Morgan's are generally very slow compared to Caterhams, they have appalling handling and road holding compared to Caterhams but have bags of character and are much more of a classic car.
I've had, many Caterhams, including a 320bhp monster but still hankered after a Morgan to cherish. I really found that Caterhams were great when driven fast but annoying when conditions didn't allow that. Morgan's give a lot of fun at more normal road speeds and are more useable.
Very accurate description.
Like Madmax and Culminator, I have built and owned over a dozen Sevens since my first '69 S3 X/F Lotus in the mid '80's, including a couple of CSR's (the all independantly suspended ones), but I would say the main and limiting factor is now my age and age related body functions, or lack of!
Sevens are great cars, especially if the owner builds them, that is half of the owning experience, they can be made into whatever the owner wants - track weapon, touring cruiser, supercar, you name it and just do it. Virtually everything can be done at home, short of a full engine or gearbox rebuild, and just with tools sourced from Lidl.
They are just so efficient, Chapman was a genius, but then on the other hand what he did was just so obvious, once it has been pointed out - lightness is the answer, any Morgan is a vast fat and overweight beast, made by blacksmiths, in comparison. It has taken me a while to accept what Morgans are - real cars, which have hardly changed for over 50 years with modern drivetrains. Having owned an MGTD for 30 years, I was not looking to recreate the MG, rather for a real sportscar with character, that would stand out in todays roadscape and something of which I could be as proud of as I was in a Seven or an old MG.
For me the ARP4 fits my profile perfectly with its' tuned Cosworth engine, decent gearbox, 5 link coil sprung rear suspension with LSD and discs and all the nice touches in the cabin that cost extra on normal models. I cannot drive it with the same scalpel like deftness that I can a Seven, but my wife will join me and actually enjoys it, rather than gritting her teeth and complaining about my 'tincan'. I still have a 170bhp bike engined Seven sitting alongside the ARP4, but more and more, I would rather take out the Mog, so perhaps in the spring the Seven will be advertised?
Howard, how hardcore do you really want?
