If you can’t find what you want, build it yourself.
That could be Tom Scully’s motto.
Twenty-five years ago, the Calgarian built a plastic scale model of a classic three-wheeled 1935 Morgan Aero Super Sport. After completing the model, Scully thought if he ever saw the real thing for sale, he’d like to have one. He looked, but other cars, and motorcycles, always presented themselves as projects.
In 2009, Scully was in Portland, Oregon, attending an all-British field meet with his 1958 Triumph TR3A. There were a couple of real-deal Morgans on display, and seeing not one, but two, finally pushed Scully into action.
Tom Scully added many customized items to his vehicle, including driving badges, 1928 Ford stop-lights, and a paint colour used on 1966 Corvettes.
Aryn Toombs, Driving
He watched eBay intently, and haunted classic car sites. Nothing affordable ever turned up. That’s when he decided to build a Morgan for himself.
Scully located John Ziemba of JZR Trikes in Lancashire, U.K.
In 1989, Ziemba began building Morgan-style three-wheelers, and now provides everything from parts to turnkey cars.
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However, Scully found that Canadian regulations do not allow kit cars to be imported into the country unless 15 years old or older.
Transport Canada would permit him to bring over the specially constructed chassis and body. At that point, Scully contacted Ziemba and ordered the square-section tubular steel chassis, complete with its metal body panels and fibre glass hood and tail section.
Tom Scully shows off his hand built Morgan three-wheeler in Springbank, Alberta on March 19, 2015. Scully added many customized items to his vehicle, including driving badges, 1928 Ford stop-lights, and a paint colour used on 1966 Corvettes.
Aryn Toombs, Driving
Before the body and frame even arrived, Scully found a 2001 Moto Guzzi California EV motorcycle with 16,000 kilometres on the odometer.
The Moto Guzzi’s 1,100cc V-twin engine, transmission, swingarm and rear final drive would provide the ideal power train for his replica Morgan project. Scully also continued to buy various parts and pieces he thought he’d need to give his kit car the look of a pre-Second World War Morgan.
For example, the headlights and taillight came from a 1928 Ford while the rear signal lights are from a 1939 Chevrolet.
“There’s no assembly manual for this car,” Scully said, “I built it to appear as close as possible to the era and car I liked, which is the 1935 Aero Super Sport.”
Tom Scully shows off his hand built Morgan three-wheeler in Springbank, Alberta on March 19, 2015. Scully added many customized items to his vehicle, including driving badges, 1928 Ford stop-lights, and a paint colour used on 1966 Corvettes.
Aryn Toombs, Driving
When the crate from JZR arrived at customs in Calgary it took eight days before it was cleared. Scully, who operates a commercial and residential irrigation company, picked up the crate in early April 2014. He dug right into the project, sometimes getting up at 3 a.m. to work on the car because he starts to get busy with lawn sprinkler jobs in early May.
It was a mechanical jigsaw puzzle, and required machining of parts to fit Scully’s requirements. When something couldn’t be adapted, he made his own pieces.
The rear wheel and final drive is from the Moto Guzzi, while the two front spoke wheels were left over from an Austin-Healey project Tom built years ago.
“I have quite a collection of leftover auto parts,” Tom laughed.
Tom Scully shows off his hand built Morgan three-wheeler in Springbank, Alberta.
Aryn Toombs, Driving
Steering and suspension consists of parts from several different vehicles. The spindles and rack and pinion came from a Chevrolet Chevette and steering knuckles from a Pontiac Wave. The rear disc brake is from the Moto Guzzi, and the front discs, although modified, are from a Triumph TR6 with Spitfire calipers.
For exhaust, Scully used stainless steel header pipes connected to the mufflers from the Moto Guzzi.
And, in order for the car to have a reverse gear, Scully adapted the starter motor from a Suzuki motorcycle to engage a gear on the drive shaft. In the cockpit, there are two levers – one for the reverse gear, and the other to row through the five forward gears.
Great attention to detail was paid on the interior.
Aryn Toombs/ Calgary Herald, Driving
“The car was into the paint shop (where it was painted a butternut yellow) the first week of July, and I got it back from them near the end of August,” Scully said.
Before the snow fell in 2014, he had the car back together, acquired insurance and registration, and accumulated just over 350 test kilometres.
“I’ll drive it to car shows in the city, but will spend most of my time on the roads on the west side of Calgary, probably out to Bragg Creek and Turner Valley,” Scully said. “This is the most fun I’ve had with anything that I’ve ever built.”
Greg Williams is a member of the Automobile Journalists Association of Canada (AJAC). Have a column tip? Contact him at 403-287-1067, gregwilliams@shaw.ca, or visit gregwilliams.ca.
