The MMC board of directors & shareholders have released a brief press release which states:

The board of directors and shareholders at Morgan are pleased to announce that Steve Morris, presently the Operations Director, has now been appointed as Managing Director with immediate effect, responsible for the day to day running of the companies within the Morgan group.
Charles Morgan will concentrate on his vital role as the face of Morgan internationally, promoting the brand and selling the Companies products worldwide.

Morgan Car News wish Mr. Morris every success in his new role at MMC. Having had the pleasure of meeting him in the past, we have no doubt he will undertake this new position with the same professionalism, passion and intelligence that he has shown during his time as Operations Director.

Matthew Humphries Design is open for business

Matthew Humphries Design and Morgan Design join forces to develop future Morgan sports cars and bespoke one off vehicles.

Morgan Design has obtained the services of Matthew Humphries Design for future vehicle design and development projects. This collaboration extends the seven year working relationship between Matt Humphries, the former chief designer of Morgan cars, and Morgan Motor Company.

The Morgan Design team was assembled by Matt and under his guidance has successfully evolved Morgan into a design-led company. The team specialises in a tremendously wide variety of design applications including product and merchandising, graphics, advertisements, brochures, exhibition design and of course vehicle body and interior design. Amongst the team’s many achievements Morgan Design has defined strong new identities for both Morgan Motor Company and the Morgan 3 Wheeler Ltd.

Throughout the past seven years the most noticeable evolution is apparent in the products Morgan companies now manufacture. Morgan Design led by Matt has been responsible for a range of concept and production cars. These include the Morgan Aeromax, LifeCar, Aero SuperSports, EvaGT, the new Morgan 3 Wheeler and constant visual improvements to the Classic range of cars.

Newly established Matthew Humphries Design, fuelled by Matt’s extensive experience, offers customers a bespoke design service. MHD specialises in automotive, brand and product design that exudes a strong British, hand crafted and unique style.

Matthew Humphries is very proud to be associated with Morgan whilst relating his skills to other projects and companies. For more information about Matthew Humphries Design or to contact Matthew about the services he offers please contact matthew@matthewhumphriesdesign.com or visit www.matthewhumphriesdesign.com

End of release

MCN wishes Matt every success in his new venture and look forward to seeing what springs from the creative mind of the man who gave the automotive world the wonderful Morgan Aeromax. If you would like to know more about Matt, this interview is a great introduction to some of his time at Morgan Motor Company.

Morgan are looking for owners of race prepared Roadster V6 (including the Roadster Lightweight V6), Plus 8s and Plus 4s, who would be willing to lend their car for a 7-lap celebrity race.

In return for the loan of your vehicle, your car will be fully insured and we will provide a new set of tyres before or after the race, any other requests will be given immediate consideration.

Owners will also receive:

•    2 x 3 day admission tickets f/ Silverstone Classic
•    2 places pre-race hospitality with celebrities
•    2 passes to VIP Paddock Assembly Walk
•    2 places post-race hospitality with celebrities
•    Signed photograph of owner with celebrity driver
•    Duplicate trophies for 1st, 2nd and 3rd

Morgan need owners support to make this charitable event a success. Each car driven by a celebrity will raise a minimum of £2,000.00 for The Bobby Moore Cancer Research UK.

Morgan are looking for 15-20 cars – can you help?

The celebrities currently involved are: -

•    Cerys Matthews
•    Richard Hughes
•    Tom Chaplin
•    Jonny Saunders
•    Rick Parfitt Jnr
•    Richard Allinson
•    Brendan Cole
•    Heston Blumenthal
•    Lord Charles Brocket
•    Paul O’Duffy
•    Neil Primrose
•    Charley Boorman
•    Comedy Dave
•    Frankie Poultney
•    Clive Tyldesley
•    Claire Tomlinson
•    Matthew Wright
•    David Seaman

Although, in speaking with Jayne of MMC, there were some other exciting names possibly being added to the event; therefore, this list is by no means complete!

For more information and to support this extremely worthwhile event, please contact Jayne Jones of Morgan Motor Company on: -

Telephone: 01684 580745
or email: Jayne.jones@morgan-motor.co.uk

Please mention Morgan Car News, so that Jayne knows where you heard about this event. If you would like to discuss this event or view the official Morgan letter for the Silverstone Classic Celebrity Race, you can visit Talk Morgan.

Kevin Matthews of Maximise Potential sums of this exciting conversation perfectly: -

“Tim Whitworth, Finance Director of Morgan, has the unenviable task of making the numbers balance within this last remaining marquee of British Motoring history.

Yet Tim views this responsibility as one of the best challenges he could ever be faced with, due to his clear passion and genuine attachment to the brand.

He considers himself to be an unconventional Finance Director, who takes as much interest in the human aspects of the company as the numbers, citing Morgan’s collaborative working culture as key to so much of the company’s success.

This is a great opportunity to go behind the scenes of Morgan and also the man responsible for it’s finances, in this very informative and candid interview.”

You can listen to Tim’s interview by following this link to Maximise Potential. We hope you enjoy listening to it.

The latest discussion is with Steve Morris, Operations Director, and covers a wide range of subjects, which includes: evolution of the Morgan Motor Company, efficiency within production and manufacture, supplier relationships, personal career progression and how government legislation is effecting the automotive industry within the United Kingdom.

Steve’s interview is number 2 in this 4 part series and will be followed with the penultimate interview with Tim Whitworth, Financial Director, and concludes with Charles Morgan, Managing Director. We will bring these to your attention as soon as they have been published. To listen to the interview with Steve Morris, follow this link.

Maximise Potential, a site which conducts inspirational interviews, have just released the first of these interviews – 1 of a 4 part series. Part one is with Matt Humphries, Head of Design for Morgan, and the conversation ranges from Matt’s step from Coventry University to working with MMC, the prototype Morgan Aeromax up to the most recent developments at Morgan Motor Company.

The interview is available on both the Maximise Potential site or via iTunes podcast section, using the search term Maximise Potential. People who listen to the interview via iTunes will have the opportunity to subscribe to the podcast and will automatically be made aware when the next three episodes are published. The next three segments are with Steve Morris (Operations Director), Tim Whitworth (Financial Director) and the Charles Morgan (Managing Director),

The Morgan Car News will also list these exciting, exclusive, future interviews as soon as they are published.

For more images of the Morgan 2+2 coupe EvaGT sports car, or to join the discussion of this positive step forward for MMC, you can visit Talk Morgan.

2012 Morgan EvaGT

The Morgan Eva GT had it’s world premier today at Pebble Beach Concours. This exciting new 2+2 fixed head coupe from Morgan Motor Company follows in the success of the limited production Morgan AeroMax.

MMC issued a press release along with launch drawings of the latest Morgan to grace the automotive stage. Here is what the company say about the Eva GT: -

“Morgan EvaGT (specification subject to change)

The goal is to manufacture a practical car that could be used everyday and answer all a family’s transport needs. Although it has two large doors the car can seat four adults and has a large boot (reference the current Morgan Aero SuperSport, but it is considerably deeper on the EvaGT with a full hatch style entry). As all Morgans the car will be fun to drive with sensitive hydraulic power steering and excellent balance. The mass is evenly distributed within the axles and the car has short overhangs.

Specification

Weight 1250 kgs

Rear wheel drive

BMW Twin Turbo straight six.

306 Bhp 400 nm torque

Choice of 6 speed manual or automatic gearbox.

ABS Brakes

Electronic Stability Control

Euro 6 and US EPA (auto only) approved

200 gms Co2/km

40 mpg 7.06 litres/100 kms

Predicted 0-60 (100km/h) 4.5 secs

Predicted V/max 170mph/273 km/h

The powertrain of the EvaGT has been developed over 3 years using BMW facilities for high speed testing, hot weather sign off and emission testing.

Chassis

Designed on Catia

A development of the Aero SuperSports platform currently used in production and for the Morgan Aero SuperSports GT3 race cars

Compliant with US and European Safety standards

Continental Smart Airbag System

Bodywork

Designed in Alias

Aerodynamically efficient

Superplastically formed panels made from lightweight alloys. The large outer panels are adhesively bonded to inner panels that are predrilled for interior features.

Xenon lights

Wireless canbus system for reliability

Morgan EvaGT at Pebble Beach 2010

EPDM rubber seals with varying shore hardness for a quiet seal to suit the aperture

Minimal shutlines

Electronic window drop

GPS system with Apple connectivity

The Morgan Motor Company is taking orders with a request for a deposit of £5000 to ensure an early allocated build slot. The first 100 cars are planned for production to begin in mid 2012.”

We hope you enjoy these photos from the Pebble Beach launch; for more images of the Morgan EvaGT click here.

For those of you who are unfamiliar with the vehicle in question, it is the limited production run Aero SuperSports: powered by a 4.8 BMW V8, with 362bhp and 370lb ft of torque, the light weight aluminium chassis and body, (total vehicle weight 1,175 kg), allow this sports car to sprint from rest to 62 mph in 4.5 seconds.