<>@2{A DAY OUT @3}By Ian Urie @5 I was recently sent on a course by my Company (@1and folk say they're not good to us@5). Now the course itself may not be of interest to the majority of our readers.....but while on the course, we had a small diversion. The course was held in the Manufacturers factory of the equipment we were to learn, and the factory was in Malvern. Malvern is in Worcestershire, in case you didn't know, and is a relatively small distance from Birmingham Airport which is where we flew into to get to the course. Malvern is also famous for being the home of one of the last completely handbuilt cars in the World. The famous Morgan Cars!! The people running the course arranged a visit to Morgan and, of course, we were delighted to have a look. @4 SOME BACKGROUND. @5 Morgan sports cars are handbuilt at their factory in Malvern and have been built there since 1910. Morgan built their first 3 wheeler in 1909 and continued production of a 3 wheeler until 1953. Their first 4 wheeler (@1the 4/4@5) appeared in 1936.....it's still in production today and was joined by the Plus4 in 1950 and the Plus8 in 1968. Their new model is the Aero8. According to their price list, the cheapest, no frills, version is the 4/4 (@12 seater@5) 1.8 and is £22,824.38p after VAT. I believe the waiting list is in excess of a year. So, onto the actual visit. I expected a Car Factory to be very large with huge buildings with lots of welding, painting etc. going on. Morgan is none of these. The frontage is a small sort of factory unit type building and although of a fair size, does not strike you particularly as a car factory. You enter via a door (@1not surprisingly@5) into a front office that is small and has an old fashioned style desk with a receptionist. At Morgan, they don't seem fazed by visitors and it is like walking into a small plumbers office. The office has brochures in piles of the Company products and a guest book that you sign in with. The receptionist gives you a map of the factory and you are left to your own devices from then on. Looking at the map, it shows the exit door from the office to the Spare parts. Spare parts is the beginning and it sums up Morgan. It is like entering a time warp.......you enter and are instantly transported back to what I assume things were like in the forties. @5 It is an expanse of shelves filled with parts for the motor cars and other ancillary gear. No computer terminal and modern racking or automated delivery system in evidence here. You can imagine some little oik pulling up a pair of steps forty years ago and locating a part on those same shelves. The parts dept. leads onto the Despatch Dept. and this is where all the admiring glances were cast. A few cars were sitting ready to go and they look beautiful!! All of them were customised to their owners requirements leading to a comparison between versions of the same models, different seating, colouring etc. As I say, extremely beautiful to look at and admire. @5 Leading onward, we went to the chassis erecting shop, not without many a backward glance, though. The name says it all, the chassis gets erected here, axles and wheels fitted and drive units. Monsters of engines they fit to them......V8 Landrover, BMW, and even a Ford Zetec 1.8 I even saw someone tighten the bolts on the drive shaft using two spanners. I couldn't believe it........two spanners!! No pneumatic gun with automatic torque........just spanners. They really mean hand built here. Forward we went into the New Assembly shop. This is where they fit the wooden frame of the car. Yep, the bodywork consists of a wooden frame sitting and connected to the metal chassis. The chassis is very solid, by the way, bumping into one of them proved that, unfortunately. @5 After that, it's the Sheet metal shop. Now this is fascinating to watch. The cars are wheeled in with their wooden frame and guys fit partly formed metal sheets over the frame. They then fix the panels in position with G-clamps and proceed to mould the metal to the frame and fix them in position using screws, small hammers and the like. The car is now starting to look something like a Morgan. The folk that work there totally ignore you unless you ask them a question. I suppose they must get lots of visitors and are no longer fazed by strangers watching them all the time. After this, the cars are painted in a fairly modern looking spray unit separate from the main building and I expect are hardened there as well. We didn't go there so I can't really speculate. @5 We did go into the Trim shop where the electrics are fitted and the upholstery and the rest of the car is finished. Again, fascinating to watch as there are no robotics here. Folk fit the wiring by hand and although the looms are made up, everything is hand fitted and connected. The same goes for the upholstery, and over in one corner there are people using stitching machines to make it up for the car. Totally amazing. @5 The cars are now ready to be cleaned properly, tested and polished ready for despatch. So that a (@1very@5) quick run through of the tour of the factory. I can't stress enough how antiquated the practices seem to someone who works in an industrial environment. Time seems to have stood still for this Company and I'm not really sure if it isn't a welcome change. It gives you a very warm feeling touring the factory and seeing how the car is built and is much more friendly than a vast industrialised production line. The whole layout seems to meander down through the factory instead of being driven by the ideals of getting cars out the door as quickly as possible. @5 There seems to be no rush or buzz about the factory and people working there take their time getting the product right in every aspect before putting it further past their particular task. Something that has been lost over time everywhere else I imagine these days. On the other hand, would I feel safer in a car that had all the latest gimmickry and was built entirely by robots that had preprogrammed tasks to perform ...... yes indeedy. @5 Perhaps, it's because I saw the car being built and what exactly it was made of.....in this case a wooden frame, or perhaps, I think that a metal frame (@1albeit@5) a very thin metal frame would withstand more than wood is something that works on me. However, the Company states in their brochure that all new technologies in metal working and safety devices etc. are incorporated in the new cars and I see no reason to doubt it. The cars are designed using CAD and some components are made on site using CNC machines. Perhaps, we weren't allowed in to see these parts because it rather ruins the illusion of the rest of the factory. All in all, a very worthwhile visit. I recommend it heartily to anyone with an interest in cars. Morgan Cars can be found at @2http://www.morgan-motor.co.uk @5 Go on, have a look!! It's worth it and is definitely a head turner of a car in all versions. @7 END