Originally Posted By Peter J
Originally Posted By kin
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I would honestly think at least one member would know the cost of the Aero bonded chassis, that person has to be Brian aka Aeroman.

I will take a very wild guess the chassis cost no more than £10k, but will gracefully accept being proved wrong smile


I have been told by a Morgan Dealer that for the dealer to buy a new Trad chassis is less than £1000 and to buy an Aero tub is over £20,000. Both plus VAT.

That suggests MMC buys them in at 50% of the sale price. so less than £500 vs more than £10K. A factor of 20.

I'm not surprised at the difference.

The Trad chassis is made of about 20 different bits of bent steel, something that a good welder could, with the right jig, put together in an hour or so. It is then galvanized.

The Aero Tub has to be assembled from a large number of carefully cut pieces of aluminium that must be cleaned and then with great care, adhesive applied in the correct places, pop rivets fitted and then it is subject to a heating process to cure the adhesive.

Then various extrusions and machined parts are welded in place. The welds are of aviation quality. I'll bet it takes more than a day.

It is a work of art.

But it is total overkill for what it has to do....!

Makes you realise how much of a steal the original Aero 8 was - bringing that level of tech to the market at that price point. A positive bargain - more so now.

The Aero chassis is of a design level more akin to the SLS Black or Aston V8/12/DB9..... Literally light years beyond where Morgan were even at the developmental level at the time (Charles and Bill's +8 British GT2 car). It's a design building block to something we've yet to see matched by engine, gearbox and body.

Only when all are at the same/similar level will buyers really feel they are buying quality. This is unlikely to look like a trad. Maybe a future SLR or SS Coupe/Targa.

A better trad does not need this level of tech to improve, there is 60 years of better cheaper automotive engineering to choose from.

As a buyer if you really did want to stick with a trad as it is now, there are all the second hand ones to choose from - just stick the latest engine/gearbox in it and off you go - just like a new one. [toungue in cheek]

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