This fascination soon came to focus on the newfangled motorcar and by 1905, at the age of 24, young Harry Morgan – or simply “H.F.S.” to those who knew him – was running a small motor garage and dealership on the Worcester Road in the town of Malvern. Although the business proved successful, Harry Morgan felt that there was a gap in the market for a small, light car – bigger than a motorcycle but not as cumbersome and complex as a car – and so set about designing one himself.

Just as Reliant would benefit from lightweight car regulations nearly half a century later, so Morgan was able to draw from the popularity of a class of vehicle known as the voiturette, or cyclecar, which was proving to be all the rage in Edwardian England. The cyclecar conformed to a similar set of rules, being under a certain weight and engine size/power; however most designs of the time were little more than glorified motorcycles with extra chassis framework supporting two wheels at the front and an extra chair (usually perched somewhat precariously ahead of the driver!).

Morgan saw the opportunity to design an entirely new model from the ground up. Utilising a lightweight, low-slung tubular steel chassis fitted with a small V-twin (a two-cylinder engine in a V formation) motorcycle engine, the 1909 Morgan Runabout was a revelation compared to what had gone before. Although it may look somewhat crude to modern eyes and with its 7(!) horsepower engine sound woefully underpowered, its tubular steel design gave it an extraordinary power-to-weight ratio of 90hp per ton (about the same as a modern Ford Fiesta), making it one of the fastest-accelerating cars of its type at the time.  It must have been quite exhilarating when going flat out!

Although Harry Morgan had originally built the Runabout for his own personal use only, such was the interest from his friends that he needed little encouragement to patent his design and put it into production.

With financial support from his father H.G. Morgan (a vicar to boot!) H.F.S. was able to secure a stand at the 1910 Olympia Motorcycle Show in London, where he unveiled the first production Runabouts. The car was still pretty basic, having only one seat and a tiller rather than a steering wheel, and although much interest was shown sales were slow as a result of these perceived limitations.

Morgan was acutely aware of these shortcomings but to prove the worth of the basic design he promptly entered a Runabout in the 1910 London-Exeter Motorcycle Club Trial (held in December, of all months, so it must have been a trial indeed!), for which he won a Gold Medal and which marked the first of many forays into motorsport for Morgan 3-wheelers. By the time of the 1911 Olympia show Morgan had addressed all of the shortcomings of the original Runabout and then some! The car now came with two or four seats, a proper steering wheel, enclosed bodywork and even a fabric hood. It promptly went down a storm (even attracting the interest of the managing director of Harrods, who for a time displayed specially-bodied Runabouts in the store’s front window – making Morgan the only car manufacturer ever to have had a dealership at Harrods!) and the Morgan Motor Company was incorporated the following year.

In 1931 Morgan modernised the Runabout, with the company now offering a ‘Deluxe’ model and even a delivery van variant! The Super Aero received a further power boost to become the Super Sports, with an example later lapping the Monthléry track in France at an average of over 100mph (breaking the class One Hour Speed Record) before going on to crack an almost unbelievable 117mph flat out at a nearby airstrip, the driver in both cases being a Mrs Gwenda Stewart! Harry Morgan’s daughters Stella and Sylvia could also be frequently seen racing 3-wheelers – it seems to have been a popular car with both sexes!

After nearly 25 years in production the Runabout finally gave way to an all-new 3-wheeled model in 1933 – the F-type. Like its predecessor the F-type was offered in both 4-seat (F4) and 2-seat (F2) guises but now with an all-new chassis, the option of a four-cylinder Ford engine and, in the biggest styling departure, a proper enclosed bonnet and radiator. Along with the Super Sports the F-type formed the basis of the 3-wheeler range until the outbreak of World War Two. When production restarted in 1947 only the F-type continued, the F2 having been upgraded and renamed the F Super. However in this new post-war world they were increasingly seen as irrelevant oddities – particularly in the all-important export market of the USA. In 1952 the final F-type left the factory as Morgan turned its full attention to the production of its four-wheeled sports cars.

That remained the case until 2011, nearly 60 years after production ended, when Morgan surprised everyone by announcing the reintroduction of the 3 Wheeler to its line-up – suitably modernised but to all intents and purposes virtually indistinguishable from the 1930s Super Sports (and all the better for it!). Once again using a V-twin motorcycle engine it is so close to its forebears that it could almost be considered a continuation rather than a whole new model.