This has been an interesting exchange to read, and it seems possible that there may be a few influences at play when it comes down to determining our present day and evolving priorities, which still finds us owning or interested in Morgans...?
In times past I can remember a degree of acceptance to a "new breed" of Morgan buyer who unlike many who went before showed little or no interest in the very hands-on aspect of Morganeering, which given the accepted norms of Morgan..err..foibles seemed to cause a rise in complaints that I read of in the early days of Morgan related forums on the internet, circa the 90`s..?
It seems died in the wool Morganeers were ever of the dirty fingernail variety, some out of necessity required to equip themselves with a degree of ability and a set of tools to match, in order to be able to afford to buy and run a Morgan, while others who had no such financial restrictions may have been in search of a pastime, may also have sought the ability to maintain their new, or even rebuild their own old recently purchased Morgan, and equipped themselves with many of the skills necessary to do so..?
Around the same time It seemed that there were perhaps those who who were being de-layered and downsized into early retirement and who may have been used to the company BM, Merc or Jag, and had perhaps considered that some aspects of Morgan ownership such as waiting lists, value retention, the whole heritage scenario combined with a very attractive open top sports car package to roll around the countryside on a balmy days in retirement sunshine.......to then be awakened up to the realities of Morgan ownership and associated foibles, which seemed to come as quite a shock for some, given their automotive expectations were directly related to the level of comfort, reliability and service backup that they had become used to in modern mid range to high end saloon cars...? The effect of which seemed to be a rising degree of discontent that appeared from time to time on the forums from those who might be thought to be a "new breed" of Morgan owners....?
I can remember very many complaints on all sorts of issues and equally many great minds suggesting a degree of modification to alter the rudimentary design of the TRAD, which to some degree fitted with the expectations and ideals of the old guard of hands-on Morganeers who were well used to foible resolution and modifying their Morgans for more power better brakes etc.etc.etc., though it seems the new breed`s ideals were perhaps more comfort and reliability motivated, thus it also seems logical that there would be all sorts of clever thinking on ways to improve the suspension system, both in terms of increasing quality and perhaps cutting down or easing of maintenance demands and increasing comfort, desires which witnessed the introduction of rear chassis hoops to allow tubular shockers to replace lever arms, though how much of an on the road advance that was, I have no idea, though I do remember the now departed dear old Bill Button, having covered many a mile with no shockers fitted to his car, determined the difference between with or without shockers seemed negligible...From a dull memory I think he was not alone in that line of thought..?
In the same vein, it seems even more comfort was desired by the new breed, who may have been added to by the old guard to some degree as they were advancing in years and who may have evolved into similar mindset on comfort convenience and may have become less inclined to enjoy rolling around the garage floor... Hmm..? Thus it seems there was rather a lot of interesting discussion on designs to further modify suspension systems to make them more comfortable and to try to make steering lighter. Also it seems getting in and out of Morgans was becoming an issue, whether related to the increasing girth of Morganeers or their stiffening bones or both, thus larger doors were incorporated in the design improvements along with fancier levels of trim than might have been expected in any Morgan in times past..?
Thus over quite a few years it seems increases in comfort, ease of driving and higher levels of quality in terms of trim became the priorities of the evolution in the desires of the "average" Morganeer...? All of which seems reasonable to have predicted..?
Of course there will ever be the ...err... Luddites...(-: Those who in varying degrees hold on to their ORIGINAL ideals of that which a REAL Morgan and a real Morganeer should conform to but logically (?) they seem bound to be reducing in number with the passage of time as natural human ageing processes demand.
As for the possible effect on the MARKET in Trads now that the CX format is the way forward for the MMC, I have my doubts that there will be a great many young folk interested in old cars, let alone those that seem to involve very old technology, and for the 90`s on Trads that are dependant on digital technology and related spares... hmm..?
Then regardless of Trad or CX, the climate change pressures and the way they might evolve, I leave that to your imagination as to the effect on the ability to run ICE cars of many generations and the processes that may be constructed to determine those that may require to be scrappe...err..recycled, and the many and varied ways such processes might evolve relative to ever changing regulatory processes...? Thus I suspect "investment potential" in any ICE vehicle let alone those with large powerful engines, or those with zero in the way of emission controls, may be more of a risk than they have been since the last banking crash after which it seems "Classic" cars were thought of as a better investment for the man in the street and others than money in the bank, given the low interest rates that have prevailed since then...Hmm..?
