As I think I hinted in my earlier mail (if I can remember that far back with any degree of accuracy) creating division seems less than ideal..?
I suspect there will be a variety of preferences that come together under the Morgan banner. Old codgers such as I and hopefully some younger folk with a whole different set of preferences and greatly appreciating the appearance of an old car but with at least some modern-day motoring advantages built in. In the case of what might be determined a non-trad Morgan may well fit the bill better for the young would be Morgan buyer yet still seem to be a bit old hat to some degree, if their pals are driving around in 500 HP machinery whose on road performance safety and stability may well require the inputs and outputs of it`s on board management systems.. Which when I come to think of it might be similar to my own group of sports car owning friends when I chose to buy a Morgan all those years ago in that I was most fortunate to have enjoyed a history of ownership and involvement with some quite impressive machinery, well machinery that impressed me..(-:
As For Morgan providing auto transmission in the new breed, that seems entirely logical given the exponential increase in traffic on the road today.. and not just in the London area. If I consider the traffic found today on the once deserted Roads up the West coast of Scotland or the traffic in Edinburgh, Glasgow and other cities, then it seems there must be many who may no longer enjoy having to ride a heavy clutch and coax a manual vehicle along a few yards at a time in traffic for mile after mile until a relatively free bit of tarmac is found, which indeed may be the reality for many in search of an escape from the norms of everyday life...? I consider myself blessed in not having to be involved in that kind of traffic situation should the need to sample a bit of vintage entertainment to find a bit of interesting Tarmac, however I fear that age is tapping my upon shoulder to make getting in and out of my old Mog just that bit more difficult..
If you have read any of my contributions you will hopefully understand that I have no wish for my old non digital Morgan to be other than it is and for my own good reasons, which may or may not suit YOU, but it sure suits ME. I even had ideas that I might modify it to make it appear MORE vintage in appearance by perhaps fitting an alloy engine turned dash in place of the original, in that regard how then could I criticise others for travelling in the opposite direction in the hope of modifying their suspension or anything else to more match their modern expectations...?
While travelling in Southern Europe I kinda set a max daily mileage of circa 300 miles, which as well as being near the limit of our duration in hot weather, also allowed for reasonable intervals for greasing of the front suspension, which truth be told is part of owning a machine based upon some vintage ideals which were found to be a tad inconvenient while touring, more so when I ran out of grease and the Mog started to steer like a boat.... Greasing being accepted as all just part of the vintage experience while at home though less so when far from home, at least I had a pair of overalls stowed in the spare wheel bracket..?
Had I the wherewithal at the time I bought my Morgan, my choice would have been a vintage LM Bentley, Bugatti or something very similar, but that was not to be, however in a very short time I became very happy with my old non-vintage Morgan, sure, the guys who own REAL vintage cars may be expected to determine my Mog is in their and my own eyes is not vintage enough in some aspects of it`s construction to be classified as vintage, that matters not a jot to me, it does however provide a measure of a vintage driving experience without the probable costs involved in the adventures we engaged in with our old +8 had it been a REAL vintage machine.
Another considered aspect of distant travels was that parts supply in the countries visited would be less of concern in my Morgan than a true vintage machine given it`s V8 and gearbox are of Land Rover manufacture and LR`s were sold in the countries that we intended to visit... Other than the possible advantage of spare parts availability, my non-vintage Morgan and it`s constituent parts were well understood as the result of my many years of hands on experience gained while repairing and restoring my own machines.... Had my choice of Morgan included some degree of digital programming then the more of it involved in any Morgan, the less opportunity I would have of being self sufficient, which is HIGH on my list of personal ideals and more so when travelling, these days much less so..... At the time of purchase of my Morgan I was no stranger to repairing a wide variety of leading edge digitally controlled equipment , just that was more than aware of it`s possible failings.... Given that I am no stranger to digital advantages, and indeed make use of many of them today, perhaps I should have identified myself as a selective Luddite... (-:
Today..? Well for me like many of us who have been around a while there are bound to have been ups and downs and as technology and accompanying regulation has evolved our datums have more than likely shifted to some degree... the idea of buying an ICE car as an investment or involving the man maths required to justify it`s existence on that basis seems nuts to me, thus those buying rather what seem to be rather expensive Morgans today, may not need to consider as I once did that if things get tight, at least I could turn it back into cash relatively easily..Hmm..?
My old Mog..? I suspect looking at advertised prices of those which have not had the benefit of a nut and bolt rebuild by a professional Morgan enthusiast and which may not have the benefit of hand crafted panes as opposed to Superform, the non-trade ADVERTISED prices of Morgans of circa 1986 are in excess of that which I paid for it circa 17 years ago... though £1 could buy a lot more in 2001 than it does today...hmm..? In truth the returns have exceed the amount invested in my old Mog, I hope the same applies to all Morgan owners if not right now, at some future time, so best to enjoy them while we are still allowed out on the road..?
JB 62 if you are reading this, that like the last one you posted is a GREAT image of your car..(-:
Graham in the very first ABS equipped sports car I drove I tested exactly that, with the two nearside wheels on the grass and the two off-side wheels on the Tarmac..... I was greatly impressed with ABS. Not much later, on a wide open dual carriageway with no traffic to be seen and while horsing along I came round a slow ish bend to find traffic at a standstill in both lanes..... boy did ABS impress me then too, I stopped long before I expected so to do... Technological advance indeed has many benefits though perhaps one needs to be careful not to become too dependant on it..?
