Emma’s her name, and this is her game:
Emma’s a 1968 Morgan Plus 4 Roadster Lowline body, which means she’s three inches lower than a standard Plus 4. Lowlines were produced in 1967 and 1968 only. She boasts a PowerTrain TR4A Jaguar Moss gearbox. At 1800 lbs of curb weight, a 2.1 litre,115 HP motor, keeps her ticking. An all wood (ash) chassis carries her wherever she and her owner, Susan wish to go, and go, they do.
Emma is a grey market car but was made for the U.S. market – meaning left hand drive, etc. She was shipped from the UK to Orlando, Florida. Because of their wooden frames, Morgans could not be shipped into the United States after 1967. To circumvent this hurdle, the original plate was registered to a “straw owner”, but it was only for a month. After one month, Emma was sent back to the Morgan factory in Melvin, United Kingdom. Morgan subsequently sent her back to a dealership in Ontario, Canada. By doing this, Emma then became eligible to be designated as a used vehicle. Once this was established, the Ontario dealership sent Emma back to Orlando, Florida to a landowner who would become Emma’s official first owner. In 1985, under this landowner’s guardianship, Emma underwent a complete ground-up restoration, including an all new wood chassis, which was shipped from the United Kingdom. Charles Morgan, grandson of the founding father of the car, even signed the brand new wooden chassis. The car then sat from 1985 until 2015. That’s when Susan purchased her. Because Emma sat so long, Susan has had to fix and/or replace many parts. Emma’s original color was Broken White with a red interior. The first thing she did was replace the red interior with black and had two new tonneau covers – one half and one full. Susan also had the car rechromed.
Susan had wanted a Morgan since she was 18 years old. Her boyfriend at the time had a Triumph TR4, which aroused her desire to obtain a British car. Her mom wouldn’t co-sign for a Morgan, so Susan settled for a 1961 TB3, for which she paid cash. She drove this car around as her daily driver for a couple of years. Following that, she got into Corvettes, followed by a love for Porsches. In 2010, Susan began looking for another TR3, but couldn’t find one she liked. On a whim, she Googled “Morgan”, and Emma fell into her lap. As mentioned earlier, this was in 2015. She bought Emma sight unseen, although she did have an SCCA judge take a look at her beforehand.
Susan and Emma attend as many shows and drives as their busy schedule will allow. The two ladies have taken home three SCCA Concours awards, as well as numerous others, including Peoples’ Choice, Participant Choice, etc., etc. Susan also rides an FXR3 motorcycle (Fritz). As a woman who shows classic cars myself, I love the fact that I can count on at least one other female at our numerous meet and greets and look forward to seeing them each time.
Story and photographs by Carol Marcopulos
