Morgan 3 Speeders
1933 – 1939
3 SPEED AND REVERSE MODELS 1932 to 1952 (See available handbooks Tony Birks)
During the twenties there had been various aftermarket offerings by which owners could achieve a reverse gear but they don’t seem to have penetrated far into the two-speed community. As that decade drew to a close, Henry Morgan realised that the motoring public was moving on and that in order to compete with budget four-wheel transport, three speeds and a reverse were needed. And so, with the involvement of Burman & Co (who needed to be distracted from making mechanical sheep shearers!), a whole new three-speed and reverse transmission unit was produced. Gone were the bevel gears of the two speeder to be replaced by a steel worm mating with a bronze wheel to take the drive through ninety degrees to the final drive sprocket. The first 1932 “R Type” box was lubricated by Castrol R, basically castor oil. Problems were encountered with the bronze wheel overheating and failing (not the fault of the lubricant, rather with the rate at which it could drain back from the gearbox section having been thrown forward into it by the worm wheel). The box was redesigned for 1933 with a much larger reservoir at the back and was now to be lubricated with Castrol D, a more viscous mineral oil. If the oil level was kept up, this proved generally reliable. Read the full history here
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- Tony Tebby’s Super Sports…. looks very similar to the next photo.
3- speeder videos and other articles of interest
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