Morgan Threatened By Tree Fungus
Morgan’s wood-framed sports cars are facing an existential threat; a species of fungus that infects ash trees, which are the source of wood used on Morgan’s legendary sports cars.
Ash has been used for over a century, but the situation could necessitate a switch to other kinds of wood. Ash dieback, as the disease is known, has been ravaging ash trees in the UK, and usually kills 90 percent of trees that become infected.
Steve Morris, Morgan’s Operations Director, told the Daily Mail
‘Ash has very good properties for stability and the way it can be formed. We have been using ash for traditional building for 100 years. It is possible that we would have to look at other types of wood. This news is a worry for us and we are taking it very seriously. It would be a shame if the problem escalated.’
A statement on the Morgan website claims that the company has a two year supply of ash wood, and that it could also be sourced from France, Germany, the United States and Belgium.
Hat tip to Reddit Autos
More by Derek Kreindler
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Jeff, the UK should commence worrying more about the loss of its manufacturing base than about the loss of its ash trees.http://www.journeygo.com
This is hilarious, about a week ago I mentioned the wooden flooring on a Morgan and one of the esteemed TTAC writers opined how this was really an advanced technology of some kind and even mentioned the balsa wood used on the 'vette in comparison. Truth about cars indeed. This word "truth" ... I do not think it means what you think it means.
The Ash-apocalypse affects more than cars. Baseball bats and Stratocasters come to mind.
Being in a sub-catogory of one (qualified forester based in the UK with an interest in cars) at last my chance for an expert comment! The ash tree disease mentioned has killed 90% of ash trees in Denmark and has just been spotted in the UK - likely imported with affected saplings from the Continent. In a classic case of stable door closing these imports have now been banned, but the disease has been spotted in trees planted last year - these are now burnt, but almost certianly too late to stop the spread. For users of ash timber it's likley to lead to much more timber on the market for the next few years as owners cut before they lose it. The landscape impact will be serious if the disease spreads as ash is one of the three most common native trees in the UK. There!