It's been now 5 days that I own my little wooden car (ivory 4/4, pictures are in the gallery), and finally the first rush of adrenaline and all sorts of weird hormones are slowly disappearing. That means my brain returned to work and my hands stopped shaking, so I can report my first impressions. I've covered some 250km so far, all in sunny weather (26degC), enough for quite a sunburn!

General:
Big grin. Ride is very good. My dealer told me that the suspension still has to bed in, but for me it's nearly perfect already.
I limited the revs to around 4000rpm and still had a lot of fun, including some mild drifting, which is perfectly controllable with the narrow tires of the 4/4. Once or twice I had some fun with two baseball-capped kids in their Golf GTIs trying to overtake. (Still stayed below 4000rpm, though.)

Interior:
Wooden, riveted Motolita is great with enough grip, leaves also more room to position my left leg when off the clutch than the leather versions. Steering column conversion with metal indicator/wiper switches pleases the eye and also the fingers, although rotating them (for lights, wiper intervals) is difficult with sweaty fingers. (and man, were they sweaty!)

Exhaust:
Il concerto mi piace! Great sound, nice burbling when lifting the foot. Sound as if attached to an engine much meaner then the Sigma. And no, I don't have the sport exhaust, just the standard one. Any louder than that would be too much for my taste.

Gear box:
That the best part: The new MX-5 box transforms the 4/4 into a complete new car! The car I drove last year still had the Ford gearbox, which was no revelation at all. The Mazda box is crisp, exact and still super-smooth! The gear lever is also positioned a bit more to the front, suits my right arm much better.
And now you even have a fifth gear! Not just a kind of overdrive. I can cruise along in fifth gear at 75kph, nevertheless for acceleration shifting down proofed to be a good idea.

Any downsides? Yes, one. Indicators sound like the chinese copy of a korean copy of a 1988 Nintendo game. Which is broken. And been trampled upon. Horrible. But then I admit I had to think deeply to find something I dislike!

So far, so good. That's it for the moment, got to go and nurse my sunburnt forehead...

Cheers,
Alex.

Excellent Enjoy

+1.
I like the indicator sound as it is easy to hear.
Enjoy your car.

I have to admit that I really like this type of stories with new owners sharing their impressions. Thanks for sharing and keep them coming!!

Have you had time checking out the details - interior, lacquer and assembly?

Any more options on your wish list?

Just bought a new Citroên C4 for commuting (170 km round trip to work, environmental friendly and with 3,9 L/100km you even look forward to the next time you will visit a filling station for fresh diesel). On this French beauty you can switch between 4 different polyfonic tones: Jungle Fantasy , Urban Rythmic , Classic and Crystal Symphony ...well the only one missing is probably Malvern Panel Beating .

The positive thing with owning/driving both French, German and English car is that people can not categorize you that easy

Alex,

I had my first Morgan driving experience in a 4/4, 4 years ago and it was emotional. I think all Morgan owners remember that first journey. T

Good health to enjoy!

Good point, M3W!

I also have a C4 (Sebastian Loeb Edition!), it's a kind of undercover operation: Nobody knows if you are anglophile, francophile, or just pretty dumb!
Third car is a Kia, so may be I'm just a frugal cheapskate...

Yep, paint job is pretty impressive, only some minor inaccuracies around the inner door edges. Concerning the assembly in general I noticed some rattles from the dashboard when accelerating from below 2000rpm and rear drum breaks emit some noise when they are cold and breaks are applied only slightly.

What the heck, it's a hand built british motor and for a car being assembled with not much more then a hammer and a screwdriver, let's call it perfect!

Options: Would have loved the distressed leather, but was not an option for the Sports when I ordered the car. And as I have learned the distressed leather is only offered without warranty now, as there have apparently been too many dickheads that complained about the distressed leather having got some marks, bruises etc.
Hello?!?! What did they think they ordered?!?!

Yes, a really excellent write-up! It sounds as though you are very happy with your new toy.

Enjoy...

Nice write up, may you spend many happy miles kilometres together

i tried to order distressed tan. My dealer said it is no more availabe...with or without warranty..

Sure they can: Euro-Schizophrenic

Alex, glad to hear you're enjoying your Morgan as much as you are. There are some wonderful driving roads in the Tirol; I hope you take the time to enjoy your Morgan there is this summer.

I better stay away from them Tata Motors products then....to be Globalophrenic sounds even worse

My 2011 Plus4 Sport had this rattle, coming from the left side of the dashboard just below 2000rpm.

The dealer fixed it, was an electrical connector against the inside of the dash. He wrapped it in some foamy stuff, no more rattle

I've got rattles from under the dash as well although only on bumpy roads. There's a lot of electrical stuff under the dash, cables , connectors etc and a couple of sounding boards.....the metal bulkhead and the plastic trim under the later dashes. Its a job I keep meaning to sort out!

I also have some rattles from the dash, especially when accelerating from below 2000rpm. But no worries, will be sorted out during first service for sure.
If the weather stays as it is, first service will be in 10-15 days...

@Simon: Yep, have one week vacation in june, will tour around Carinthia and the Tyrol (where my parents live), including the Grossglockner.
Have a look: Grossglockner High Alpine Road
This is where the fun is!

Yes, I also have a annoying rattle on the left hand side (LHD car). It comes in at about 2500 revs on the road but I can't duplicate it when stationary. It is a sort of constant brrrp, brrrp, brrrp if that makes sense. I thought it may be the tacho at one point but I am now begining to wonder if it is the radio ariel vibrating in the slipstream.

brrrp brrrp . . brrrp brrrp
Mobile phone?????



Bud

__________
2003 - 4/4

Rumble strips in my view!

Peter,
I think it is always a case of hearing a rattle / vibration, searching, finding and solving only to hear another one that was masked by the original!!!!!!!!

I now have a similar noise to what you describe at about 60Kph in second gear coming from behind the dash on the drivers side, which I'm sure I'll find and solve only to hear another - keeps me fiddling and fettling, which I suppose is why I like doing it!!!!

Cheers!

If I do not hear any strange sound in my Morgan I think something is wrong.
Ken in Sweden

No! It's just that you forgot to start the engine.

Could be

Peter, I had a similar rattle on a previous mog and I traced it to the aerial.
The aerial was made of 3 telescopic tubes, and when inside each other they rattle against each other! When I extended the aerial fully, the noise disappeared.

Hello Peter,
I can confirm what Kevin wrote. On my 4/4 I have the same "problem" with the aerial.

Keep mogging,

Christian

I tried the aerial up last night to see if it made any difference. Unfortunately no

The sound seems to come from the region of the rev counter at about 3,500 RPM and up. I'm not sure if it is related to engine vibration causing something at the back of the dash to vibrate or if it is actually the rev counter itself. I imagine the rev counter is electronic and actually contains no rotating parts, if so that makes it unlikely the noise is coming from there, also I can't seem to duplicate it when the car is stationary but at the same time it does not seem to be speed related, more rpm related. In any case it will be a dash out job to fix it so they can have a look at it the next time I go to the local dealer. It should be covered by warranty.