The
Morgan Centenary Roadster 100
From time to time a
very special Morgan Car is produced to commemorate a Landmark Event.
The Centenary of the Morgan Motor Company in 2009 being such an
event, has probably no comparison.
Roadster 100 No. 012
It
was sometime during 2009 that a group of Morgan Dealers led, we believe, by Melvyn Rutter and possibly with Phil Ledgerwood, convinced
Charles Morgan that a Special
Edition of the Series 2 Morgan Roadster be produced to celebrate the Morgan
Company Centenary in that year.
Originally
all of the cars were to be Right Hand Drive but that seemed to change
as European orders were taken.
It
was decided to utilise what eventually became known as The Centenary
Trim Pack as the minimum specification for every car in this edition.
This is the Centenary Trim Pack which was included as standard:
1. A
Matching Green Mohair Easy Up Soft Top,
2. A Matching Green Tonneau Hood Cover, Spare Wheel Cover and Side Screen Bags were
offered as optional extras.
3. Stainless
Steel Wire Wheels with Morgan Spinners.
4. A
Motolita Wood Rim Steering Wheel.
5. A
Burr Walnut Dashboard.
6. Reclining
Sports Seats with Perforated Leather.
7. Stainless
Steel Chassis Cover with Morgan Badges
8. The
Morgan Centenary Car Badge on the Dashboard
9. The
Edition Number Plate on the Firewall.
10. The
Body Colour of Mercedes Amazon Green, a metallic paint, was chosen as
the editions only Colour available
11. The
Interior Trim Leather Colour chosen was Biscuit. A second option of
Black was the only leather colour variable.
12. Contrast
Green Piping was an option for the interior leatherwork.
13. The Styling included Traditional Over Riders, but some Owners chose to change these to Bumper Bars.
The
other visual difference on some of the early production are the addition of Wing Lamps. The Car above, which is Number 012, has no Wing Lamps. We know that No.s' 001 to 006 have them.
The Difference was caused by The Morgan Motor Company deciding to
eliminate Wing Lamps on all of their Traditional Cars.
This rule was introduced after making only the first
few of the Roadster 100 Cars. Some owners now have had them fitted after purchase to make them more authentic.
There
is some confusion about the actual number of Roadster 100's
manufactured. It is estimated that there were only 63 made of what
was obviously an intended production of 100.
Production only began mid way through Centenary Year 2009 and went well into 2010 by
which time the factory had other priorities and no more forward orders for 'Roadster 100's'. The first car was displayed at the Centenary Celebrations in September at the Cheltenham Racecourse.
The First R100 shown at Cheltenham, but only given Plate No. 030 much later.
The Roadster 100 Brochure & Centenary Calendar Photo
THE ROADSTER 100
REGISTER AND THE MISSING NUMBERS MYSTERY!
Apparently, because the Morgan Motor Company only keep Production Records by Chassis Number there is no record anywhere of the unused Plate Numbers.
Those Unused Numbered Plates, which could have clarified the actual numbers made, apparently were lost or disposed of?
The Chassis of R100 No. 019 being assembled in the 'Goodwood Revival' Morgan Garage.
Some
UK Dealers were able to request specific Edition Plate Numbers for
their customers out of sequence just to add to this confusion.
For instance, Dealer
SGT acquired Plate No.100 on their Directors 'Demonstrator'. We also discovered that Car
No. 099 was also selected elsewhere by an owner who just missed selecting that No. 100 for himself. , Car No. 029 was selected to go with
the owners TOK registration. No. 029 was the Racing number for the famous Le Mans Group Winner TOK 258.
A full calendar of
events during that year was planned by The Morgan Motor Company,
culminating with more than 3000 Morgan Cars assembling for a
spectacular weekend held at the Cheltenham Racecourse in
Gloucestershire.
MMC also decided to
produce a Commemorative Car by planning to build one hundred
'Roadster 100’s' to mark the Centenary of the Company.
We understand that
the Dealership Network was invited to specify the car and it turned
out that all one hundred cars were to be identical.
Manufacturing Life
in Malvern was frantic in 2009 with the conflicting priorities of
another 'New Model' to add to the busy mix already in the pipeline.
It was late into
2010 that orders waned and the Centenary was almost a year away that
the model was finally withdrawn. The Newtown Motors Dealership, it seems,
sold the last Unnumbered Roadster Car built to the same identical
specification as the R100.
All 100 were 'To be
Identical' and 'Individually Numbered' using a special 'Bulkhead
Plate'. The numbering should have been reasonably accurate and that seems to be where the Numbers Mystery begins.
We now know that
there were 100 plates made although the myth spread that there was
never an intention to build 100?
Many Morgan owners
will know that the company only keeps build records by Chassis
Number.
With the R100 Chassis used for all Roadsters and not
necessarily in numerical sequence it has been an added mystery trying
to establish which of the 100 numbered plates were not used in a
build.
Helen Thorne of
Dealer Richard Thorne offered to investigate for us during a Factory
Visit but it seems that the unused plates have gone Awol (absent
without leave). We wondered if Car 013 had ever been built and Helen
assures us that it was.
We are led to
believe that the 100 cars were originally to be all 'British and
Right Hand Drive'.
Towards the end of the series, orders from Europe
were fitted with Left Hand Drives by the Factory or Converted at
their Dealerships if requested. One wonders which sweep their Wipers
have? Car 012 now resides in Sweden and has been converted to LHD.
The standard cars
have Over-Riders but a few owners chose Full Width Bumper Bars. Only
the first few cars built had Wing Lights as MMC decided to cease
fitting them about this time.
Customers who ordered early were
offered Black Leather trim rather than the specified Biscuit!
Some owners
requested Oblong Wing Mirrors where the Standard Cars had Round. Some
owners did not realise that their nearside round mirrors magnified
to aid reversing and complained. Many owners have also changed the Large Black rear view mirror for a smaller, neater stainless steel one which does not have the blind spot of the larger original.
Essentially,
however, the cars are “identical” in appearance and all were
built on the the traditional Roadster base with their Ford V6 3.0
litre power unit.
63 people purchased
their cars as they were built and some were pre ordered, most of
which were delivered during 2010. One R100 Rolling Chassis was
actually being built during the Morgan Garage Demonstration at the
Goodwood Revival meeting as shown in the Photo above.
SO WHY CREATE THE MORGAN ROADSTER 100 REGISTER?
David Harris, who
had the good fortune to purchase Car No. 001 from Phil Ledgerwood,
came up with the idea that forming a Roadster 100 Register to gather
together the owners of these cars before they were scattered far and
wide.
David contacted myself (Frank Lomax) and together we began the search for Roadster 100s.
With the Morgan Sports Car Club's 2010 MOGMMX, located this year in Buxton Derbyshire, just around the corner, a simple flyer invitation was created
and I was able to post some of them through the side screens of the 7 Roadster 100 cars I discovered in the Hotel
Car Park.
I did not manage to find any of their owners during the event but they all made contact and the nine of us were the first members listed on the Register.
“ATTENTION
ALL MORGAN ROADSTER 100 OWNERS“
Before
the dust settles on the Morgan Centenary Year, David Harris (Car
No. 001) and Frank Lomax (Car No. 015) thought it would be a good
idea to set up a Register of these Unique Cars.
Apparently
a limited edition of only Sixty Cars in this series were actually
manufactured.
We
guess that they would already be spread far and wide in the UK and
overseas.
We
would welcome contact from all owners, so that experience is
shared and modifications monitored.
Beyond
that, it would be for owners to decide how the Register develops.
David
may be contacted on
davidharris144@btinternet.com
and
Frank may be contacted on
frankwlomax@yahoo.co.uk
“ Meantime,
we hope you enjoy your cars.”
|
A Copy of that very first Invitation Flyer
A similar but more updated 'Invitation' is always delivered to Dealerships
requesting that they pass it on to new owners when a car comes onto
the market again.
“A
Personal Invitation to Join the Morgan Centenary Roadster 100
Register“
In
June of the Morgan Motor Company's Centenary Year 2009, David
Harris and Frank Lomax, both proud Roadster 100 owners, decided to
set up a Register for the Centenary Roadster 100, these Unique
Morgan Cars,
Apparently,
a limited edition of only 63 Cars, in this intended series of a
100, were actually manufactured, we believe, due to lack of
production capacity. This reduction makes this Special Edition
Morgan Model even more rare.
We
guessed that, by this time, the cars would already be spread far
and wide in the UK and overseas, which proved to be true, with
members found in Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Germany and Dubai as
well as right across the UK. It took a long time to find these
owners and invite them to join our group due to the Data
Protection Act. However, by 2012, the membership has grown to
some 44 of the 45 cars located.
Members
of The Register would welcome contact from all R100 owners,
existing and new, so that experience of owning the cars may be
shared and any additions or modifications can be shared and
monitored.
Beyond
that, it is for Register's Member Car Owners to decide how we
develop the group via our Register's email communication network.
In
2011 we held our Registers inaugural meeting by hosting an 'All
Morgans' Day' on May 15th
at the National Trusts fabulous Waddesdon Manor in Buckinghamshire
where, among the 220 Morgans attending our event, we joined
together with 22 Roadster 100 owners and parked in a line across
the front of the house. We chose Help for Heroes as the Charity we
would support and raised £1200 on the day.
We
would love to hear from you and Frank Lomax, owner of car No. 015,
will provide more details for you if you are interested in joining
the Register.
Frank
may be contacted by personal email on
frankwlomax@yahoo.co.uk
“
Meantime,
we do hope that you enjoy your Roadster 100 cars.”
|
Our Updated Invitation Flyer
Car No. 006 found at the Buxton MOGMMX
Tracing Owners has
been a hard slog always reminding ourselves that The Data Protection
Act means that owners need to approach the Register and volunteer any
personal information.
These days it is not possible for Factory,
Dealer or MSCC to volunteer ownership information. For this reason we
have maintained a Members Only Access to our internet site.
To date we have
located 50 of the 63 cars. Already 9 cars have changed hands with
some of them disappearing off the radar at the moment. Hopefully one
or two owners may read this and make contact.
I keep the actual register using a Spreadsheet and this information is only shared among members if they ask for a copy.
Our Members Only website contains a simple listing of the cars by Series Number. Here is a copy of my Car details
| Morgan – Centenary Roadster 100 Register | ||||
| The Limited Edition Centenary Model of the Classic Morgan Roadster V 6 – 3 Ltr. | ||||
| Car No. | Current Owner Details | Owned From | Dealership | Owners Notes |
| 015 | Ann & Frank Lomax | New | SGT Station Road, Taplow, Maidenhead, Berks,SL6 0NT | Green Piping on seats etc. – Sump Modified by Peter Mulberry - Sump Guard - Top & Bottom Gaiters to Sliding Pillars - Bonnet Props – Sun Visors – Map Lamp – Luggage Rack – Autoglym Lifeshine – Librands Door Checks – Headlamp Grills |
The Full Register information is much more detailed but that also only contains information which owners choose to share with other members.
Our fame has spread gradually and one of our owners even managed to get his Car No.045 published on the front cover of the exclusive Morgan Sports Car Club magazine 'Miscellany', probably more to do with the Scene than the Register.
This Very Special Newsheet Clad Version is Car No. 038 which was chosen to be one of the Vehicles featured in the 2012 London Olympic Games Closing Ceremony.
The Photo was used for the January 2013 Page of our Registers Calendar.
Early members were
offered a numbered Car Badge which proved popular. Like many other
badges , our badge has been offered on eBay by an Indian Copyist
source.
There is also a Special R100 Cap for the enthusiast.
The Roadster 100
cars are spread throughout the UK with some having crossed the
Channel where we have members in Denmark, Sweden and Germany. One
car, now back in the UK, had originally been delivered to Dubai.
Another has moved with its owner to Canada. We believe there is at
least one located somewhere in France.
One second owner in
Germany following an accident requiring a total rebuild has changed
the colour and some of the specification to suit his preference. So,
where are all of the others and what Mystery Numbers could they hold?
We decided that, for our cars and owners with such a wide geographical spread, to hold Roadster 100
Register gatherings or events we would need to justify fairly long
distance travel for most people.
With this in mind, the now popular
“ALL MORGANS’ DAY” was held in both 2011 and 2012 at the
fabulous Waddesdon Manor near to Aylesbury in Buckinghamshire.
These events were thrown
open to All Morgan cars with a staggering 160 cars attending in 2011
followed by a fantastic 220's cars in 2012, including our first group
of 6 of the new Morgan Three Wheelers.
We
have just agreed with the National Trust that Sunday 25th
May
2014 is the date for our next Waddesdon event to which, once again,
all Morgan Drivers are invited and next year we shall have extra
dedicated “Front of House” parking for both the old and the new
Three Wheelers which are arriving on the Morgan landscape in
significant numbers!
Hopefully the Three Wheeler Club will also help
promote the event again next year.
It was during the
2011 event that the Register decided to adopt 'Help For Heroes' as
the charity deserving of our support.
Little did we realise then that
this would stimulate member Frank Lomax (me) to embark on two fund raising
drives around the UK which, coupled with the generosity of Morgan
owners at both Waddesdon and elsewhere means that Frank’s Register
fund raising now exceeds £10.000 - a magnificent landmark.
So that is the magnificent and very special (to us owners) Morgan Centenary Roadster 100.
We hope you enjoyed the mystery.
David Harris &
Frank Lomax.
