A VERY ENGLISH EXPERIENCE

Morgan's Experience Centre and factory tour make a must-see, must-do day out for all classic fans

- SIMON HUCKNALL

Morgan considers its Experience Centre to be a tourist destination as much as a focal point for die-hard brand enthusiasts. Forming part of the hallowed Pickersleigh Road site in Malvern (although access is via Spring Lane), it's free to visit and provides Morgan novices with a shop window into the historic company. The café you enter after passing through reception is often used by locals as a meeting place, reinforcing the car maker's strong links with the Worcestershire town.

It sums up the manufacturer's low-pressure approach to brand engagement. In 2009, Morgan's centenary year, the company bought what had been a social club and converted it into a visitor centre, which was opened by HRH the Princess Royal. After Investindustrial purchased Morgan in 2019, the building was reconfigured, with the company's product-design team responsible for the interior look and feel. Today, the centre is run by a team of eight, plus a group of part-time 'ambassadors'.

While the Experience Centre can be the starting point for a full factory tour or a test drive in one of the current models, you can easily while away an hour or two as part of a flying visit. There's a small showroom for the modern range (with a Plus Four and Plus Six on display during our visit), along with plenty of trim swatches and colour charts - but, thankfully, no slick salespeople. The café, which serves locally sourced produce, has as its centrepiece an early P101 prototype 3 Wheeler to ogle while you're sipping your barista-made coffee. The adjacent shop is well stocked with Morgan-branded clothing and accessories (presented in cabinets crafted by firm's own woodworkers), including a superb, handbuilt Pashley-Morgan bicycle.