Limited Edition of 200 copies, signed and numbered. *This edition is now sold out.*
This is a unique story about a much-loved car. The Morgan Motor Company was once one of the largest car-makers in Britain and has been owned and run by the Morgan family for three generations. The story of how it came about and managed to survive two World Wars, umpteen recessions and the rigors of modern red tape is contained in this book. The story was told to me by Peter Morgan, son of the founder.
The five hand-coloured illustrations show the original garage, the Pickersleigh Road works and other places closely connected with the family. There are also six black and white illustrations showing various models of cars in production throughout the 20th century, taken from advertisements of the day (by kind permission of the Morgan Motor Company).
The frontispiece for each book is a Royal Mail postage stamp of a Morgan car from the Classic Car Series, October 1996. The foreword was written by Peter Morgan and the books are signed by him. I used to live just a few miles from the Morgan factory and would take the books in for him to sign as they were finished. He went in to work every day (health permitting) and was unfailingly courteous, always asking who the books were for, and he very often knew the purchaser. A few months before he died, I moved to Canada, and decided not to complete the edition without his signature. The edition is therefore terminated at 70 copies.
The Club Edition is sewn and bound entirely by hand, in midnight blue leather inlaid on front and back covers with green leather ‘Morgan Wings’. The title is in gold on a green leather label, with hand gilt bands. The endpapers are of hand marbled paper, and the same paper covers the slipcase. Blue and gold coloured silk sewn end bands finish the binding in traditional style.
The book has 175 pages and measures approximately 25/8" x 27/8", in a slipcase. It was printed offset on Retreeve 90gsm paper.
NOTE Sadly, Peter Morgan passed away in October 2003. His son Charles Morgan continues to run the company, and the cars are mostly still made in the old traditional way.