Description
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16 April 2023, 13:00 BST
Chichester, Goodwood
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1936 Morgan Super Sports Three-Wheeler
Lot to be sold without reserve
£28, 000 - £40, 000
1936 Morgan Super Sports Three-Wheeler
Registration no. EPH 709
Chassis no. D 1145
Engine no. MX2696
• Formerly the property of the late Terry Martin
• Desirable Super Sports model
• High-performance Matchless engine
• Much loved and enthusiastically campaigned
Its superior power-to-weight ratio enabled H F S Morgan's humble, three-wheeled cyclecar to outperform many a larger engined four-wheeler, and its maker was not slow to capitalise on his creation's competition potential. A Gold Medal in the 1911 London-Exeter-London Reliability Trial with Morgan himself driving was followed by victory in the inaugural cyclecar race at Brooklands the following year, Harry Martin taking the chequered flag three minutes ahead of the field. Racetrack successes led directly to road-going spin-off in the form of the Grand Prix model, introduced for 1914. The first Aero sports model, inspired by the Grand Prix, followed immediately after WWI.
Subsequent technological developments included the fitting of front brakes, operated by hand lever, from 1924 and the adoption of a new chassis - the M-type - on the new Super Sports model in 1928. This new chassis was some 2½" lower than its predecessor and undoubtedly helped Morgans trounce the opposition at the New Cyclecar Club's meeting at Brooklands later that year. In 1931 a conventional three-speeds-plus-reverse gearbox was introduced and the model name abbreviated to simply 'Super Sports', the old two-speed transmission disappearing soon after. Morgan used a variety of proprietary engines over the years, though its favoured supplier was usually J A Prestwich (JAP) of Tottenham, North London, although from the mid-1930s onwards Morgan three-wheelers, like George Brough's superlative motorcycles, were fitted with Matchless v-twin engines in preference to those from JAP.
This Matchless-engined Super Sports was formerly owned by the late Terry Martin, a well known collector of motorcycles and trikes. The Morgan was restored in the mid-1980s while in Terry's care, most of the work being undertaken by Bill Healing (see bills of file). Terry toured extensively with the Morgan throughout Europe and even as far as the USSR, amassing an impressive collection of badges from all the countries visited along the way, which are mounted on the dashboard. One of the early badges had to be smuggled out of the DDR as its possession was deemed illegal! Press articles and photographs relating to Terry's travels with the Morgan may be found in the history file, and there is a video online of him crossing the Pyrenees in the Morgan in 2007, in the video he recounts the stories and significance of the various badges on the dashboard. Terry Martin died in 2009.
In 1990 the engine had been treated to an overhaul (new pistons, bearings, etc). More recently, in 2013, an Amal Concentric carburettor and a new starter motor were fitted, while in 2015 the wheels were rebuilt by Morgan racer, Greg Bibby, and shod with new tyres. The car has also been sensibly upgraded with hydraulic brakes (from a Morris Eight), while the electrics are now 12-volt. Offered with a UK V5C registration document.
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