‘It was a truly handmade car – it wasn’t easy to upscale’
Hand-crafting is central to the Morgan appeal says Martin Cole, who’s worked there since the Seventies
For more than a century Morgan was a family business, and for Morgan metalworker Martin Cole it still is. Brother Wayne and nephew Adam work alongside him at the factory at Malvern in Worcestershire, and chief executive Steve Morris is his brother in law. ‘We’ve got quite a few family connections here,’ he says with a smile. Cole started at Morgan in 1977 as an apprentice. ‘Our main job as apprentices was to help the chaps do their jobs – if they needed something holding, or fetching and carrying. And a lot of being messed about as well.’ Like many a workshop junior Cole was sent on nonsense errands like fetching sparks for the grinder, spots for the paint, and new spirit level bubbles. ‘But not in a nasty way, it was all fun,’ he says. ‘It made you grow up really quickly!’
After completing the apprenticeship, Cole’s first job was making radiators from scratch. ‘We used to make the Plus 8 and 4/4 radiators in-house out of brass and copper. I used to enjoy that, though soldering isn’t the cleanest job. At the time anything from a sheet of metal we made in-house, by hand. You had to be able to turn your hand to everything – radiators, petrol tanks, stone guards, bonnets, valances, tool boxes, spare wheel panels. You definitely learnt all your skills because you had to use them all the time – soldering, welding, any sheet metal skills you can think of.’
Memorable jobs included making prototype parts for the Aero and a radiator for a motor show display, ‘It was never painted, everything was polished – the brass surround, the brass top, the copper pipes. That’s the most difficult thing I’ve done.’
One of the most complex parts of the body to make was the scuttle, in steel until the Nineties when aluminium took over. ‘The sheets were delivered to us and we used to put a pattern on the sheet, mark it out with a scriber and cut it out by hand with a pair of tin snips,’ Cole explains.
‘Now everything is laser cut, which makes life a lot easier. We used to shape the scuttle on rollers, then put it onto the wooden body frame and shape it to the car. Each one was different. Once it was made you had to take it off, clean it all up, then fit it back on the car with pins and screws. It would usually take the best part of a day.’
Morgan took part in the BBC TV series Troubleshooter in 1990, featuring former ICI chairman Sir John Harvey-jones dispensing business advice. Cole spoke to him when he visited the factory. ‘I know a lot of things that he said, Peter Morgan didn’t agree with,’ he says. ‘The one thing he wanted us to do was build more cars. But it really was a handmade car, and it wasn’t easy to get more cars through the system. The only way to increase production was to change the way they were built, which they’ve done over the years.’
Around 30,000 people visit Morgan every year, making the factory one of the biggest tourist attractions in the area. ‘It doesn’t bother me personally,’ Cole says. ‘We quite enjoy it if someone is coming round to see what you’re doing. The body is panelled using the same techniques it has been since the Fifties. You’re using a hammer and snips to form everything. People are amazed when they see that going on.’