Text and photos by Derek Meluzio –
Have you ever discovered a show or car event that is not that far from where you live and you think to yourself, “How did I not know about this event years ago?”. Crazier yet, did you ever attend an event that is outside of your normal realm of interest and when it is over you think, “Why have I not been learning more about these cars all along?”.
Both of those questions were being played in my head over and over again a few weeks ago. For the first time ever, I had the fortune of experiencing the Cars & Motorcycles of England Concours d’Elegance at historic Hope Lodge in Fort Washington, Pennsylvania.
I come from a German vehicle background, primarily I grew up around Porsche. As I got older and my dad discovered more and more about our family heritage he and I both started really becoming fond of Italian cars. I enjoy having makes that are traditionally “up my alley” or near and dear to my heart like Porsche and Alfa Romeo but I also like learning more and broadening my horizons when it comes to automotive knowledge.
You may be familiar with Dennis & Lori Frick from the international award winning restoration facility Europa Macchina. I met Dennis nearly 40 years ago and he is the man responsible for restoring my father’s Porsche 901 prototype, Barbarossa. I consider Dennis to be a dear friend and I respect him and his automotive knowledge. About 20 years ago I met his lovely wife Lori. She is involved with Europa Macchina and is also the primary operator behind Morgan Cars Mid-Atlantic. For those who are not aware, Morgan Cars Mid-Atlantic shares the building/facility with Europa Macchina and they sell and service new and pre-owned Morgans.
Dennis and Lori support and have been attending the Cars & Motorcycles of England event at the beautiful Hope Lodge for years. Things came up this year at the last minute that did not allow for them to attend in person. Despite that, they had planned on displaying two brand new Morgan examples at the show and they were also sponsoring and presenting the awards for the Morgan class of the concours.
They arranged for J.P. Lenker from their company to transport and display their new Morgans on the show field. One man could manage the job if need be but they thought he could use a helper. That is where I fit into this equation. Lori reached out and asked if I would mind traveling with J.P., helping with the display, and answering any questions to the best of my ability.
I jumped at the opportunity. Over the last few years my interest in the Morgan Motor Company has really increased. It started with visiting their showroom and shop and seeing more and more Morgans. My interest really elevated when I attended the Watkins Glen 6 hours a few years back. At the time Morgan was heavily involved in endurance racing with the Morgan LMP2 / OAK Pescarolo chassis. They raced all over the world at places like the LeMans 24 hour and the Watkins Glen 6 hour. My family traveled to the race and enjoyed seeing Alex Brundle guide the team to a pole position and 2nd place overall finish.
The next step for me was to read more and learn more. The book “Morgan: An English Enigma” is excellent and really gives you a wonderful history of the brand. The company has been making motor vehicles both three wheeled and four wheeled for over 100 years. The factory in Malvern England has been the birthplace of the cars for over 100 years as well.
It really is a fascinating company and armed with a decent amount of knowledge I headed off to the show ready to learn more. When I got there we unloaded our cars from the trailer and set up the tent and tables. On display we presented a brand new Morgan Plus Four and a brand new Morgan Super 3. I had the chance to drive the Plus Four a few weeks prior to the show and I was amazed. The inline 4 cylinder turbo charged BMW engine not only sounded great but it performed really well. Morgan also uses the BMW 8 speed automatic transmission with paddle shifters and it was quicker and smoother than my Alfa Romeo Giulia! The dove grey exterior with blue accents got a lot of attention from both the diehard old school Morgan lovers as well as people who were younger and more into modern cars. It seems to me that Morgan has hit the cover off of the ball with a great balance of retro feel and current creature comforts.
As far as fielding questions during the day goes, I did my best and for the most part I answered them all myself with some help from J.P. the expert. The most frequent question was the popular urban myth…. “do they still make them out of wood?”. The old cars did use wood to a degree and the current Plus Four does not have the old style steel ladder frame but rather an aluminum chassis. However, they do still incorporate ash wood in the coachworks that helps support the body panels and other parts.
The Super 3 drew a large crowd also. There were many 4 wheeled cars there and there were lots of motorcycles as well but the Super 3 was the only 3 wheeled vehicle there. The most common question people asked on that one was “do you need to wear a helmet when you drive it?”. In Pennsylvania you are not required to wear one but in other states you are. The new Super 3 has a 3 cylinder Ford engine. Morgan in the past (1930’s-1950s) utilized Ford engines in their F-type and now they are once again doing so and combining it with the well loved Mazda Miata manual transmission.
We were very busy at our display. Next to us was the Kerbeck group with a few new Aston Martins and a Bentley on display. I was able to venture out onto the show field and see the other Morgans. A beautiful selection of older Morgans, and not so older Morgans, knocked my socks off. Perhaps the best part wasn’t even the cars themselves but the people. They were all very nice. I learned more from talking to them for 20 minutes than I did reading an entire Morgan book. The awards presentation also went well and J.P. got to hand out the beautiful trophies on behalf of Morgan Cars Mid-Atlantic.
The weather was not perfect. Or was it? It was overcast and it drizzled rain off and on all day. It was not perfect by some standards (sun and no clouds) but more than one person commented during the day that overcast and drizzle was perfect truly authentic British weather.
I had an amazing time with my buddy J.P. and I thank Lori and Dennis for the opportunity. The old friends I bumped into and the new friends I made allowed for a really great experience. If you have a chance to witness this show in person I highly recommend it.
Let us know what you think in the Comments.
THE AUTHOR: Derek Meluzio grew up in a car loving family in Central, PA. He still lives there with his wife, daughter, and car loving sons. Derek is an amateur autocrosser who attends track events, Concours/shows, and Cars and Coffee events all over. He has an appreciation for all cars but especially anything Porsche.
It really was an amazing show. Here is the link to the video showing the Morgans. Also, below it I posted the video of all the cars including Jaguar, MG, Mini, Lotus, Austin Healey, you name it.
https://youtu.be/7euwHdoUGSs?feature=shared
Here is the video showing all of the cars…
https://youtu.be/FbO16p62TEI?feature=shared
Derek,
The best Morgan story I have relates to their customer service. This story appeared in one of the car magazines about 25 years ago. The author and his wife bought a Morgan, and elected to pick it up at the Morgan factory in Malvern in the UK, and then were going to drive it all over Europe with it They went into the Morgan office/visitor center and the fellow behind the desk set about getting their car ready, in British Racing Green, prepped and ready for pickup. The car came by the office, and the fellow behind the desk gave them all the appropriate paperwork and keys and sent them on their way. As they were pulling away in their new Morgan, another fellow came running out with a jar, yelling and flagged them down, and gave them the jar. He said that they forgot their jar of touch-up paint in the office and he gave it to them. The fellow who gave it to them was no other than PETER MORGAN, himself. How’s that for customer service?
Glenn in Brooklyn, NY.
A great Morgan story was documented here by the owner.
https://mycarquest.com/2024/10/my-morgan-adverture-a-lost-and-found-race-car.html