Telford students unveil Morgan racing cars
Students have transformed two racing cars, which they unveiled at a world famous car manufacturer.
The cars have been transformed by engineering students at the University of Wolverhampton, based in Telford and were revealed during a visit to the world famous Morgan Motor Company in Malvern.
The university has a partnership with the family owned, independent company to offer engineering students a range of opportunities.
Members of the University of Wolverhampton Race (UWR) team toured the Malvern factory on Thursday (MAR 30) as part of the collaboration.
UWR will be racing two cars in the AR Morgan Challenge Series this season. The University liveried Morgan Plus 4 Babydoll and an ARV6 were officially unveiled during the visit, and both took part in the first race meeting of the season at Snetterton on Saturday (1 APR).
Students will attend every race meeting as well as preparing and testing the cars from the Telford Innovation Campus in Priorslee, which has just had a £10m investment in the engineering facilities.
Alongside professional race instructor and driver Shane Kelly, students have completely rebuilt the cars during the winter breakdown ready for the new season, which has helped them to understand how the cars work and are manufactured.
Deputy vice-chancellor, Professor Ian Oakes, said: “By working alongside the Morgan craftsmen and women and taking part in the AR Morgan Challenge Series, our students are gaining hugely valuable work experience of the motor manufacturing industry.
“This exciting partnership is already having a major impact on the employability of our engineering students, which is a key focus for the University. We are delighted that they are gaining experience of the real world of car manufacturing at a world famous company which focuses on traditional craftsmanship coupled with modern design and engineering innovation.”
Steve Morris, Morgan managing director, said: “We are delighted to enter the second year of our partnership with the University of Wolverhampton. Over the course of the last 12 months we have been impressed with the skills demonstrated by the team both during race weekends, and in providing technical feedback for our road cars. The passion shown by the students is fantastic and we are excited to continue building our next generation of craftsmen and women ahead of the 2017 Morgan AR Motorsport Challenge.”
In races, the Morgan cars are driven by professional drivers Tony Hirst in the ARV6 and Henry Morgan’s descendant Craig Hamilton-Smith in the Babydoll.
