off the Record is a service that
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Record app that’ll get you 10% off all uh all your bookings with off the Record indefinitely code is good forever make sure you’ve got it in your phone make sure you keep it handy that way if you get pulled over you’re good to go all right folks today’s a very special day
John Wells the chief designer from Morgan that quirky little company out of malver England is H Studio hanging out with us we’re talking about the super three we’re talking about some of our favorite Morgan designs of all time his uh incredibly interesting career and also we make him play our top five
British roadsters game as our main topic this was a really fun show went really well and I enjoyed our time with John Wells of Morgan on the smoking Tire podcast John Wells let’s go brother let’s go welcome to America thank you for having me do you spend much time
Here oh and off a few times not not a lot of time first time in LA though oh okay first time driving in an LA in a super 3 enjo a good it’s a good intro uh vehicle yeah uh your man uh Jim who was
One of one of the techs at Morgan came over flew over and same thing had never driven an LA and was like do I have to worry about this I’ve never I’ve never driven an America much less this city and here I am driving a super I had a 25
Minute drive this morning I got an air horn two windows coming down yo man what’s that yeah I mean there’s the thing about the super 3 is like it’s such a Charming thing and it looks like nothing else on the road that everybody wants to ask you about it yeah right
That’s that’s a that’s a thing with Morgans that’s same with the four-wheel Morgans too yeah that’s right and you know even in Mullin where we’re building them every time you go out and just locally even you still get waves and smiles yeah lot of Mel and pride yeah
There’s no pretentiousness with a Morgan it’s not an aggressive car well that’s the best thing about a Morgan I mean the best thing about a Morgan is you could drive something exotic but you’re not an [Â __Â ] it’s really like genuinely positive attention yeah it is like it’s
Like driving a puppy yeah it’s like everyone’s just like oh hi and they’re excited to see it they don’t think you’re a [Â __Â ] yeah when we had the plus4 last year um I’ve never in my life gotten more positive attention from women driving any car ever most people
Think there’s this common thing where like oh you drive a Ferrari to meet girls or whatever and like that’s not how it works I’ve never looked at it that way although saying that well in America that is a common misconception certainly if you really want to meet
Girls in a car a Morgan and a scarf is exactly what you need that’s a that’s a staple yeah how did you end up uh with the company so I when did I join Morgan 15 years ago okay 15 years ago so I joined in the centinary of of Morgan so
Two 2009 100 Years of of the company okay straight out of University first proper job okay and what was what is your education in so I studied vehicle design okay and where where does one study that in the UK well in the UK at the time there’s only two courses really
Coventry which is right in the Midlands was the one that was that was the world renowned course okay and then um and then where you went and I didn’t go to that one so you really set that up so so I ended up in the north of
England where the beer’s better and the people are friendlier and and so so that’s where I was and I studied four years up there um and then uh what what is the school what is the university called Huddersfield Huddersfield University that sounds like some Harry Potter [Â __Â ] yeah yeah that’s it it was
Uh it was pretty rural um but no was good I loved it I was there for four years and then in my third year I did a bit of work experience with um TVR and then with um very briefly it was like a live project everything they seem brief
Yeah but the cars are always stunning wow that’s right and um and I enjoyed that a lot I sort of I loved the the small team mentality everyone had ownership we met the designer when he came and spoke to the students got like 12 people yeah I know right two or three
In the design team there but then uh but my predecessor came to Huddersfield and uh he was looking for somebody to just help him out he was the first ever designer at Morgan so in a hundred years years history the first ever designer had been there two years before me the
Guy 90 how old was this guy so he was young he was young as still young did they just not have a designer what what what did they do no so well Peter Morgan second generation he he drew a lot of cars himself Charles Morgan who employed
Me he was um I met Charles he was he was something some some character is lunched with him last week actually so he was very creative he really believed in the future design um at Morgan and my predecessor Matt joined just two years before me and he was tasked with
Imagining what a slightly more modern Coupe Morgan might look like um so he was put in a corner to draw cars sketch this Coupe out um there was two or three engineers at the time but that was the whole R&D team just you know was it still in like trailer like
The like the little in a shed sh on the side I was in the shed once and I was like this can’t be real this best CL Ro it was it was crazy there’s like like 10 chairs in there and that’s it every winter you’d have to put your computer
Off the floor the flood come through really was sh it was crazy well this is it so so Matt was um Matt was sketching what became the aramax which was a coupe we did really my favorite and uh because he was sort of sketching a lot in 2D
Very conceptual sketches they were then bending strips of wood to kind of replicate some of these forms and shapes and then hand beating the aluminium on top of this to sort of create this first concept car if you like which is a really slow process yeah and you know
The automative design process is all about going through many different iterations until you’re happy and then casting it in stone and going straight from sort of 2DS from like a sketch to a wooden to like a for wooden book um beautifully romantic you know even the way the wood was bending
Was you’re almost constrained a little bit by what the wood can do so you end up with quite a natural shape form and it was magic way of making a car and the car was shown and generated a lot of interest um and then we pre-sold 100
Vehicles off the back of it yeah but because the process was so slow Matt was looking for somebody to bring in some um some 3D skill um digital modeling CAD you know up until then Morgan was posting its emails you know figured out in the 90s other places your computer
Had quite made it to Mal yet to bring my own computer you um must have own laptop so that’s like David Lee Roth got into Van Halen because he owned a PA yeah that was it like he was like he he was like well uh I’m not that good but
Like I have speakers and they’re like you’re in and that was it that was the score so so I landed there I finished my studies I based my major project on Morgan um and then I joined there Philly in 2009 that’s awesome yeah so that’s like a
That’s a pretty straight line yeah I mean it’s a a pretty that’s a pretty straight line is that do you find that to be uh an exceptional trajectory or do you think that’s the kind of thing that like someone who’s listening and might want to design cars like is that a is
That a reasonable thing to have happened um I think I was very fortunate I was very fortunate for sure I mean there’s you know there’s going to be 100 quick kids graduate third designer in the history of the company second designer in the history of the company so yeah no
I think I I think I was very fortunate there’s a lot of kids graduating every year and it is hard to sort of find yourself in a studio there’s so few of them especially in the UK nowadays um but I mean that being said I took the
Advice of my parents who were teachers and you know I I pursued what I enjoyed doing um so you’re artistic as a kid I assume yeah I mean to be honest I mean truth to be told throughout school I probably wasn’t certain of what I wanted
To do for a profession but I knew what I enjoyed doing I loved to draw um I loved anything mechanical you know mountain bikes and then later motorbikes and then when I saw vehicle design po up pop up the idea of you know drawing for a livid and being around bikes actually in
Particular it was motorbikes primarily for me um and then throughout studying I found myself really enjoying sculpture clay modeling 3D surfacing taking those 2D drawings and turning them into something you can spin around and touch and feel and and it was it almost a natural progression I just put myself on
A path of what I enjoyed and then I found my way do you find that that the the integration of computers adds to that or takes away from the Romance of the job I mean obviously it adds to being able to actually build whatever it is you’re drawing and share it around
With the engineers and and and it’s much more efficient yeah but is it less romantic no I think everything’s got a place in the process and I mean it’s interesting actually some of the guys some of the guys laugh at me in my team now I’m the oldest one in the design
Team pretty much really nice nowadays there’s um there’s seven of us and uh and a lot of the a lot of the guys nowadays will jump straight into 3D very very early um I still like to put pen to paper a little bit a lot at the start
But um a lot of the guys jump straight into 3D and it is it is the go-to and in fact we are we’ve just announced a collaboration with um pin and Verina actually and uh it’s been amazing working with them we’ve been on such a awesome Journey their designers are
Visiting Morgan and they’re seeing firsthand interactions with Craftsman and everything at Morgan is very applied design working with pin and finina they have these Studios with um mixed reality headsets so it’s not augmented reality and it’s not virtual reality cuz you’re seeing each other like you and I are
Seeing each other but the model that you’ve got in 3D is sat right in front of you so you’re just sitting around a table that’s empty but everyone else is seeing the model spinning and you that’s kind of for Sight you’re walking around this thing and you know you’re sort of
This sounds like the Apple Vision Pro stuff that they that they’re just started ex that’s the sort of domestic level these professional outfits we don’t have anything like that at Morgan you know we’re just still bringing in our own computers but um but uh but to
Work like that and do all of these different iterations and see firsthand what the light is doing on the surface and you can make quick changes and add a bit more tension or or move something slightly and see it firsthand seeing that best practice you can see the power
Of it and in fact this collaboration we’re we’re going to be announcing with p a bit later on this year is the first model that I’ve not made a clay for so it’s the first time I’ve not physically made a clay and to be honest you know
That is where it’s heading um but like I said I’m a little bit old school I do like to have a model or you know at least a 3D printed but they must be able to go from the from the the virtual to a 3D printer and at least have something physical
Right at some exactly of course you can cuz you got to show it to someone who’s not wearing the glasses somewhere down down the road you you can you can speak directly I mean what we like doing is you know make a 3D model and you can
Spin it around on a tablet and you can go and show the guy that’s going to be hand beating it and he can say ah it’s cool but I’m never going to get that sharp crease there can we change this a bit and it just AIDS the dialogue really
So that’s our Approach at Morgan really it’s not about replacing some of the tradition with modern technology it’s about enabling the tradition to Carry On by using modern technology so we have 3D printers and we’ll make not production Parts but little and fixtures that can
Speed up the hand making of a door and it just keeps it keeps it alive for us so one of the I mean one of the things that was so interesting about Morgan was like it’s it’s I’ve been to a lot of car factories it’s by far my favorite car
Factory I’ve ever been to because it’s totally different from everything else I mean the the generations of people that are working there I met multiple where it was like an entire family of people have grown up like only ever working at Morgan which was amazing the smell of
The wood unbelievable yeah uh the the the fact that it just goes downhill and then just push the cars I mean it’s like you know that wasn’t always the case did it not always go downhill some point someone was like hey guys I got a minute
I have an idea it upill for a while that’s the story that’s the story it used to go I don’t I don’t know how true I don’t know how true this they hired their first like engineer in 2004 and he’s like no pointed downhill turn them
Around turn the cars around to go the other way now now this is the story I hear I don’t know how much truth isn’t it but there was a there was a famous um British industrialist called sahav Jones and when you drive into Morgan there’s a few in England anyway there’s a few
Things you often hear you know has it got a wooden chassis no never had a wooden chassis um is it a kit Kart no it’s not a kit Kart it’s made by hand and the third one especially in the UK is did you see that sir Harvey Jones troubleshooter documentary and it was
This famous industrialist that came in and at the time in the UK when there was like three TV channels you know everyone saw this thing so it was a really famous documentary and he famously came into the factory and spoke with Peter and Charles Morgan and gave them a load of
Advice about how to do things better so the company would exist uh and they kind of said no you know famously they kind of said no we’re going to do it our way thanks so so much and here we still are but apparently as it goes the one thing
He did suggest is why don’t you start the cars at the top of the factory and use gravity to roll them down rather than pushing them up and after did it literally go the other way literally the other way yeah so after the cameras were off they went you know what that was
Quite a good idea we’ll take that on I wonder is that still is it exist on YouTube what’s it called Henry Henry uh trouble troubleshooter the documentary troubleshooter docent maybe it’s still on YouTube maybe we can go watch it yeah not a lot to change so did that guy just
Like go around to different businesses and find efficiencies okay yeah that’s right that sounds interesting actually and here we are 30 years later like [Â __Â ] you get out of here you know the downhill thing actually was quite smart but you know what nowadays that is the name of the game making it more
Efficient yeah yeah yeah it’s not economical to make things entirely by hand with highly trained technicians so we but like I can’t like I can’t recommend it malin’s not really near a lot of stuff for people visiting England but if you have the day to go out there
It is totally worth a visit because it’s unbelievable it just you can’t believe that they’re still making cars like this and then their cars are pretty fun the cars are good yeah 19 I think 1914 the factory was built there yeah or or started being used there and then 1909
Was when it was all founded and one of those couple of those jigs have been there the whole time yeah I mean it’s like they this guy was like yes this jig was installed here 1931 what kidding that’s crazy I mean the date changes depending on who you
Speak to but yeah it was it was far back as this guy can remember 60 70 years old yeah um and the story of that was that that’s the there’s a foral we use to make the rear wheel arches and the rear the rear wheel arch in the wooden frame
Is uh is is laminate strip of plywood stuck together and then they bend it and put it into this former and every time we get a new Apprentice or a celebrity visit we get them to have a go and they usually end up flicking off to the other
Side of the room but but um but yeah they they put it in this former clamp it up let it dry and then and then it’s used to panel beat the rear wheel AR on to and then probably don’t know 10 15 years ago we moved to having a a super
Formed rear metal Arch and the first thing you know us and the engineers wanted to do was design a perfectly concentric curve you know the perfect mathematical curve cuz that’s what you instinctly do especially if you’re laying a quarter of a million pound tool down but that would have meant scrapping
Off this wheel AR for so sort of reluctantly we scanned this thing and now every Morgan has a slightly imperfect rear wheel oh interesting it’s like a living it’s like a living tool though that’s that’s what’s pretty cool about it it’s how do you go to the 21st
Century and also be making things the old way and folks just a quick quick break from the action to let you know that there are less than five of our notice Canyon Orange dial watches remaining uh you can still buy them there’s just a couple left we really
Want these things to sell out it’s an amazing watch you’ve heard Johnny talk about them on our show cuz he bought one and and me and Zach have been wearing them they’re just everyone who puts them on loves them and uh just taking this moment to let you know there’s only a
Couple left they will sell out very soon so head over to uh notice watch’s website that’s nood us order one for yourself because this is the last chance you’re ever going to have now back to the show it’s that Fusion of the two which we love you know it’s it’s a
Delicate balance for us in design at Morgan because you want to embrace modern technology you obviously have to use modern powertrains and you know the future of Automotive things like you know Adas and Lane departure systems I don’t want any of that in a Morgan
Please do not sell that [Â __Â ] in a Morgan we still have to you know we still have to comply we still have to adopt this technology but we still want to keep the tradition alive and My Philosophy for Morgan really is not to blend it with
Modern technology so you end up with a bit of a pasti but to almost directly Clash the two so you’ve got modern architecture we modern BMW powert trins modern technology modern chassis um and on top of that we’ve got this beautifully handcrafted wooden body with
A aluminium body on top of that and I like separating the two almost and just celebrating both for what they are I mean I I think since it’s a small company designed for a pretty narrow focused group of customers I I can’t think of anybody who
Wants a Morgan with Adas do you I mean can you can you think of a single customer that you’ve sold a car to that go or or that you were about to sell a car to goes you know if this had Lane departure warning I’d be in but but as
It is no I can’t think of anybody who wants those the reality is we are exempt from a lot of it um as you should be there’s no reason that Morgan should have to comply with that kind of [Â __Â ] you know some some things there’s I guess there’s some there’s some social
Perceptions for some of this technology that does change slightly so for example in um for our model year 23 cars we started to fit airbags I mean the plus six is a fast car you yeah yeah fast car that’s a really fast car and and it’s amazing the the requirement from the
Airbags isn’t a legislation thing all you have to be able to do is absorb a certain amount of energy in the steering column and Morgan always passed that test but there’s a perception that having an airbag means the car’s safer when in fact we were still complying
With the same test sure but we did employ airbags just to help get around for that car and for like the AOS Super Sports and stuff I mean at a certain price point Performance Point you go okay we should probably just do this so
We we kind of pick a we kind of pick a mix at least we’re at a point where you can make an airbag steering wheel that looks good at least it’s not like you know 19904 and you have to put some hideous like I I think actually my uh my good
Friend has a uh a plus eight from like the Early Middle 90s in Connecticut in in America and it’s got that like awful like Rover you know early air over yeah awful Rover V8 and awful Rover steering wheel with the airbag it’s it’s not great and uh actually he’s he was asking
Me like should I take this airbag like out I’m like I think you probably should it’s idot for a gen one airbag is probably more dangerous than no airbag honestly do you know what sometimes the challenge is fun though when you get one of these new challenges we did um we did
An electric vehicle prototype in 2014 called oh so that’s actually sorry to interrupt but that’s actually not as bad that’s the 2012 one that’s the same steering wheel that my Aston Vanquish uses and roof used it in all their all their Porsches I’m talking about the
Four spoke one than this one that’s the Lotus steering wheel so that one that’s the Lotus wheel Lotus arat yeah and that one it’s okay it’s tough to to to make it work but there was a four spoke one from the 90s that was really really bad
Yeah there’s been a few every is for sure yeah it might have even just been done in some sort of like there it is that’s the one down that’s it in fact that’s the same that’s the same steering wheel that my Bentley has it’s exactly
The same it’s awful but it looks bad in the Bentley but it looks worse in this yeah that’s not not that doesn’t work at all yeah yeah so at least you can at least we can now make a good looking airbag and that’s and that’s why designs
Existed Morgan really to this is that’s I mean that’s the other question you get you know when you say I’m a designer at Morgan ah you must be great with a photo cop here right what do you do every day you know but um but you know the reality
Is whether it’s a steering wheel or whether it’s a gear knob or any of the features we do you everything’s a sketch and a a model and a prototype and then handing over to the engineers and there’s a lot of continu development and well and even if you’ve got quote Parts
Spin stuff you you’ve got to figure out which spin where you know where’s the stuff coming exactly exactly um and you see a car from you know a car from 2024 versus one from even five years ago you know they’re night and day different in
All the 1% yeah all the one% two to uh to a trained ey train we drove the 2023 plus 4 all over LA and what year is that you know they don’t they don’t know nobody knows and that’s what’s kind of cool is you can buy a br new car that looks like
It could have come from any time in the last you know 40 years and that’s that’s pretty rad that now this is the arrows the arrow range is my [Â __Â ] jam and we will we can Circle back to that that is M so what was the first project that you
Worked on so I helped with a lot stages of ARX so the cou um and then there after that Matt and I did the AOS Super Sports the tar and a coupe um and then we did the first gen first gen new three-wheeler again um with a v2n the
Snsv twin okay um so we did those together um and then we also did a a hydrogen fuel cell concept car called the lifea car together which is pretty pretty wild that’s still in our studio now actually um I’m sure there was a lot
Of demand for that one yeah it was a it was a headset is there any hydrogen infrastructure in the UK at all cuz it’s barely here I mean this was 2009 quite forward facing yeah there was there was nothing at the time but it was
A it was a nice styling study for us so we did the life car together that was that that was that concept and then after that um we did a big over of well since Matt left are things I’ve looked after we did a series 5 AOS the return
To the convertible um we did the new super 3 obviously the most recent one the CX generation four-wheelers that’s the plus4 and the plus six with the all new all new chassis all new Interiors um a few concept vehicles in the background that we’ve worked on as well the cxt
Which was our dhar Overland see monster there must be customer demand for that yeah there’s a lot can you I mean is there is that something you guys can just build I mean we did we did eight cars um that doesn’t seem like enough and you know they were
All they were all pre-old before they started Ste today I mean that is fan [Â __Â ] tastic still today we get constant requests you know got that’s got to be five cars the last five years that I want to drive and have not gotten a go you should where does it do you
Still have one we do we’ve got we’ve got one that’s the mule vehicle the one we had for initial Shakedown which is awesome I’m desperately trying to convince the company to sell it for me made you only made eight Yes we made eight plus this mule vehicle was that
Was that what demand was or or the company just said oh we we only have resources for eight was totally Uncharted Territory for us you know we had we had no idea whether there would be interest or demand how it would be received and to be honest each one was
Quite meticulously set up it of full Shields front to back underneath orber spoke suspension based on a plus six but orber spoke reinforced suspension extc dampers in each corner it had um electronic differential from BMW to give us diff locks and things to get out of
The mud the bespoke roll cage you know there was a lot of there’s a lot of Fabrication in every car so you know but I feel like I feel like even if it cost all the money in the world I feel like there’s there’s more than eight people
Globally who want to buy that well that’s what we’ve seen we’ve seen I mean look at the look at the picture of it in action I mean that’s just everything about that is right and good Awesome everything thank you I love that you know and now that we know thanks to
Porsche thanks to Lamborghini yeah off-road sports cars are in yeah there you go I think Morgan was trailblazing a little bit there you know pre the pre the sort of por wheel with the tires on the back too and this has a lot of aerial Nomad energy but I spent six days
In one of those and I would have loved to have a more of a roof and panels like this is still an open kind of experience but that was really Breezy yeah so this is a little bit better like if P King to Paris had a sort of modern they should
Have a modern class I think I I think I I understand the spirit of that event but at the same time I feel like there’s there’s an opportunity for a modern class where you could bring a d car or an 80s or ’90s Porsche Safari or one of
These wow why not right interesting you say that the infrastructure is there yeah we had a we had a a good friend of the company commissioned two uh vintage plus eights 19 sort of ‘ 80s early late 7s 8s plus 8s to do the East African
Safari inspired by a lot of this and the idea is for this for this chap to continue evolving that project and do a peing to Paris with something he’s just finished an East African safari yeah can you find a picture of that plus eight East African safari but
Like a company that’s like agile like Morgan like I feel like you could just build and sell a few more of those and you know that’s there you go there was a there you go that’s oh yes look at that so um I mean I that the one yeah that
One right I can’t say it did particularly well but in a in a field of you know 911s made by to Hills and um you know a load of datson and things it really stood out you know there is something to be said for style you know
Style points oh look at the bottom picture Zach down there look at it look at it mobbing right one to the right yeah yes oh I mean that’s like shot of the year right there look at that it was father and son and they just you know that’s awesome everything that could
Have broke broke on the car but they had so much fun they sat they sat on the line with the commentators they’re like you know how’ you fancy your chances we don’t you know but when everyone else is you know stuck in the water at least
We’ll float with all the wood in the body you know they fully embrace the spirit of Morgan that’s what it’s about for Morgan it’s just about having experiences if I come to the UK can I have a go in the MU car you think yeah absolutely should
Got it you know the F the first Shakedown we had no idea how this thing was going to go we partnered with rally raid UK who were a Dakar outfit never woned D car but they’ve never not got a car across the line you know they’re
Good good good team and um so they built this first car we went to this Quarry in North Wales for a Shakedown and we had no idea what we were going to expect with this mu car and so I sat in the passenger seat next to this Dakar Pro
Driver who took me out and I’m not a nervous passenger but I’m just like yeah just sweating like jeez man I got kids come on you got just slow down a bit and he jumped off this you know it was near sheer Cliff jumped off it barreling down
The side of this this cliff and at the bottom there was a a Balo was like 2 feet across and I’m like well that was fun when it last you know never mind and just Smash and Carries On going again I just I couldn’t believe I was in a
Morgan That’s awes but it was so exciting yeah that’s so cool that’s the that’s the coolest car you maybe have ever it’s not on my list of top five British roadsters but I need to revise it’s got a ro so I’m not sure a fixed Ro exactly God that’s the
Coolest I mean you talk about you know fer copy and Morgans and not not looking different yeah that’s actually how this project came about a little bit so when we did the new um every every Morgan today has a bonded and riveted aluminium tub you know really modern chassis
Underneath um prior to that they had a steel ladder frame um and when we did the new chassis it’s called the CX generation 100 years a Morgan or something 110 years of Morgan um our was how do we communicate visually this car’s got something different underneath
It so just for fun and it really was just for fun we go we kind of thought see you can see the comparison there um Morgan so it is so different so different and back in back in the early Century you know a lot of British manufacturers would do this thing called
Triling where they bounce their car up a r just you know they’d be hanging off the side to get traction like Austin sevens and stuff like that just to prove the durability of the platform really so we kind of thought you know what would a modern day trailer look like so you had
Cxt so we we we sketched out this crazy Overland daar thing we stuck it on a wall and then invest industrial who were the The Firm that you know invest in Morgan um they came around on a VIP visit um and they walked into the the
Studio and uh one of the friends of the investors pointed to this thing on the wall and said you got to build that and then the next Saturday we were sat with rally raid like how are we going to do it then there was no focus group there
Was no you know well that’s how the best products are made exactly you know and that do you guys frequently bring in a specialty team like you did for the cxt okay we don’t have experience building an offer vehicle do you do you do that with any other special editions yeah we
Do I mean you know collaboration is the name of the game when you’re in the the niche vehicle world and you’re you’re such a small team I mean when I started there was two designers and four Engineers but today there’s probably 17 engineers and there’s six or seven in my
Team so you know we’re still very very small um so collaboration everything we’ll work with the the panel guys on the forming of the of the panels we work very closely with BMW um and it’s all about collaboration really to to get to where we need to be and that’s something
We Embrace yeah uh let’s talk about super 3 for a minute Zach and I uh made a film with the super 3 actually with the one that that you’re driving today the yellow and white oh yeah um we drove it last week or the week two weeks ago
And it may it may go up the week that this show goes up think think we should time that uh fortuitously for maximum engagement um I loved the the the 2012 the the LA the v twin 3 I thought it was one of the greatest it’s either people
Say it’s either the best worst car in the world or the worst best car in the world yeah it’s just it’s unbelievable it’s a totally unique experience unlike anything else um with the super 3 you’ve now got a car engine and no more motorcycle engine which is better but
Maybe not so what what did the what was the discussion like inside of Morgan of how do we how do we how do we make this thing better while still making it you know the the three-wheeler that people want yeah well right we’re right there with the engine that’s where it all
Started so you know um I mean first of all the first question was do we do we continue with the three-wheeler do we do another three-wheeler but it’s become it’s become almost a bit of a brand anchor for us you know especially younger younger buyers you know their entry
Point to Morgan is the three-wheeler yeah um cars are quite expensive right and it’s also a global product for us it’s the only vehicle up until very soon hopefully um it’s the only vehicle currently we can ship into the US for example because over here it’s
Considered to be a motorcycle so some of the crash regulation things a bit different so it made sense for us to do it and the first thing we did is look for a new engine and naturally straight to the bike market so there’s a couple of Italian twins like gsy and stuff
There’s there’s obiously a lot of British manufacturers right and you know our owners um did a lot of work with ducatti before us so we had a conversation with those guys um and we looked to the UK manufacturers too Triumph Norton people like that the problem is with a modern
Bike engine is they’re all watercool they’re all um they’ve all got integrated gearboxes which are sequential so it was quite unique with the SNS twin we were able to pair it to a a car gearbox but most modern bike lumps have gearboxes so integrated into
Them to to splice in a reverse gear to you know to educate car drivers about sequential driving which I’m sure many could do but it’s still when you jump in for a higher or experience it’s a it’s a whole different mindset and and the cost you know and so that pretty quickly
Wrote off any did anyone ever bring up in a meeting and I’m just curious because I’ve thought about this yeah the use of the motorcycle sequential gearbox with some type of el trick reverse right yeah they I’ve thought about this a million times like where you just hit a
Button and it’s revers I mean a lot of the big biks have them now yeah yeah my uh our manager has a BMW gigantic [Â __Â ] Nazi tour that has an electric reverse it it’s like it’s pretty crazy stuff so so did that ever come up in a meeting yeah
That was talked about too and you know again you’ve got safety cases and weight and complexity and the investment just when you’re building handful of cars a year a couple hundred cars a year you’ve just got to amortize that development on something and it just it wasn’t making a
Lot of sense but interestingly Morgan started with car engine well didn’t start with car engines but they had car engines in the three-wheelers in the early Century Ford engines in particular yeah from the 30s to the 50s and there was an a car called an F super which was
A Ford engine and it was called a super you know super is not a new name for us in our in our sort of bloodline by the way can I just back up and dig myself out of a hole referring to Vinnie’s BMW bike as a Nazi tour I was I was
Wondering about that the reason I so this this bike need to this bike is is is uh does it tour the Nazis look it seriously it looks like a World War II era styled bike it’s like it’s got this like Berlin stuff all over it it’s got a
Real well let’s call it period accurate styling face I’m not meaning to make any political implications about BMW or their employees or the people ride them but when he pulled up with this thing I was like uh was this it’s their version of I it’s the B8 I think it’s called the
B18 and it has an 1,800 CC horizontal twin that sticks out about a meter and it weighs 900 lb well we looked at BMW Angel the Box are on the front you can picture it can this would have probably been the motor it’s enormous and actually it would have been
Cool please come on don’t don’t don’t throw me under the bus trying to make a little joke there just dig myself out of the hole so anyway yeah look look at this thing jeez it’s enormous R1 18b yeah it it looks like it’s got a helicopter engine I’d love to
Have a go on it it looks he he really likes it he thinks it’s great but eaten miles but it’s got this it’s very German so I mean that’s where I mean that is you know that’s where it started for us we looked at this engine you know it was
It was started with the engine so so we thought you know what we’ve got a great history working with Ford you know a lot of our cars have Ford engined um originally there’s a good story to tell there what a Ford do that’s naturally aspirated that was important for us we
Didn’t want some sort of Big Turbo coming especially on a three-wheeler with a big lack of traction yeah exactly we wanted something quite linear quite mechanical and then they and then we discovered this little three-cylinder Dragon engine um, 1500cc I don’t think it’s used in anything in America right now probably
Not no probably not like the fiesta and stuff has it I think in in the Europe yeah we had turbo Motors and they were four cylinder yeah sure um so you know we got the car we drove it um and we liked it you know a lot of the power
Comes on very late it’s nice and Revy it’s got like that you know half 911 sound you know that sort of half a six sort of sound to it sounded good nice and throaty lots of fun power if you go hunting for it and that’s what you want
To do in a Morgan work through the gears to find it and so we just liked it we just liked it um and then the next challenge was what do you do with the aesthetic you know how do you you haven’t got this big Jewel on the front
Yeah and you know truth be told that big SNS twin on the front of the old car was doing a lot of the heavy lifting in terms of visual appeal you know how it looked was everything um you didn’t have to design a snout no exactly put the
Thing there exactly so and and that’s what we didn’t want to do we didn’t want a a car engine over the front of the car with a big fed off snout and there are other three wheelers that do that um things like the vand why was it not
Possible to evolve the SNS motor was it just well to be honest it’s emissions that’s a big part of it a big capacity 2 L twin air called you know just getting through the next round of Euro emissions was a real challenge okay and towards
The end of its life SNS I believe were only building that engine for Morgan you know they went into modifications and aftermarket world because and didn’t the three wheer lose some power over its the cars are actually more powerful the lat big big snorkel on the front around
The nose which like a big mustache which are quite funny but but yeah they they lost a bit of that character as well it just became so hard and the price as well of you know of buying the engines too um so yeah that that’s what killed it really
Emissions um on on the old on the old twin and then yeah we got this new Ford engine which is not designed to be seen you know it’s not a pretty thing um yeah you’ve made the Bonnet particularly hard to get off just so don’t but it’s is small you know this is
So small it’s like the size of an A4 piece of paper it’s tiny it’s small and it’s behind the front axle which does change the distribution the weight that’s right that was the that and and this is this is the design of super 3 it started with that engine we didn’t want
To put it over the front proportionally it would start looking like a handheld vacuum cleaning we wanted it to be behind the wheels so it looked like it was being towed by its front wheels like a horse and cart kind of thing you know Chariot of fire um but also dynamically
That’s where you want the weight on a three-wheeler so it doesn’t sit under the Bonnet we would say it sits under the nose cone it’s right right tucked up there behind the front wheel and then the challenge was right so how do we dress this thing we explored cowling it
Off but that was a bit disingenuous you know with extra panels for the sake of it and Morgan design tends to be quite honest you know on a four-wheeler our front Wing is the wheel Arch it’s also the step plate and it’s you know everything’s got many jobs
So we thought right let’s let’s clad this thing with its engine mounts and then we thought hang on a minute these engine mounts can also be the front corner pickups so they were holding all the suspension and then if we you know sculpt and dress these a little bit they
Can also duct air into the two intakes for the radiators you know which kind of looks like a jet and so all of a sudden we’ve got these three components these aluminium castings doing all of these different jobs holding the corners holding the engine guiding the air in
And so they also needed to be very very thin because we couldn’t add width because then we’d push the radiators out and then we’d compromise the Turning Circle so or we’d have to get wider in the car so we ended up with these two very thin complex castings and then we
Just anodize them and stick them straight to the car so it’s a bit like a motorcycle the aesthetic is the frame it is the engine that is the bit that that’s the bit that you behold and you don’t have to be an engineer to look at
Super 3 and within a few minutes you find yourself naturally working out what everything does and how it all connects and it’s such an honest technical aesthetic that you know that got us excited one of the sort of more like I mean maybe we can call it
Controversial it’s if I’m honest it’s my my least favorite design element of the super 3 is those panels that you mount the blades that you mount the rack too that you can mount uh bags and such saddle bags too I’m sure they uh do serve a purpose I’m sure they they help
You carry more things there’s there’s a good picture of it um but think uh I mean and I know they have they do have that purpose in the front like you’ve mentioned where the pass through for the radiator but where did you go back and forth about how how bad do we really
Need these things a lot of a lot of focus for us really um and I mean the story was a bit like the front castings the the aesthetic was kind of drawn really from the technical requirements and we ended up with such an honesty about it such a sort of Primal basic
Rectangular shape that it was that honest and it was that intended that we ended up embracing it so ultimately we had the radiators on the side which are obviously vertical Square rectangular forms and had we put a lot of shape into the side panels they would have been
Coming outboard even further than the radiators which then would compromise your turning circles you’d have to grow the wheels and it’s already quite a wide car you know it’s well not by us standards but in the UK it’s why for our little roads um and so they wanted to be
Vertical so then we’re like right what else can we do with this let’s manage a lot of the air let’s use it to extract the air out the radiators over the top almost make like this knad duct effect above the top that sort of draws air
Through and then what else can we do with it you know three wheelers they’re used for maybe three different things one is just the look and feel of eccentricity of driving a a three- Wheel car the second is a lot of guys love the classic nature of Morgan and they go
Touring and adventuring in these cars and there a lot of makeshift ways of strapping luggage and stuff to it so so we started looking at like the adventure bike market and we thought you know what and the classic backr and things and how can we use these panels to hold
Accessories and luggage which is then kind of what we lent into and then we realized that if we do make these perfectly Square we can just tool up one body side sure and we can flip it over and use it on both sides of the car so we’ve just saved a sixf figure
Investment on the panel so which again enables us to make a car like this at the price we do so it all just started stacking up really and anything we did beyond that would have been for styling sake and that’s that’s not really our our philosophy and then are you sharing
The the the measurements of that with luggage manufacturers and other partners who can then make a variety of sort of accessories exactly I understand the purpose and I have a friend who has a super 3 who bought one he’s actually an automotive journalist yeah yeah uh here
In LA and he bought one he loves it and he has a a few different things that fit there and he assures me that it is useful mhm and uh uh I wouldn’t personally buy a super 3 to go on a road trip that’s not what I would do with
This particular vehicle but I get it but I just I I wonder what the inside battle was of to put these things on versus to not put them on I mean there was a lot there was a lot of discussion you know there was a few there was a few
Conversations like that where do we we had a meeting you know during the development we had a meeting and the title of the meeting was where do we put the wood and there’s got to be some there’s got to be some right it’s a Morgan and after about 20 minutes we
Closed the meeting cuz there was no place for it you know wood are those side things no they not so I mean wood has a place in Morgan it is the tool that dictates the form of the four-wheelers you shape the wood and then the panel follows that shape it
Also it’s really good for like noise vibration and harshness it’s a really good damper it’s obviously very sustainable it’s very lightweight good at absorbing energy all these reasons which is why we still coach build like we do but on super 3 it’s our first monoco it’s the first time where the
Body side is actually the the structure of the vehicle vcle so the wood at that point had no purpose and so we didn’t use it and it’s that quite honest engineering which which sort of led the design a lot of super 3 do you think the Carpenters Union is like freaking out
Right now like they’ve figured out they’ve figured out they don’t need us but green peece is very happy I I like the side pots I don’t think I think they uh they remind me very much of Like a Star Wars pod or something like that so
R yeah it’s like a Pod racer thing which those have always had like there’s the organic shape in the middle but then the ends are Just Like These Wings and I think it kind of works it would be I’d be curious to see what it would look
Like without them but then you’d have exposed radiators you’ve got a good we had a pod roaster on the moood board you know that was so so yeah a lot a lot of fun really we’ve had we’ve had a lot of fun with that you know we’re during the pandemic
We all sort of Locked Away imagining what this sort of crazy spaceship can be and um that’s the last major project that I worked on that’s you know in public domain at the moment and um we’re I hope the plus six makes it here cuz CU I I’ve everyone who’s driven one in
Europe is like this thing is bad [Â __Â ] um and uh and I liked the plus4 I thought the plus4 the last plus4 was a lot of fun we enjoyed driving that um look at that that the plus six right there it’s looks aggressive that’s whoever built that one that’s the right wheel choice
Too that we’re looking at there yeah there there are wheels like an 18inch sort of loock inspired PPP yeah that’s that is the right ratio of Wheel and Tire to to wheel Gap to Ender Arch and all that kind of stuff that’s and that’s a BMW 335 engine right watch this that’s
Turbo BMW engine yeah b58 inline six yeah fast yeah steep Papadakis get in there 600 horsepower chilling it I mean of course the car’s any way you know 1100 kg as well you know they’re weigh nothing I don’t know what that is pound you have to do the Maths for me it’s
Like 2400 it’s not it’s nothing it’s like it’s nothing so yeah they’re want to have a going that’s excellent that’s the right wheel watch this space the’ we’ve got some new announcements over the coming years in and um something we’ve really obsessed about is that wheel tire Arch fitment because you know
Just to get it to look perfect right you know yeah um and that’s that’s something that to most people that are not experts that’s the only way that you can tell that your Morgan was built this Century exactly yeah yeah cuz they weren’t two inches to one side or the other and
Exactly toleran is in the factory us to be plus or minus about 40 m look at this you got and you’ve got the Lotus steering wheel and you’ve got that BM uh space razor shifter there you go there’s a there’s a cup holder there as well Morgan’s first ever cup holder
Came came that’s one of my biggest uh B biggest successes in life getting a cup into a Morgan it’s just nowhere forward that fight must have been really fun we don’t do that here yeah where’s the wood what about the cup holder I mean it’s still an incredibly compromised cuph
Holder it but it would be not you know if you go listen we’re going to make the cup holder out of wood this is it forever there’s going to be a cup holder guy that’s a good idea that could have been the wood in the super th that’s
Where we it could have right retrofit one those the on that tacks on like the NSX has you know it like slides into a slot and now that’s what that’s what that does it pops him like a seat belt buckle mechanism SE on super thre it’s
In the back of the luggage so to have a cup holder on super three you’ve got to buy the accessory rails and then the paner and then you can put your flask in the pan so it makes it the world the outside of the car yeah so it’s like the world’s most expens
Hysterical we should do a list of the worst cup holder designs ever the current the the Acura NSX the one that they just stopped making is Extreme levels of garbage you have to it’s a double cup holder and you snap it into the side of the center tunnel on the
Passenger side and if you if it’s there if it’s in your passenger cannot have legs no that’s the one in my NSX oh there you go so my my old NSX has this little one that like flip this one it takes up like it’s where your passenger thigh goes it’s so big
Look at that picture yeah that picture shows how much yeah we just we just couldn’t fit that in with us you can barely you can’t fit a human there when you’ve got that thing installed it’s so dumb it’s it’s between your legs and ass so the testing process was quite good
Forun on that one quite painful actually the early testing prise I like between your legs between your legs is good that’s where McLaren does a cell phone pocket that’s it yeah put they put it right in the front of the seat that was the got got it just between your legs on
The on the four-wheelers there I’m sure there’s a picture on it somewhere we’re very proud of it fantastic there on the it’s not in the it’s not in the new features section they haven’t highlighted it finally get get your web guy go hey man I worked I worked hard on put everything into
This uh should we talk about British Roasters in general yes I think we should I found some so I have a list now oh you did oh is that right there oh my God look at that amazing it is quite nice oh so that just clicks right in
Just clicks in on it’s totally flat it’s basically a two dimensional pocket I’d say it two dimensional and then the floor is the base so oh the floor is the base and we we’ve not yet released it but we do have a US version as well with
A slightly bigger diameter Big Gulp size and it seems like in a pinch you could take it out dip it in soap water and blow bubbles like to entertain your kid oh that’s or while you drive along I mean I’m trying to describe that’s what the throttle house would do in their
Video probably that’s very funny I’m get shot get what did you talk about cuper for the uh the best cup holder of all time is the the early G wagon cup holders have you seen that one the basketball net no have not seen it imagine the ring like you’ve got but
Then there’s a net I could picture it yeah that that would go that goes out and and it’s rather than the the floor it’s this look I mean look at this this is this is so great best best design ever oh wait where where you up so it
Can fold into the dash I had a three Series BMW with a b46 with the same sort of drop down it was so genius and then the net would just hold your uh hold your beverage yeah cool I actually retrofitted one of those into my old
Mustang it was such a good design I literally drilled that into my dashboard there’s the mark and it was genius it’s also in the way of your leg though but you could have a you could have you could put a net you could put a net on yours leather
Strap yeah yeah you like a cross like a viking strap perfect um all right well Morgan uh maker of British roadsters for 120 years or whatever it was so you’re the perfect person to talk about our favorite British roadsters okay I do have a Morgan on the list oh good I think too
Had to all right well you start I got a list of five list of five start yeah okay so let’s go through them there’s definitely a Morgan on there cuz first of all I’ve drawn my list from you know there’s some Classics in there as you might expect but there’s also one two
Modern cars in there including the Morgan because it’s important to note that the mod Morgan is a modern car right sure okay so first one for me is the Morgan 44 okay and that was our we don’t make it anymore but that was the longest running continuation production
Car in the world ever 80 years of the Morgan 44 it so in continuous production without any breaks yeah in continuous production so um the Morgan 44 80 odd years I mean you’re I’m going to get F that was a plus four but a four seater
No so that was pre plus four came out in the 1950s so this was 1936 um the first Morgan 4 it’s 4/4 that’s right and it was four wheels four cylinders that’s how it came up very original and it was a little the latest I mean there’s there’s there’s actually
A picture of myself on my now wife cuz we met in this car right so what did I say you want to meet girls exactly there you go and she looks lovely and happy in that photo you know that that’s how we first met but for me the 44 was
Kind of you know represented the fun of driving of a Morgan four-wheeler and there’s this faster car the plus fours a much better car nowadays dynamically but what I loved about the 44 is it was the narrowest body car we ever did it was 790 kg um skin tires steel ladder frame
Sliding pillar suspension the little 1600 Sigma engine from Ford I think was designed by Yamaha and it was like naturally really Chase through the revs and you just had to work this thing so hard it would never go around a corner but you’d have so much fun trying to
Make it go around a corner yeah it was the plus does that now the newer one it’s a little weird in the corners but it’s fun to drive and you sat right in the back axle you feel every bump you really do drive by the seat of your pants is that one yours
It’s not no I’m and again it’s and a car I’d love to own um I would love to own it but for me that like I say there’s a lot better Morgans but that for me sort of represents the heart of Morgan really just nothing but fun to drive little
Handmade body sweet cute little face it was just you know of the of the British Roadster I think it’s hard for a Morgan not to be on that list forgiving my bias the funny thing about the best Morgan is it’s not necessarily the best Morgan yeah right some car some some companies
Like you know there’s charm in what they lack yeah you know yeah you wouldn’t I wouldn’t want a Morgan to be perfect if it was it would be disappointed and there’s nothing there you didn’t need to be there and just for a fun weekend or a little blast out just
To sort of forget the world I love the 44 that for me was was going to be you know top on the list really all right and I think another another classic that oh we’re going to go we’re going to go around should we taking turns oring turn
That’s my first we’re taking that’s okay no worries I didn’t I didn’t explain the rules uh my my and this is is in order of the ones of just in order of what I thought of them they’re not ranked uh e type early e type very obvious yes quintessential British
Roadster beautiful archetype of many roadsters since uh looks great variety of engines Motorsport pedigree uh there you can have very expensive ones you can have very affordable ones they made a lot of them so you can always you could find one at basically any price point yeah I like the six-cylinder cars I’m
Not a big fan of the twelves but uh even though that’s the one Zach’s got a I even like the coups the as long as not the two plus two but the the two-seater CPS and uh even even Enzo Ferrari that hated everything he liked them yeah so
You got to well who doesn’t you know just beautiful car you know it’s just you ever drive one no I never have driven one I would love to they’re they drive like they look they’re long and skinny and you sit on the floor your feet go straight out never ending it
Yeah yeah but they they’re cool they sound amazing beautiful yeah so in a moment of possible sacrilege I actually think the eagle e type looks a little better low drag I like the low drag because to me the the profile of the E type is so shapely but the more I see
Them especially from a profile I’m like man this Hood really is just I think it’s too long well when you take away the chrome bumpers yeah you got to you got to take all the chrome bumpers off and then you go motor port and then you’re good I
Think like where’s this like Adrian’s like cheater Goodwood e type have you seen that one right well so Adrian newi is kind of like this cuz it’s a little bit he changed some things yeah that’s what I’m saying and that’s why it’s a cheater car a little bit so I think this
They just got the proportions a little bit more yeah I saw I saw these being built a few weeks ago actually still entirely coach built you know handmade aluminium they just they are beautiful yeah they just they fix they little things I know in England but where in
England well they do certainly do some of it in cometry um near not too far from Morgan actually cool I’m not sure where the HQ is though all right yeah next well my second car is also a Jaguar but I’m GNA say the XK 120 so fastest
Car in the world fast production car of its time yeah and just again another sort of British you know darling of the British Roadster you know there was obviously the the fixed heads and things as well but real old money [Â __Â ] cute little pin face crazy expensive though I
Know but they but you look rich drive one of these and you look and every time you see one it’s just got such presence that that dropping tail on the back I love the way you can almost see the running board that we still have sort of
Evolving into that sort of high dropping Wing big long Bonnet I love the way the um the headlights are large and close together to give it that really cute face um and like you say these are production roer of its time sound great I’ve never driven one I love pillars
Around the side they just they’ve got such characters we f one for Hagerty and Parker cerman who’s a NASCAR driver he he drove it all day and he’s like I want to buy one of these so bad he fell in love with the car it was like a fall day
At Road America and they sound great and they look great and it was very sweet car yeah that is I’m into that I’m definitely into that that one that one works my next one is a Morgan okay AOS Super Sports tarar roof not technically a roadster but I think a tarar roof
Counts that counts and it’s based on it’s based on a convertible they they added the roof later uh I got to drive Charles Morgan’s AOS Super Sports I don’t know what year it was maybe 20 black and tan one was it black tan and I have never felt cooler driving anything
Yeah I mean this was some like Great Gatsby CRA you know the view out of that windshield the pinched windshield with the three wipers the turned aluminum Dash and then the Pontoon fenders but with the BMW V8 the side pipe coming right out under your ear some soundtrack was just
I mean just the best I don’t I don’t I don’t know if I’ve I’ve ever had number six am my this developing you know you don’t you don’t you can be going any speed you don’t have to go you could be going slow you could be going fast it
Doesn’t [Â __Â ] matter you are the king of the universe in this car is this the car Tony HW drove on a gumball thing that’s right he did I remember that was my first exposure to one I was like what is this might have even been it might
Have even been the same car he might no he drove a white one he did okay might been a c actually that one yeah no it was either way it looked very similar yeah these and and plus tarer roof yes so that had a boot on it so it was our
First sort of proper t on the on the Arrow range the arrow Max the coupe before it had quite a large rear luggage space but you accessed it through two tiny butterfly windows so you kind of had to post all of your items in one by one canned goods in
There you kind of pack the car rather than pack a bag before you go a big big luggage space in the back of that actually there was about a 2year period where these were affordable used and they not anymore I don’t know I don’t know how many are in the states it was
The last car to come to the states as well single single digits I bet it is and uh Jeff Dunham the comedian had had one I think he sold it that was the one that was on Jay Leno’s Garage was Jeff Dunham’s car um but the last one I sold
Was in the started with a three Jesus yeah yeah for a long time you under 150k you could gotten one now forget it and probably never again yeah know well God damn is that great yeah when we when we discontinued that n62 V8 and as the last
V8 more fitted the demand for them went went nuts really the last eight cars we did we did like this GTR special thing this GT special thing with a load of can ards and hot looking bits on it um they went nuts and they’re still fetching really really good money now yeah
There’s not a lot of retro future better than that that’s about as good as that that’s cool Retro Retro futurism yeah that’s kind that’s what America did in like the ’90s the the J Mays the new Beetle the mini the Frank Stevenson stuff the Thunderbird we had a big
Period of retro future but this is the king of all of it had manyi headlights on the front it did many head originally had Beetle headlights and they switched and that’s where we had this reputation of being bugy they had to get the air into the front with this big cow catcher
And then they couldn’t find any round headlight to fit apart from the mini ones the beta ones they to put them on the opposite sides to to make them fit on the panels that was a good example where designers are important yeah yeah yeah the mini lights are a lot better
Once the mini came out someone like oh get those get those round lights I mean look you know Lamborghini was using Nissan headlights and the Diablos it’s all kinds of [Â __Â ] that gets stuck around yeah this was This Is My Jam though all right Zach next uh Triumph
TR6 I’ve seen one in town the guy drives a British racing green one and it you know it’s it always smokes a little bit but I just think of course it does it it does a little bit but uh I don’t know man especially from the rear I got to
Find a photo but they just have like this little lip in the back or a little tail that flips up and I just think it’s like really subtle but when you see them in person they look a lot more aggressive than this and I just think they’re really cool cars they sound good
It’s a kind of a classic thing you know what I like about these tall tires on a little car you know like the the Healey 3000s and they all have these tiny little tires and then these have pretty tall tires and something really works about that
They look fun to drive don’t they they float on the Rubber and yeah I love the way the Bonnet sort of cowed over the top of the headlights here look at the uh rear three rear 3/4 or this like I just love this that tail light design
Thought of [Â __Â ] at the pub later yeah m m we didn’t put tail lights on it quick what we got what do we go there we go just like I just love this bow line and I like the little angles on this it’s it’s like a really small Chrysler
Fury from like 57 yeah or like a Aston uh Aston Vantage uh you know 70s Aston had that kind of car shaped isn’t it like two box proportion it’s just car shaped it’s just car shaped isn’t it it’s know you going to draw car that’s that’s so insulting what what what inspired you
Car car right they said draw a card today boys me um wow to go back to the [Â __Â ] era Super Sports after that it’s like future all right what else you got okay uh got another newer one or an older one I will go with I’ll go stay with the
Classics then I’ve got one on my list which is the AC Ace oh so prec Cobra pre Cobra 1952 or three something like that six-cylinder not the fastest car um at the time obviously but such a beautiful car such a such a head turner like that long Bonnet again with a long separate
Sort of bug eyed on the front of the Wings no shut lines on the side of the car just the door and that’s it you know it’s just it’s one pan on head all the way um obviously a sort of beautiful Coke bottle proportion just such a
Lovely car to look at you can imagine seeing one of those at the time um and all again made by hand so you know all English wheel and when you think of that being rolled through the English wheel to give it the shape um I love the way
The Scuttle comes off the Bonnet and so the Bonnet panel continues into the interior so it makes the bonnet look even true oh yeah the the right the the fender carries on into the into the interior as well through there yeah yeah like there’s like body work inside the
Windshield yeah EXA inside outside kind of just one stops and the other one starts but um really pretty 48 spoke wheels big tires again just a really pretty car really and nice I thought relevant as well today maybe you know it’s not a cobra but I did a video with
The AA which was the coupe version of it with a Bristol engine drove nice it was pretty cool actually there was some cool hard tops for them wasn’t there actually at the time was always quite yeah you could get a hard top on this but the the
AA was the full almost hatchback it was lovely yeah cool I have a Cobra on my list I have the AC Cobra perect yeah so same thing big motor not much else to say everybody knows what a cobra is I don’t need to go into why you can see
All the language can’t you start evolving into that but I like the C the Cobra mouth I think is smaller and the fenders got bigger which works this reminds me power of the red wheels and yeah what is the like late 50s Ferrari that has a front end that looks or the
Grill opening is so like a Ferrari like 212 like really the early early Ferraris yeah that’s what reminds me of the Cobra I think it all like it just it it it went through puberty and then everything evened out yeah this is like the Shins are too big or something yeah let’s see
Those are cool though okay Cobra I’ll I’ll skip cuz I put Cobra also so uh we’ll call that more or less the same thing okay uh how about Aston Martin V12 Vantage Roadster yeah 200 10 to 2012 manual gearbox 510 horsepower short not the oh well you got the modern one I
Was top right corner yeah top I was talking about the first gen car yes quite compact y great short wheel Bas Monster Power engine doesn’t fit under the Bonnet so they had to make the on it taller that side vent running into the crease on the shoulder six uh uh this
One was the S we only see we didn’t get the V12 Vantage in uh Roadster in the US that was Europe only we only got the S Roadster which had the dog leg first gear for the seven speed you really want the six speed the performance difference
Isn’t there and six gears is better than seven but [Â __Â ] yes all day good job even with a V8 4.7 v8 still great could be a V8 Vantage Roadster or V12 Vantage Roadster just the best where’s the rear everything about that car is good and right to me y beautiful car no
Doubt no doubt Shazam uh Zach cerum okay yeah got got be a cerum on the list doesn’t that I just think well I was like it’s like I don’t like cater and there’s no there’s there’s aeriel and I was like well I I don’t the aerial is
Fun and the new one is much easier to drive than the last gen I drove it on a track but this I prefer front engine cars and I think for Pure excitement front engine re wheel drive you’re sitting on the axle again like you know they teach drift schools with it it just
I bet it’s the most fun super light it’s it’s like it’s a go-kart that you can drive on the street and I think dynamically I don’t think there’ be anything on here that would be more exciting for me personally with what I like to
Do I reviewed one in the UK and it was a 400 r or 420 R to say that’s the last one I drove the 420r was bunkers thing yeah but I didn’t like it very much it felt like the front half of the car and the back half of the car were different
Cars yeah like the way the front took a bump and the way the rear took a bump were like completely different it AR front and then a different suspension yeah and it was like I don’t it might have been the Deon rear or something like such a cold following haven’t I get
It I’d love to track one I’d like to drive one on a racetrack just talk about exactly that cater spec series or something and there’s plenty of people who swear by them and I’m not saying they’re all wrong I just and I’m not saying that it shouldn’t be on this list
Because they’ve been building these things for a thousand years too and people still love them and look at that guy that guy in that picture for Top Gear seems like he’s having a grand old time getting wet and whales and look by the way look at the look at the rearview
Mirror setup they’ve got going on on this thing that’s like they’ve really got some like alien eyes uh mirrors happening there there um it’s when you British roads to don’t you you think you do think good time all right last one got one one is it two more I think maybe
Two more sorry oh I skipped cuz I had Cobra yeah okay so lot it’s Alan series one series one I have that too so Gordon Murray would agree with you h i you know what it’s perfect in terms of fun to drive it is the formula isn’t it 600
Kilograms or whatever they were tiny little sausage missile body I don’t know what you call it sausage missile is pretty saage missile also a great metal band something 20 26 are like the race version Cosworth tuned with a little flared wheel arches on there like 170 Brak 600 kg really small really compact
Lightweight fun to drive um obviously a huge commercial success of lotus as well and you know I think for me it’s hard for that not to be on the list that’s there’s a couple of these around Los Angeles we see them once in a while yeah
There’s a really good like a yellow one with like pan sport wheels on it and looks awesome very racy’s got one as well isn’t he it’s exactly anyone who talked to this owned one has regretted not owning it anymore oh that 20 the 26r that’s what’s up that’s the of those
Built but I think they were like 175 brake horsepower like 600 kg yeah that looks like a good time yeah Inspire and inspired the Miata which is you know a fantastic car so this is where that began you seen you seen that there’s a kit you can buy that turns a Miata into
Into it look it makes it look like it yeah it’s got sort of this Fastback roof uh it sort of reshapes the nose I drove one and it all the guy also did a rotrex blower on the thing it was fast as [Â __Â ] it was really really cool good fun it’s
Also I I was looking up TV and you can you can really see where this 500 got its design from yeah I mean it’s it’s really really close I’m a little embarrassed I don’t have a TVR on my list do you have a TVR I do it was going
To be this okay what TVR what TVR do you have that was my last one last in fact the first ever rear wheeel drive car I ever went in was a TVR Tuscan s so 2007 probably not the best car dynamically or aesthetically but for me I just love the
Theater of the TVR like the the sort of the way the panels all float around the vehicle with sort of endless curves there’s a bit of a story behind that the the way the body tued under and even the shut lines they didn’t have shut lines
So the body side dived in and that’s cuz the edges of the fiberglass bodies were so poor they just instead of trying to addess them all they just hide it ins them all all of the panel edges disappear they all roll under or tuck into the don’t show them the edges just
Find a way to [Â __Â ] now that you tell me that I can’t on see that yeah it’s hilarious I went to Blackpool Factory a few times and you just see piles of these bodies that it was quicker just to make another one than try and fix them
So it’s just like a graveyard of these fiber glass fail rate on the bodies God I love I love the excitement of it but you know first real four lit four four liter straight six like 111 kilogram again you’re going to have to do the the conversion for me 1100 kg 370 brake
Horsepower just so much fun they sounded incredible and they just had all of these quirks like the the the the rev counter went anticlockwise it was like lime green and open the doors like the buttons under the mirrors or in the middle of the dash and remember getting
In it and not being able to get out because I just couldn’t work out to turn the heat event or something to open the door steep learning curve on that the noise the theater the drama and like I say my personal one of my first experiences with like a a sports car if
You like so that’s very fun there’s a guy who’s got two tvrs he’s got a a tusin and a saris in Los Angeles carar is even more bu is B in the that [Â __Â ] rear window on that thing the lexand exhaust pip just stuck out sideways look at the look at the rear
Of I mean that’s just so aggressive love it though I love the roof line so much it’s crazy and like this crazy [Â __Â ] and it’s got a the wing is clear which I love yeah I like I like the headlights more than I do on the uh the tusin but I
Remember the tus I think there’s more exciting TVs but for my personal top five of course you know and that’s the first rear wheel drive car you rode in what a memory a memory and it stuck with me forever so yeah that’s a good that’s a
Very good one uh last on my list Ariel adom uh it’s just it def because it defined a whole range of cars that were previously thought of as not really being possible nobody for a long time it was assumed you needed body workor yeah you know it was it you you nobody would
Just like sell a car that doesn’t have a body uh and and and on top of that the the the Top Gear film of this car was the thing that made me want to make videos about cars when I saw that I said this is the
Thing this is the thing that I will be doing uh for as long as I can and uh I drove one it’s not for me generation did you do you know I drove a a two I the four I’ve heard I mean I’ve heard they’re I’ve heard
They’ve gotten good but still I don’t necessarily think it’s for me now having said that they are crazy and inspired a whole bunch of other cars with little to no Bodywork and um and and as far as open top British motoring doesn’t get much more open yeah to agree it’s like a
Motor bike with four wheels isn’t itzy just yeah it’s crazy i’ is there there is is there a four in America yeah that’s the one that has a Civic Type R engine I think where would I go to drive that we had it I mean we actually we had
To pay for shipping for a drive where do they ship it to they’re based I think in like Kentucky the place that manufactur or sybles them is based in the South somewhere so that’s where they have them they got to figure out and their budget are is small cuz they’re like can you
Ship it because so we paid for shipping for The Nomad okay yeah and then I’d like to try the Nomad too that’s the off-road one that’s it yeah so The Nomad still had the supercharge engine which I actually preferred and then the fourth had the Civic Type R engine which was
Nutty fast and dynamically felt a little better they changed a lot of things but uh I just like the power train the sensation of the supercharge more um but D took me for a ride at Palmer in the in the fourth gen and he learned to drifted
And that was nuts well that and that is the most dangerous racetrack probably in America this racetrack is the best racetrack imag for filming enormous elevation gorgeous tree foliage but there are literally exposed rock wall no no there’s no runoff it’s built into the side of a cliff and you can hit the
Cliff this is [Â __Â ] nuts it’s so dangerous I love it I’m not [Â __Â ] on it I think it’s amazing anyone who wants to send me to Palmer to go film I am in but is so so oh yeah just show The Cliffs the cliff pictureit I mean look you can hit oh
Cliff it’s so it’s great though the elevation drops are wild yeah especially on where this this is in Massachusetts Western Massachusetts gorgeous it’s in New England yeah New England right yeah uh that’s that would be a scary place to drive a car with no body workor yeah right yeah but it’s one of
The most beautiful places you could ever film a car video uh my final one is no joke it’s the Morgan three-wheeler it really is because I think it’s just this it’s silly and it’s it’s disarming to people and it like you said about uh the other Morgans it doesn’t look like
You’re trying to advertise your wealth or your you know the size of your dick or how fast you can go it’s very playful and I really like that about it and I think it is it’s like if you take a lot of the other bits of the Morgan Driving
Experience other than like the suports and you really distill it down and reduce that sauce like this is kind of what it is that’s what you’re left with yeah absolutely it’s one of the most unique experiences I’ve had thanks both that’s pretty cool two two Morgans from I this I just love
The the AOS Super Sports more I liked about the the old three-wheeler uh the old new three-wheeler it it was like flying a World War II aircraft yeah you know with the sound of that thumping v twin and the propeller steering wheel I mean all that [Â __Â ] plus the engine’s in
Front of the body like an air yeah I was it was nuts it felt like I was an old like you know like the Red Baron or something there was a famous brand ambassador for Morgan from like World War II time that’s how Morgan does influences
Um was a was a pilot called Albert ball and he famously said you know it’s the closest thing to Flying you can get on the road dude it pretty it really felt like that and uh my friend Alex Roy had has one that’s right yeah and we we
Drove it around New York City and you can you could literally park it anywhere yeah and nobody gave a [Â __Â ] you could leave it right in the middle of the road nobody car have never seen any other vehicle where you could put it wherever the [Â __Â ] you wanted and nobody would do
Anything we left it parked in the most illegal possible place for like hours nobody cared it was amazing it was the most like people were like H look at that and they just walk away and go about their experience how how do you even tow it I don’t know what to do just
I don’t know what to do leave it yeah just walk away put in a bike rack what is this thing yeah yeah uh did you have one more John I think we did we skip was TV good good list good list 15 15 good British cars I think that’s all of them
That’s probably that’s probably we left off thing like Sunbeam or stuff like that there were a couple what we skipped Sunbeam is great unless you got a cobra in the in the room exactly Sunbeam is for people who can’t afford a cobra but they are cool yeah we covered all the
Brands as well didn’t we not many yeah we did dbr1 AST them was sort of there as maybe the race car c types D types there’s a few a lot of yeah I mean there’s there are some many that’s a good list a d if yeah a
Dtype may have been better than an e type if we really were thinking about it but you know that’s still still a good list uh we got a few on the patreon let’s get to those before we you’re good on time John yeah I’m fine to be nothing
To do here perfect um you going up to lenos after this you dropping that thing off with Jay dropping a car up there and then I’m doing something with him tomorrow and then back on a plane I think I’m in the air more than I am on
The ground it’s such a flying visit I know that’s a bummer you should take maybe you take the I’ll make you a route to go the fun way to Jays if you’re not cool that would beol enjoyed it this morning just coming through actually
Well you want you want to have a go on you know we have mountains here most people don’t know about that um of course if you want to ask questions of us or our guests get involved watch the live stream get access to early merch drops have an ad fore listening experience
Patreon.com thees smoking Tire podcast is where you do it Michael Cosgrove says if Morgan were to Branch out into uh another uh internal comb platform what would he like to create uh wait what does that how does that question work Branch out to another ice plat meaning partner with a
Different powertrain company different vehicle segment almost looks that like a different platform not Sports what else would we do that’s that’s an interesting one actually there’s there’s a few things we think about um in our sort of long-term strategy and one of the questions is is there a appetite or an
Opportunity for a really big capacity a 12 or something or a big big six or something maybe edging into that Supercar territory a bit would be interesting as like a last Harrah for the ice engine before we all have to say goodbye to it and we often wonder about
That you know um Morgan have never really made a superc car if you like and so we do often naturally wonder about it but I’m not sure what it looks like but for me like a 12 cylinder manual last big fire breathing thing would be interesting to see with a long Bonnet
With a Lou Vents and you can imagine something quite exciting there yeah um but interestingly we in line 12 yeah two in line six to tell yeah and and the other thing we think about a little bit is what would a return to our sort of roots of a really small Runabout
Look like a really lightweight very low capacity small Revy um thing you know that that was also quite exciting for us you know maybe if Morgan ever entered slightly bigger volumes than we do today would there be an audience for a lightweight small l powered four wheel well you could do a four-cylinder
Motorcycle engine you go the other way or stick two more wheels on a super three or something yeah exactly you’re very close something like that um so yeah for a different platform with a different combustion engine there’s that and then obviously there’s electrification for us which we’re we
Are kind of embracing we’ve done a few prototypes and they’ve been a lot of fun yeah um you know electric three-wheelers we just did one recently announced it called the xp1 we’re not going to build any it was just to get a bit of training and a bit of knowledge into the business
Something for the R&D guys to sort of cut their teeth on a little bit if you like and it was brilliant super three same sort of weight same sort of power um totally linear T acceleration you hear the tires all of a sudden CU they not drowned out and you’re still getting
Flies in the face and it’s still very visceral and a world of a handmade coach buillt experienced lead electric car I feel like Morgan can own that a little bit so we’re quite excited about that as well so there’s a few a few things in
The mix cool uh pan how much wood is used in the frame of modern Morgans these these days we covered the super 3 zero um just just the cup holder coming up how about in the plus four and six is there what kind of wood is left in there
Zero in the super 3 more than ever in a four and six we use more we use more wood now in a plus four and a plus six body than we ever have so we also use more metal so but we’ve got the fully aluminium chassis now um it’s a sort of
Baled uh bonded riveted um aluminium chassis but it’s quite sort of flat panels so to come from that boxy shape to the curvy body we have to connect it with a lot more intricate wood um which is added a lot more to it so that looks like a steel ladder frame chassis body
Frame there oh no is that is a CX um so yeah more wood than we ever have before actually is the answer to that question and like I say it’s something we really lean into it’s lightweight it’s low tooling for us so that the chassis you
See there R CX platform that carries the same chassis carries either the four-cylinder or the six-cylinder manual or Auto wide body or narrow body left hand drive or right hand drive so it’s kind of the case that the chassis hits the ground we pick up the build ticket
And then it’s the wooden frame that defines the car we put on top of it and it gives us that much flexibility to you know change volumes to suit demand yeah and you know something doesn’t quite fit guy pops up from the wood shop and just
Shaves a bit off and then we put the aluminium on top of that and it’s just such a nice way of working yeah um like I say good at absorbing vibrations and less than more more than ever on the four-wheelers yeah and then nothing in the super 3 but um
It’s Ash Ashwood yeah it is Ash where’s the do you guys have a forest yeah we do we it’s all sort of sustainably grown and then we we have it sat for a long period of time just climatizing so you don’t you know take it out of a warm dry
Environment get it wet and it just moves um and we actually we get cars coming back in from the 50s and 60s to be rebodied with a steel bodyw works all disappeared and the wood’s still there you we dip it in a big pot of fence
Protector you know and it’s um so yeah it’s all Ashwood um Source in England um and yeah it’s a good it’s a good wood for it it grows grows very fast so you don’t have lots of knots and Distortion which means wood can move it’s a very
Stable wood it’s a hard wood but it’s very lightweight um and you know it’s sustainable so yeah yeah it’s I’m going to keep on Coach building for the short term yeah and is there is there a use of the wood scrap is it what what happens
To what gets cut off mainly in our log burners at so you know most of USG don’t don’t really pay fuel bills we just take home the scraps that’s awesome so yeah uh all the pizza in my belly says does the Plus 8 GTR have any chance of a US market
Release um well that car is not even being produced anymore is it it’s not being produced anymore that was like a last of of the V8 um celebration there is cars in the US though so a few of them got all one maybe or a couple over
Here on like a show and display um type exemption um so certainly at least in the US that’s a road car that’s not a track day car that’s a road car God damn is that look good yeah what was what was cool about everything was made by
Aluminium so that front sort of splitter on the on the lower chin yeah all aluminium beaten by hand I mean probably not a great idea being handwork metal that close to the ground but uh everything on that car was handmade aluminium damn that looks good though yeah and ferocious you know the noise
Had these straight tail pipes out the back they were like white white the white tail pipe is a good Canon pipes out that’s an old school Vibe I like that and they would spit Flames oh look at the interior two go down one Zach look the the carb seats
They’re really good seats actually really the D5 low or B5 low low line tillet they’re really nice seats there that’s pretty rad yeah that was inspired by that car so um you know a lot of early prototype racing plus eights um always painted in blue and um there’s a lot of history and
Story to be told there for the competition stes show and display for sure but that’s awesome uh last one gun array uh is Morgan using or considering 3D printing or other additive manufacturing uh either in prototyping or production yeah great question we do actually a lot more than ever we’ve just
Got a big um we just got a big 3D printer in now um which with a massive bed size like a meter and a half so you can print some really big stuff out um at the moment we don’t use it in production but we do use it in
Manufacturing so whether it’s like little prototype parts for checking things um or we often make little fixtures and Jigs and working with the guys that are you know hand making these cars if they can have a little fixture or a little tool that makes their job
Easier we can print one out for them that’s a interesting picture sorry change the subject that’s a it’s a wake that that was a legitimate life challenge that I had my wife and I do a lot of wake B boarding and uh for some reason I brought a super three home for
The weekend and I was like oh [Â __Â ] I was going weight boarding tomorrow what am I going to do pretty good I strapped to the I strapped him to the side it’ be good for us California for the surfboards too it’s like it’s like the side racks that the the things that
People put on their bicycles to carry surf yeah that was a stage that was a legitimate life need that one that’s awesome so uh yes 3D printing is a is a yes yeah we do we use it a lot for that and to be honest we’re asking a few
Questions now about you know if we if we have to do a certain component we’re only building 50 cars or something does it make sense to put down a big metal injection molded tool or get something shipped in from elsewhere when we could print 50 off in one go and be done with
It and actually you know Morgan’s last on the road for such a long period of time all I think 90% of all Morgans ever are still on the road so the back to ground is you know it doesn’t really happen so actually there’s a case for low energy manufacturer 3D printed Parts
Maybe for some small areas so maybe do you think those parts I mean you’re not necessarily in manufacturing but like Morgan’s 12 people so do you do you think that uh that the 3D printed stuff can handle the uh the rigors of being being hand place right there’s so many
Little bits and brackets in a car doing all sorts of stuff you know in the right place if it’s the right material for the job and there’s a story to be told you know we’re definitely interested in it so 3D print wood yet using like wood
Pulp you can do like bio Composites like wood fiber in organic resin so you could actually have wooden panels on you could you could actually make like a bare wood thing that be kind of R so yeah thinking about some of that I think well that’s awesome man well
Thanks for stopping by John no thank you I appreciate you coming in that was really really interesting uh for those of you out there if you got a list of your of your own favorite uh British roadsters leave that in the comments uh thank you to our patrons for such great
Questions I’ll make you a little Drive route over to Leno’s place if you want to have fun on the way uh if you’ve got that super three you should really enjoy it and not just go on the freeway that stinks um and uh do we have another show
This week we do we do have a show at the end of the week right the Pro driver show maybe as end of this week I think so for the uh for the patrons we’ll have a special bonus show for you at the end of this week and then I’m going to Las
Vegas to drive mcclaren’s 750 and I got that G wagon I’m taking it’s kind of wasteful but you know what do you that’s the G wagon experience it’s the G wasting yeah wastefulness yeah less not as way yeah whatever I’m driving a G Wagon in Vegas so [Â __Â ] you to drive a
Super car to drive a superar this is how this is how that works yes excellent John Wells live in studio appreciate it bro thank you see you guys later bye
28 Comments
Thanks Matt and Zack , another great interview.
1. AC Ace
2. Jaguar XK120
3. Lotus Elan
4. MG MGA
5. Austin-Healey Sprite
Jon Wells seems like such a nice guy and super knowledgeable. Great interview. Thank you guys , and I forgot how really wonderful Morgan’s are. Great British car tradition is still alive and thriving with great minds like Jon’s working for them.
38:03 fiesta st, well shit, there was an announcement they were going to 3 cylinders….i guess i got a bit of EU news and didnt realize it didnt apply to the US, or they announced it for the US but didnt actually do it before halting car production all together…awww fuck, i actually remember thinking, ~i should buy a 4 cylinder fiesta st before the discontinue that engine…
It’s worth watching the Sir John Harvey-Jones Troubleshooter episode mentioned by Jon
https://youtu.be/PtDA714SdgQ?si=a0GYeIxWB88KHhgz
it’s a horrifying snapshot of British industrial relations from the Thacther years with management captured by workforce intransigence.
Something the new ownership has mercifully changed. Jon’s talk of change at the company is a breath of fresh air and healthy vision for the future.
Great episode guys.
Great Episode. Love to hear from someone who loves what they do.
1: Lotus Elise
2: Austin Healey 3000
3: Triumph TR4a
4: TVR Sagaris
5: Jaguar D Type
Wow, 900 episodes. You should do a poll of what 1000 should be. Jonny and Doug combo?
God damn you guys are milking this top t thing. Top 5 JDM, muscle, British, two door, four-door, red car, black car.
This was so awesome! So much better than car auctioneers and car salesman
"Put it in a bike rack" lmaooooo
Great guest and top banter guys. Thoroughly enjoyable!
Here to say the latest version of Top Gear America is actually better than the uk version fight me
Why does the Super 3 have a Ford engine and not a BMW, they both make a 3 cylinder and Morgan has closer ties with BMW?
Great episode! Jon is so clearly passionate about his work at Morgan, and working in the auto industry in general, that it makes listening to his stories a pure delight.
I was very pleasantly surprised by this – fascinating guest and conversation.
As a Morgan owner for the past 15 years, I found this so entertaining
What an awesome guest! Thank you guys!
Because of Matt's chosen politics, he has to apologize of any off color joke that would really only upset the people that he's trying to align with anyway. Sad. If he were true to himself, he would not have to apologize for every little thing he might say offhand that might offend someone. That's not a healthy way to live. You can make jokes Matt, not everyone has to think they're funny and you'll always offend someone who is looking to be offended. Don't apologize for it.
Jon Wells kicks ass. He is definitely one of the best guests of all time.
Ariel Atoms are built in the US by TMI AutoTech in Virginia (near VIR). The 3 was very impressive, but haven't seen the 4 yet. I did get to drive a Nomad for several days and it was awesome. Unfortunately, they are out of production because the K series crate motor they used is no longer available and the design would need to be revised. Which is sad because it was the single most memorable car I've ever driven.
Morgan is one of the first sports cars I remember. We were driving down the 401 near Toronto in my dad’s 76 Charger. I remember were came up on these two cars and didn’t know what they were. I remember seeing the Morgan script on the back. It was in my teens before I knew what they were.
wow didn't know the guy went to my home town university !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Great guest and great episode. Really enjoyed this one
1/2 hour in and I've heard nothing about the top 5 British roadsters. On my way out the door I'll list my 5. MG TD, Austin Healy 100-6, Morgan Plus 4, Truimph Spitfire, MG B.
Great episode gents, as many have said, best guest for ages
Those are fantastic lists all round. Love a bit of TVR spectacle, though I'm not sure I'll ever own one.
Very lovely guest, too!
Both the audio and the video are quite good in this episode! Jon is a great guest, very charming and brilliantly articulate. Happy #900, guys!
Thanks for that podcast! Great to listen to Jon‘s thoughts and ideas for Morgan!