Hello all from a new forum user. I've tried various searches on this forum already (and on the internet more widely) but I'm struggling to make progress with my research, hence this posting.
I recently acquired a 1938 Morgan 4/4 which has some interesting history and I'm trying to fill in some gaps....
My copy of the hand-written Morgan factory records show that chassis 551 was dispatched to Jacks of Belfast on 14th April 1938, with all body panels aluminium, the optional 1098cc Coventry Climax IOE engine (as opposed to the usual 1122cc) and 'racing type' wheels and tyres. The engine choice is note-worthy as most of the smaller units were fitted to cars built after the 4/4's first appearance at Le Mans, which was of course later in 1938. So in a sense the car is a 'Le Mans prequel' as opposed to a 'Le Mans replica'....
The car was registered FZ192 on 15th April 1938 and the trail then goes cold until the 1970s, by which point the car was in southern England.
I have copies of letters dating from 1973 and 1975 from Peter Morgan to a previous owner in which he confirms those factory modifications, stating that the car was 'almost certainly intended for competition use'. In another letter he also speculates that 'your car may be the one used by Mr McCracken to win the Leinster Trophy' - which of course cannot be true as that result was the 1937 race, but we forgive Peter Morgan as he was recalling events of almost 40 years previous from memory...!
I've read 'Green Dust' by Brendan Lynch from cover to cover and despite being a great book it doesn't shed any light on this specific car, hence I contacted the author and he kindly replied but doesn't have any further information on it.
As well as Desmond McCracken, the other successful Morgan racer mentioned in the book however is 'R Campbell', who is described as a mechanic from Belfast who won the Ulster trophy in 1937 in a Morgan. The same R Campbell then took second place in the 1938 Limerick Grand Prix but I can find scant info or photos of either of these races.
It seems likely (as Peter Morgan states in the 1970s letters) that someone intent on competing bought the car new in 1938 but I'd love to find out who the original owner was and whether FZ192 itself was used in any Irish competition pre-war.
Any help or info from users of this forum would be very greatly appreciated.
Edited by gerryrichards, 06 February 2023 - 12:53.
