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Morgan road trip: From Craft to Better

Morgans have been hand-built in Malvern for more than a century. The knowledge often passes from father to son. That makes a Morgan the car of choice to become acquainted with craftsmanship on Dutch soil.

Text: Perry Snijders
Online editing: Mical Joseph
Image: Luuk van Kaathoven

It is still early when we arrive at the Nederlands Wijnbouwcentrum in Groesbeek. Although the number of pigeon growers in the Netherlands is growing rapidly, "we" are not yet known as wine country. Here they are doing everything they can to change that. Besides making wine, you can learn to taste wine both hobbyistically and professionally. "The wine experience is central here," they tell themselves. Not surprisingly, the Netherlands may not be a wine country, but Groesbeek is a wine village, with the Wine Growing Center as the heart of the village. That is where Freek Verhoeven started Colonjes vineyard in 2001. In the past twenty years, that has grown into the largest organic vineyard in the Netherlands. Verhoeven himself has since passed away, but the craftsmanship lives on. This becomes clear when Berry Emmen shows us around the company. Together with Jeroen Wismans and oenologist Adam Dijkstra, he runs Wijnhoeve de Colonjes. "We have here spread over three locations ten different grape varieties. In addition, we have the advantage that the vineyards lie on a loess soil, which gives a full and mineral-rich taste." We can't taste it because we have a whole day to go with the three Morgans we have with us. Not that that's a punishment, because we started our trip precisely to have a day of driving fun with these hand-built sports cars. However, that was not the only intention we had. We also wanted to notice how big the differences between these three Morgans really are. Is an automatic Plus Four a totally different experience than a manual? And does the six-cylinder make the Plus Six a completely different car than the Plus Four with its four-cylinder? So it is not only a voyage of discovery in craftsmanship, but also a comprehensive introduction to the three Morgans.

Three core elements

The term craftsmanship also applies to Morgans. Pickersleigh Road has been where Morgans have been built for more than a century, a craft that not infrequently passes from father to son. That's not surprising, since the factory is in Malvern Link, a small community of just over six thousand people; when you've been building cars there for over a century, it's obvious that whole families are involved in a business. That's not to say it's not a serious business, as some eight hundred cars are built a year. Nor does it mean that Morgans are obsolete, because since the company discontinued the steel chassis last year, every Morgan is built on the CX platform, a brand new aluminum platform that is much stiffer than the steel previously used. What about the wood? That a Morgan had a wooden chassis is a myth. However, wood was (and is) used in the construction of the bodywork. Morgan even calls it one of the most important parts of the car. 'Every Morgan is expertly handcrafted from three core elements: ash wood, aluminum and leather,' according to the brand itself. Yet again, the brand is not ahead of the music. Old Peter Morgan, who ran the brand from 1959 until his death in 2003, once said in an interview that he was not opposed to change: "We change our cars if we have to, but we leave them the same if we can." Still, make no mistake about the brand. The factory sometimes even looks cozy in photos, and quotes like Peter Morgan's may give you the idea that cars are being cobbled together in an old barn, but nothing could be further from the truth. The craftsmanship is unchanged, but underneath every Morgan is an aluminum platform, and on top of that, state-of-the-art engines from BMW are used. That would not be approved in Munich of his life days if they were tinker projects.

Driving

Modern or not, driving pleasure naturally comes first in a car like a Morgan. We are lucky with the weather, because during our road trip through the Netherlands it is warm and sunny. It is true that the cars are equipped with a roof, but a Morgan should be driven open if only halfway. From Groesbeek we set course for Apeldoorn, where we do not have too specific a destination; the goal is mainly to find beautiful roads in the Veluwe. After all, with a Morgan what actually applies to every car applies even more strongly: a freeway takes you from A to B, but driving pleasure can be found on completely different roads. All three are at ease here: the manual Plus Four offers old-fashioned driving pleasure, the Plus Four with automatic surprises you with the ease with which it can be driven, and the Plus Six, although noticeably slightly heavier, leaves you amazed at the speed with which you can attack these roads. Especially when you get back on the gas when accelerating out of corners, you can marvel at its speed again and again. The Plus Four doesn't lack anything at all with its 258 hp, but these are the places where you feel that the Plus Six has over 80 hp extra at its disposal. If you know these engines from BMWs, you know how eager they are. Only in these Morgans, they have hundreds of pounds less to lug around.

Crumbled wood

Driving into Apeldoorn, we pass the store of Hans de Louter, who began making guitars, violins, violas, Irish bouzoukis and mandolins 35 years ago. De Louter is widely known for his craftsmanship, in part because he is one of the few luthiers who actually builds instruments (most just repair them). The store appears to be closed: De Louter is open by appointment only, as he is usually working in his studio. From a previous visit, we know it's worth it. If you like musical instruments, this is the place to be. If only to hear De Louter's story. After all, it was the movie Woodstock that inspired him to start building his own instruments. With wood gleaned in the Orderbos he built his first sitar. A complete failure according to himself, but the seed was planted. A little further on we settle down for a short break at the artisanal ice cream maker Van Swoll. Owner Klaas Brasjen immediately looks up when he sees the three Morgans. Not surprisingly, because he regularly attends car events with his classic Bedfords, including the annual Concours d'Elegance Paleis Soestdijk. That classic car event originated at Het Loo palace in Apeldoorn and was therefore a home game for Van Swoll. With a heartfelt "have fun!" , the ice cream maker waved off the three Morgans.

Welcome exception

And fun, you have with a Morgan. Where some expensive cars sometimes provoke negative reactions, a Morgan with its classic appearance only gets sympathy. The message you convey with a Morgan is not "mothers, keep your daughters inside", but simply that you love beautiful things and have the right dose of joie de vivre. But of course, the pleasure is not only in reactions from bystanders. In a world where cars are becoming increasingly digital, a Morgan, any Morgan, is a welcome exception. Because the technology may be modern, but the feeling while driving is old-fashioned, in the good sense of the word. That driving, then, goes faster than we think. Almost imperceptibly, we arrived from the Veluwe via the Utrechtse Heuvelrug in Stoutenburg, a stone's throw from Amersfoort. There stands De Kopermolen, the cheese farm of Martin and Marieke van Klooster. Although the name "cheese farm" does not do their business justice: not only is cheese made here, but there is also a farm store, in which, among other things, they also sell their own milk and butter. Here the animals are not tucked away in a big barn that looks more like a factory; the barn is modest in size and when the weather is nice, the cows are outside. You can come here for a cup of coffee, but with equal pleasure they will tell you the intricacies of cheese making. We don't have too much time for the latter, because we have another visit on our list. For that, we are heading in the direction of Rotterdam, where we will meet Herman and Dave Braun.

Discreet

In their workshop in Spijkenisse, they manufacture bicycles. Their brand is called Braun, and if you've never heard of it, that's not surprising. After all, the annual production that the two of them achieve is not very high. Quality comes before quantity here, and the quality is impressive. There are even pros who ride a bike of a well-known brand, which is actually made by Braun. The Brauns themselves remain discreetly silent about this, of course. A well-known example is the bike on which Leontien van Moorsel rode her world endurance record, but Maarten den Bakker and Jeroen Blijlevens also rode Braun bikes. Like the car builders at Morgan, however, Braun swears by traditional materials - carbon doesn't come into it. "Actually, it only has disadvantages," says father Herman. "It breaks quickly, is less comfortable and you don't go through corners as well with it. We weld our frames ourselves, Dave does. But a whole measuring session precedes that, because it's custom work. For the geometry of the frames we use a computer. Then you might think: what is so special about that? But there are only eleven of this computer in the whole world."

Braun's basic models, made of steel, are a bit heavier than bikes made of carbon. Herman: "You can ask yourself if that's a bad thing. If you ride for fun, you don't need a bike where every gram counts. But you do want a bike that runs well, with low rolling resistance. That's what we focus on, the power you put into motion - as efficiently as possible." That is not to say that there are no lightweight bikes from Braun. The top models, for which you quickly spend 15,000 euros, are made of titanium.

Dedication

It's nice to hear father and son Braun talk passionately about their bikes, just as it was nice to hear the stories of winemaker Berry Emmen, or those of cheesemakers Martin and Marieke van Klooster. Each of them are stories of craftsmanship, of love for a craft. And that is exactly what is so beautiful about a Morgan: you can see that it has been worked on with dedication. The enthusiastic stories we heard during our road trip did make the time go by faster than we thought beforehand. That makes us end up on the highway on the way back. To sit out of the wind, we have to slump down a bit, but otherwise it goes off without a hitch - and especially without having to take off the roof and the top half of the side doors. Actually, it is a relaxing end to a beautiful day. All that remains is the question of which of the three we would choose for ourselves. Do we go for the relaxed character of the Plus Four automatic, for the pure character of the Plus Four manual, or for the brute force of the Plus Six? All three have their own qualities, a stronger character of their own than you expect beforehand. That's the answer: you can't make a wrong choice here. And if you ask me, that has been true of the entire Morgan brand for over 110 years.