Settle down guys....(-: Perhaps best not to slip into creating divisions as seems so simple to do, what might be the advantages in doing that..?

I am a self confessed CARsonova when it comes to machinery of many types, I like to look around and appreciate, touch, feel, listen smell...(-: Smell you ask..? Yeah well you ain`t lived until you have caught the aroma of Castrol R on a misty morning at the race track...(-: I have been fortunate to have hands-on with a variety of vehicles and have developed a fondness for a number of marques, therefore the idea of being some sort of mechanical monogamist lacks appeal for me. I do understand that it is in the nature of some to require to be faithful and perhaps overly so to some sort of ideal, but that might just seem to have potential to create division..? Note to self ....Don`t mention Brexit..(-:

I have identified myself as holding Luddite tendencies..(-: I have also typed perhaps too much on my ideals re my choice of a Morgan, also how and why I arrived at feeling most fortunate to find an old Morgan +8 filled the bill, and in truth even exceeded my expectations of it, in terms of my requirements for a recreational vehicle/fun car. Are there other vehicles that could replace my Morgan`s current duties.... yes, but not within my budget and not quite as well, thus the Morgan has inhabited my garage for the last 16 years or so and may stay there for a bit longer. Would I swap it for a new +6, the short answer is no... I do not usually do short answers..(-:

As for the evolution of Morgan I think it is great that the factory still exists providing folk with job and families with incomes when so many others are loosing their employment opportunities in the automotive and other UK industries, be it to robotics or culturally adopted inefficiencies compared to "foreign" workers prepared to work harder and for MUCH less... Perhaps try beaming up Netflix movie... American Factory.... a documentary with a difference ....?

As our American cousins can be heard to say... "Wake up and smell the coffee".. ?

In an attempt to get back on topic... I ever thought the 4/4 was THE quintessential four wheel Morgan with the potential to be the more balanced all rounder in it`s traditional configuration..

Just thinking in type, and happy to discuss in a friendly manner..

The horse and cart were great, why do we need a motor car....

I got into Morgans when the Aero was launched, ordered one and was about 560 on the ordering list. For various reasons, when I was offered a build slot (numbered in the 60s) I swapped the order for the Trad +8 that I still have. So I had, and still have, a lot of time and respect for the Aero Cars. When the AeroTrad was launched it did not appeal to me at all, I regarded it as a silhouette car and thought that they would sell 10! As it turns out and fortunately for the MMC many people had different views.

With the launch of the Plus 6, I have finally come round, and it is a car that i could see myself owning (If I could justify the cost, which I cannot).

Morgan have to change, If the trad range finally disappears it will be in the same way as the Land Rover, a lack of profitability dressed up as a regulatory issues.

I would rather have Morgan existing with the CX chassis range, than fail producing Trads.

Very good Mark - but you would be in a different trade!



As of the end of last Thursday it was 177 - Peter exaggerated slightly Steve
I'm not back in until this Thursday coming, will enquire how things stand then - for tour information, obviously (someone always asks the question now!).

Perhaps the Trad 4/4 needs, like the Lotus 7, to be taken into care by a smaller company and made for those who want them, and as a provider of spares.
It worked for Caterham, why not for "Malvern Cars"?

That is a good idea Peter.

The Plus Six has a significant wood frame.......go and look!

And lets face it, if in twelve months or so the market is awash with green or silver Plus Sixes........then those who want a bargain should get one.

I do think though, that the "two colour" launch, while making it cost effective, in the long term might make these early cars less popular than the later bespoke ones.

And there are one or two 4/4's in build.........one in the chassis shop.

Unfortunately I do think the Plus 6 sounds the death nell of the Traditional Mog, not immediately but over time and while I think that is a great shame I can see it as progress for Morgan. I can also see the point that there may be considerable numbers of second hand Sixes on the market after a couple of years as owners of a “more normal car” do not get the same affinity with the car that we the traditional owner get. It won’t do any harm to second hand values of the trad.

On a quick scan it seems that s/h prices remain strong anyway, and when one waits a bit before deciding that one would like to change there is little loss and in some cases a gain. Coincidently
as there is often a reference to questionable handling, I have not found this to be the case. Indeed my new P4, with its adjustable shocks and panhard rod seems to have a quick turn in, a very planted feel and is well able to make good progress. The test for me is a long steep hill near us which has many twists and three very sharp turns. My Roadster behaves very well on it but the new car might well outperform it as it certainly does with folks trying to keep up. So okay I am not finding the limit of adhesion and I am after all driving on public roads never the less I have no complaints and only wish that I could keep them both. I drove one of VW's offerings on the same hill recently and enjoyed it much less.

I think the plus 6 is brilliant. Brilliant better quality, brilliant engineering, brilliant number of orders, brilliant move forward for the factory. To move with the times takes brilliant management vision. I applaud them.

I won't be buying one though because I fell in love with Morgan cars when they were relatively cheap. By which I mean that the 4/4 was mgb price, the plus 8 offered supercar performance for saloon car money. I remember reading the review of the first plus 8 and it talked of the driver rejecting everything about modern cars except performance. Then when I looked at the factory history I saw it was built upon the cheap, reliable 3 wheeler models which were cheap to buy, cheap to tax and cheap to run. That was what I fell in love with and that is a situation or philosophy which has completely reversed today. The cars are expensive. The 3 wheeler is not cheap to buy, tax or run. It's a complete reversal of what I saw.
But that's the modern world. It's me that's out of step not the factory. They're successfully moving on and I'm not! So I love and applaud them, but for me, I'm moving towards selling my modern 4/4 and buying a really old one. Just as a pet really.
The MMC won't miss me and I won't miss them because I shall still visit and admire the modern output. I'll still cheer them on wherever possible. But an automatic roadster just isn't for me.
Nick