The Morgan Motor Company was started in 1910 by Henry Frederick Stanley Morgan and remains a family-operated car manufacturer, even today.
Based in Malvern Link, Worcestershire, England, Morgan employs around 177 people and produces more than 1300 cars per year. Incredibly, they are all still hand-built which accounts for the waiting list being around six months (though in the past, it has been as long as ten years!). Morgans are also unusual in that wood is still used in their manufacture.
Morgans have had some success at Le Mans. In 1937, 4-4 model, fitted with a 1098cc Coventry Climax engine (42bhp), completed the race and finished 13th overall. It was driven by Prudence Fawcett with co-driver Geoff White. Geoff returned to La Sarthe in 1939 and came 15th overall and second in class, with Dick Anthony as his co-driver.
In 1962 a Morgan Plus Four Super Sports won the 2-litre class. Known by enthusiasts as TOK 258 (its registration number, it was driven by Lawrence and Richard Sheppard-Baron and achieved an average speed for the race of 94 mph (approx. 151 kph) during which it covered 2261 miles (approx. 3638 km).
Incredibly, after the race, the car was driven back to England on public roads !
To commemorate the 50th anniversary of this success, in 2012 OAK Racing entered a partnership with Morgan and re-named their LMP2 car as the Morgan LMP2.
The Classic British Welcome theme for 2019 was announced at the ‘Soiree des Partenaires’ staged, as always, on the last Friday in January – 25/1/19.
As in previous years the event was attended by many event Partners, special guests and members of the Classic British Welcome committee. The evening was hosted by Bruno Vandestick, the voice of the Le Mans 24 hour, and our special VIP guest was Jacques Nicolet, the owner of Onroak (Oak Racing), Le Mans.
Right from the start, the Saint-Saturnin Classic British Welcome made its mark on the 24 hour weekend, attracting interest from manufacturer’s clubs and key figures in the world of endurance racing. The event has a different theme and a special guest each year.
This year, our guest is Jacques Nicolet !
Jacques Nicolet
Jan Lammers, Dutch driver, winner of Le Mans 24 hours
Frédéric Sausset, Christophe Tinseau, Jean-Bernard Bouvet
Mauro Bianchi, Jean-Pierre Jaussaud
Tom Kristensen, record number of Le Mans victories
Jürgen Barth, German driver, winner of Le Mans 24 hours.
Celebrating the 90th anniversary of the Le Mans 24 Hours and the major British marques who have made their stamp on the history of the
Derek Bell, British driver, winner of Le Mans 24 hours
Henri Pescarolo, French driver, winner of Le Mans 24 hours. Andy Wallace, British driver, winner of Le Mans 24 hours
Doug Fehan, Program Manager at Corvette Racing
Jean-Pierre Jabouille, French Formula 1 and Le Mans 24 hours driver
Phil Hill, American driver, winner of Le Mans 24 hours
Yves Courage, French driver and designer of prototype cars for Le Mans 24 hours.
Paul Frère, Belgian driver, winner of Le Mans 24 hours before becoming a journalist.
Johnny Herbert, British driver, winner of Le Mans 24 hours. (Sir Stirling Moss attended the event)
Derek Bell, British driver, winner of Le Mans 24 hours
Jan Lammers, Dutch driver, winner of Le Mans 24 hours
