Morgan restored this Lotus 98T, driven by Ayrton Senna, in its original John Player Special livery of black with gold lettering. (Photo by John Kevans/Courtesy of Dawn Trader Performance) » More Photos

Speaking of power, he has also restored a Lotus 98T in its original John Player Special livery of black with gold lettering. The car was piloted by the beloved Ayrton Senna at the end of the unrestricted turbocharged-era in F1 when the horsepower topped 1,200 in qualifying trim. Also in his F1 collection is a Leyton House machine, a very small, aerodynamic racecar designed by Adrian Newey for the 1990 season. Morgan’s collection also includes a LeMans Porsche 956 that finished second in the 24 Hours in 1985.

“I try to look for cars that capture people’s imagination,” said Morgan. “Focusing on originality is really the key. The Lotus is a good example - it was driven by Senna and is the last JPS car as well as being the last of the unrestricted turbo cars. We've had several people come up in floods of tears having watched it run with Ayrton driving. It means a lot to a lot of people.”

Dawn Treader Performance also works on many customer cars, such as a blue 1970-model Can-Am Lola Chevrolet driven by Chuck Parsons and owned by Doug Shierson, who later won the Indy 500 as car-owner with Arie Luyendyk.

Is Morgan tempted to drive his gorgeous monsters?

“I drive my own cars on occasions,” he explained. “It’s bizarre, but I find it quite a peaceful experience. Once your visor goes down, you stop worrying about everything else and just concentrate on doing your job. They are bloody fast though!”

Morgan is too gracious to name the driver who crashed one of his prized Penske machines at the Goodwood Festival last summer.

“It's one of the hazards I guess,” he shrugged. “The gentleman who had the accident hadn’t driven a turbo car before, so we stressed he had to drive it aggressively. If the turbo kicks in when you are not expecting it, there is always going to be trouble. He was driving part-throttle, thinking the power was proportional to throttle angle which is true for a normally aspirated car - but not with a turbo. It hit 7500rpm and spat him sideways.”