1933 Morgan Super Sports Roadster

Footnotes

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 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 chassis was some 2.5" 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, the old two-speed transmission disappearing soon after. 

Morgan used a variety of proprietary engines over the years, though its favoured supplier was always J A Prestwich (JAP) of Tottenham, North London. This JAP-powered Super Sports was purchased by Joy's father, Murray Rainey, from John Harwood in 1965. Murray had retained a fascination for Morgans since 1937 when, as a young man, he watched a new three-wheeler being un-crated in the Raineys' hometown of Geelong. Murray took the Morgan home to Australia and began restoring the car, which was completed in 1967 following the Raineys' return to the UK. 

In 1970, Murray entered the Morgan in the Coppa Monza in Italy. Joy obtained permission to ride as passenger, and she and Murray enjoyed a memorable dice with an MG TC, much to the delight of the enthusiastically voluble crowd, which rewarded the pair's efforts with a standing ovation when a loose flywheel (a recurring problem) brought the Morgan to a halt. Fitting a steel flywheel and con-rods in place of the cast-iron originals cured the problem, and from then onwards the Morgan never missed a beat. 

In 1973, Joy drove the Morgan in a sprint at Gaydon, beating Murray. The car has been well maintained ever since and used for touring only; its last outing was to the VSCC's meeting at the Royal Oak Inn, Much Marcle in 2013. Delightfully patinated, 'AKL 722' is running and driving very well, and is ready for use. (Joy's pedal modifications have been removed). Offered with a V5 registration document.