Astonishing Morgan Motor Company SP1 Car was Construced with 3D Printed Parts

Dating back to 1909, family-owned British automobile manufacturer Morgan Motor Company has been hand building high quality, highly sought-after cars for customers in Europe and all over the globe. Over the past 106 years, the company has taken pride in producing automobiles which not only operate seamlessly but also please each customer on a one-to-one basis. Morgan Motor Company, founded by Henry Frederick Stanley Morgan, doesn’t manufacture 9 million cars a year like automotive industry giant General Motors does but, instead of focusing on quantity, they aim to focus solely on quality.

With about 160 total employees, the company only makes about 650 cars per year. Their waiting list to have a car produced can range anywhere from 6 months to a whopping 10 years. Because of the fact that each car that Morgan Motor Company produces is for an individual customer, this would seemingly make 3D printing quite a useful tool for them to utilize, right? Absolutely!

In fact, next week at 3D Printshow in London, 3D printer manufacturer Stratasys will be on hand to show off how capable their 3D printers were in helping produce one of Morgan’s limited edition cars, the SP1.

The SP1 (Special Project 1) is a one-of-a-kind bespoke creation, which was designed and produced in order to show off the capabilities that Morgan Motor Company has in producing custom vehicles. Featuring a naturally aspirated 3.7 liter Ford V6 Engine, a bespoke Engine Management System, and custom exhaust, the frame of the body on the car is amazingly constructed out of wood. But its uniqueness doesn’t end there.

“For its luxury limited edition cars that are customized for one-off customers, such as the SP1, Morgan Motor Company is 3D printing bespoke parts directly onto the car,” Stratasys representatives tell 3DPrint.com. “These comprise various parts of the interior, wing mirrors, grills, logos and much more.”

Morgan uses Stratasys FDM technology to 3D print parts for the SP1, as well as other custom vehicles. However, it’s not just the 3D printing of actual parts that has made Morgan so successful in an ever-changing automobile manufacturing sector. The production tools that allow engineers to handcraft most of their car parts for many of their vehicles are also 3D printed.  The company has definitely found their niche, and 3D printing has played a huge role in providing them with the tools to stay atop that niche.

So if you are in London next week, you may just want to stop by and check out what Stratasys and Morgan Motor Company have in store for you! What do you think about the SP1, and the fact that much of its manufacturing utilized 3D printing technology? Discuss in the SP1 forum thread on 3DPB.com. You can see more on the amazing SP1 in the video below.