Background
Albert Ball was a remarkable man. To give him his full honours – Captain Albert Ball VC, DSO Two Bars, MC, Croix De Chevalier Legion D'Honneur, Order of Saint George Russia and Hon Freeman of the City of Nottingham. This roll call of honour is all the more remarkable when you learn that Captain Ball met his untimely end in a dogfight with Lothar von Richthofen, the brother of the notorious Red Baron, Manfred von Richthofen, over the fields of northern France. He was twenty years old and was Britain’s leading flying ace at the time with 44 victories attributed to him. Such was his reputation that upon crashing the Germans recognised him and carried his body the half mile or so from the crash site. He was then buried with full military honours by them, in the extension they had made to the town cemetery in Annoeullin. The grave remains there to this day, the only British grave in the German Extension.
Not long before his death, Captain Ball had become one of Henry (HFS) Morgan’s early customers by buying a special 1917 Grand Prix model of the Three Wheeler. He famously said of his Morgan "to drive this car is the nearest thing to flying without leaving the ground." Praise indeed from Britain’s top air ace of the time. HFS Morgan had set up a garage in Malvern Link on leaving his job with Great Western Railways in 1904. With agencies for Darracq and Wolseley cars, HFS was well occupied but still tinkering with his own projects. By 1908 he had bought a 7hp Peugeot twin cylinder engine and had planned to build his own motorcycle. He had a change of heart and decided to exploit the British regulations of the day which deemed cyclecars as tax exempt.
The result was a single-seater “runabout” with a backbone chassis, independent front suspension and a two-speed transmission. Power from the Peugeot twin was transferred through a tube in the backbone, via a chain drive to the rear wheel. The steering was controlled by a tiller and the brakes by a handle. HFS was pleased with the results and managed to secure investment from his father and his wife. Some very rudimentary body work was added and HFS exhibited the car at the 1910 London Motor Show at Olympia. It was quite well received but its single seat configuration restricted sales. HFS added a second seat and some notable refinements like a windscreen and crank starter. With a sale price of £65 and publicity including a spell in Harrods’ window and a win in the 1913 Cyclecar Grand Prix at Amiens, the order books filled.
There would be developments aplenty over the subsequent years of the Three Wheeler. The motorcycle powered, vestigially bodied concept would continue with engines from JAP, Blackburne and Anzani amongst those used. In one form or another the Three Wheeler model would continue until 1952. With Morgans for the next 59 years being exclusively four wheeled, 2011 witnessed a return to the trike concept to much fanfare. Morgan had revitalised HFS’ concept for the 21st Century. Around 83 bhp was provided by an S&S two-litre “X-Wedge” V-twin with power still going to that spindly rear tyre via a five-speed Mazda MX5 gearbox. What would Captain Ball have made of it all? He would have absolutely loved it, of course!
