I've got a strong desire for a 4/4 Sport for low mileage daily use (10,000 km pa) but am 6'5" 17.5 stone and not sure if I'll fit and be able to drive with comfort? I know the obvious answer is try but I'm a long way from a dealer although do hope to take a test drive later this month.

Whilst it might seem like sacrilege I'm also keen to know whether I will fit with the roof up as where I live the weather is pretty poor.

Finally, what are your thoughts on the old style roof on the 4/4 Sport vs the newer 'Easyfit' types, how long does the 4/4's roof take to put up?

Thanks for your help.

Let's hope you do Mark!

I am sure some of our trad experts will be able to advise.

As a five foot-eight shorta*rse, I'm not well qualified to answer the 'will I fit' question. Having said that if you can fit an MGB Roadster, you'll probably be OK. Footwell length is good, but if your body is long you'll be looking at (or over) the top of the screen. You'll find it better with the seat well reclined. Getting in and out with the hood up is far from elegant even at my height.........

I'm a big fan of the latest hood, over the original, and I think it looks better when down, because it's still there if you understand what I mean. Late spec 4/4's prior to the Sport have the easyfit hood, and a handful also had the Sigma engine as far as I recall.

You really need to try one for size. Which is your nearest dealer?

if you are nor near a dealer, why not gatecrash a local noggin, I'm sure someone would let you try for size

Mark,
We've been kicking this 'tall drivers' thing about in a jokey way recently see the :
Re: Door Mirrors - Round or Rectangular? thread and some of the discussions there.

I'm only a 6'3" short*rse and I don't have any real problem.

I have dropped the seat in my 4/4 by removing the blocks under the runners This wasn't a leg room thing, merely to decrease wind buffeting over the top of the screen, although it has, of course, improved headroom with the hood up which is a useful because my part of the world can be pretty wet at times too.

If you do want re-assurance you might want to take a look at this:
http://www.morgans4sale.co.uk/md54fram.htm

and click on 'Roadster'
The guys in the photo are Mike and Ben Duncan and as other people on this site will testify they are both about 6.5" and manage perfectly well.

I don't know where you're located but if you are anywhere near the Midlands, go along to their place ( Hartlebury, nr Worcester/Kidderminster) and get some re-assurance

Just to clarify, my only link with Mike and Ben is as a satisfied customer. I'm sure most other dealers would be similarly helpful ( if not as tall!)
Regards
G
PS . On a first drive, you might find the closeness of the pedals more off-putting than anything else. Don't worry, it soon becomes natural ( ish)

Mark,
at a 5 ft 11 in I can't comment on the height. You can get a 4 seater windscreen which is taller.

However I am well built (too much liquid bread as they say in Bavaria) so I have a Mota Lita steering wheel with a shorter bottom spoke which gives gut clearance.

If you are near Bucks you are welcome to sit in mine
John

GLLHG has done a superb job of answering the question.

I too am 6'3" and while I don't own a classic Morgan (yet!), I have sat in a 4/4 Sport and had the pleasure of an outing in Easter's Sport. My head sat a little proud of the screen and I'd be inclined to drop the seat to decrease buffeting (again, as per GLLHG's comments).

As for you weight, I'd 15 stone and while I found the cabin more snug than the Aero, it wasn't uncomfortable and would merely necessitate a slightly altered driving style (elbow out the top of the door!)

Are you geographically close to any dealers?

Hello Mark,
I own a 4/4 Sports since a few weeks. I don't think your stature will be much of a problem. But than, you anyway want to test drive the car before you decide to buy it.

Even so I am just shy of 6 feet, I have rather long legs. I find the leg room in the 4/4 comfortable enough, but the steering wheel (the standard type ex-works) has to in the upper-most position to avoid permanent contact to my knees.

Mark,
Wilhelm and John +4 make an excellent point about the standard steering wheel.
I replaced my standard item with a thinner- rimmed wooden wheel from Moto-Lita but another very popular solution is to fit an offset wheel- Quite a lot of TMers have done this.

Steve Simmonds offers these as do several other specialists ( Moto-Lita as John says)

I can only echo John +4's offer- if you're anywhere near South Wales then you're welcome to sit in mine ( 2000, 4/4 lowline)- you can even dig away the very large pile of snow in front of my garage if you like!!

regards,
G

Thanks for the replies. I'm in Poland so nearest dealers are in Germany. I'll be travelling to the UK at the end of the month, landing in to Luton most likely, and plan a test drive at Allon White. Thereafter I'll be heading up to East Yorkshire (Beverley area) and then to Cumbria (Keswick). If anyone is in those areas it'd be good to meet or I could swing by the Midlands.

It would be great to hire a Morgan for the trip as at the end I'd surely know whether I could live with one but the cost seems prohibitive.

I've had a chat with John at Allon White and he thought they could gain an inch or so through lowering the seat and using thinner padding. He also mentioned its possible to move the rear bulkhead back a couple of inches but this costs ca GBP 900. Why don't Morgan think to do this to the stock car and widen their customer base?

If you are down in the Berkshire area, you're welcome to sit in our new 4/4 Sports. However, it is still languishing in SGT as although it was due to be collected today, I don't want it covered in salt and then stored.

Congratulations on the addition to the fleet Brian!

I can ever increasingly see the attraction and charm of the traditional models.

Hope that you have many happy miles motoring in her.

Kind Regards,

Robert

If you're near Beverley, then Ledgerwoods is just over the Humber Bridge on the South side.

Moving the bulkhead on an existing car is a major woodwork undertaking. It would also be difficult to do that if the battery was in the rear next to the axle.

Mark,
I know it would be dependent upon how much time you had but one thing to do might be to look at either the MSCC website or a copy of Miscellany and check out what is happening at those centres near to where you will be at relevant dates. eg Cranmog etc. This would be a good way to touch base with as many owners as possible for 'car-sits', feedback, comment etc

Regards,
G

This may be of interest

John Macdonald, near Durham, has a +4 for hire - not too far if you're going to be in Beverley.
http://www.macdonald-racing.com/Pages/Morgan_Hire.html


It's Sean who does the trimming and yes, they can make a thinner seat base which would help. But you may not have the option of removing the wooden blocks froim under the seat runners, as the later cars don't have them.

You could also consider a removable steering wheel which may help a lot.

Enjoy researching!

Nigel

Hello Mark,
actually I bought my Morgan through Allon White. I found them very helpful and competent. Send my regards to Phil and John.

Moving the bulkhead is definitely a major change to the car, as this affects the wooden parts!

Brian what colour did you settle on?

Any news on the supersport?

Sports Blue, as that was the one that SGT had in stock. The price went up 6% from MMC and with another 2.5% VAT, it was not worth paying that to get a Black one.

Hope to spec the Aero SS this week, providing weather does not get worse and I can get to the Works on Thursday.

Cheers

[quote=Aeroman providing weather does not get worse and I can get to the Works on Thursday.

Cheers [/quote]

Best of luck Brian. I had to travel up to Malvern last week for a meeting and, somewhat foolishly, decided to go the 'country route' via Ledbury. Not one of my better plans- I then had to make a detour going back around the M50 and Upton Eventually got there!

regards,
G

Must be the only manufacturer putting up prices let alone not absorbing the VAT increase.

Will you be seeing the SS before the spring?

Stand correct just discovered the GM have increased prices by 5% but are now offering up to 11% discount and opposed to the 6% prior to the price increase

Visited Allon White and later the Morgan factory. The short answer is no, I didn't fit in to either a 2 or 4-seater - at least not in the standard car.

Leg room is tight in both but the position in the 4-seater Morgan test car was worse as it appears the seats sit on higher runners and my left knee was tight against the underside of the dashboard and the indicator stalk to the extent I could barely move it.

The good news is John at Allon White put me in touch with a chap in Leicester whose 4-seater they modified and who was kind enough to let me sit in it and also answered many a question. The modification seems relatively simple; removing the leaf spring coverings to allow the seat to be lowered and travel all the way back up to the rear seats = loads of room!

have a word with chas windridge of mogsport, he's a big bloke with plenty of trad experience. tel 02476 393014 www.mogsport.co.uk

Charles Morgan is not exactly a shortie himself, can not see him building cars he cannot fit into

Without getting personal it is heavily dependent on leg in seam length and leg vs torso ratio. If you have long legs you may struggle to get comfortable in some of the trads unless you modify the seat runners. I know I did.