I wrote this bit a few years back. Sort of seems appropriate to this discussion.
As Andrea played some bubble game on her gizmo, in front of the TV controlled with some number of remotes and such, it sort of came to me. I think I may have finally figured out how to describe a traditional Morgan, it’s a car that has a ‘zero gizmo quotient’. A pure car, simple and basic, nothing unnecessary and nothing too fancy. But, at this point, I’m not sure if this is good thing, or bad. There is something appealing about a car that is not encumbered by modern effects such as power steering, power brakes, or for that matter . . . power anything. Perhaps that’s why some are slow to warm to the Aero 8 . . . it doesn’t exactly have a zero gizmo quotient. You know they come with a ‘snow cone machine’, don’t you?
But those of us with a traditional Morgan tend to all react the same way. We look at the car, with its zero gizmo quotient, and we fret and we angsts and find we must adorn it with some gizmo or another just to satisfy some ingrained desire the modern world has foisted on us, something of a gizmo addiction. We’re helpless, we must do something. We add a clock, a 12v Power socket, or a radio. Perhaps just one (or maybe all three). Certainly a simple gizmo, but a gizmo none the less. And, mostly we try to hide these gizmos, (in the glove box, under the dash . . .), like if they can’t be seen, they really aren’t there, or nobody will notice and challenge our . . . whatever.
But, that begs the question. Is a Morgan any less a Morgan, if it has something more than a zero gizmo quotient? How pure is our Morgan experience if we allow gizmos? What does it all mean?? This stuff keeps me up at night. How about you??
Cheers,
