This has been an interesting exchange to read, etc..Hmm..?
Has anyone read all this? Could they please provide a synopsis?
I might miss a lot of it think he has two main points.
1, There are two types of Morgan owners, the first is the current owners who have grown up with old cars and happy to maintain them, they find a Morgan fun to work on and fettle. Others who owned company cars that were financed and serviced as part of a package and while they might have worked on a car at 17 have not touched a spanner for 30 years, these people think once I retire and not tied to the company's car plan I will get a Morgan and that has often been a life long dream. Many of these are rather disappointed in the fettling required to get a Morgan to what they want and maintain it plus after years of nice company cars find a Morgan a bit too basic and uncomfortable for their now old retired body. The reality is not living up to the life long dream they had.
2. Classic cars have gone up heaps over the years and the investors are trying to convince us they will keep doing so. However there are two things that will start dropping the price, the first being the changing demographic of collectors, I agree that the 20 year old's of today given the funds would probably rather buy a 1990's Nissan GTR R32 as a classic car than an E-type Jaguar. That is saying that given no change to legislation and petrol availability etc. there will be a change in what is desirable and a good Nissan GTR could be worth more than an E-type just based on the age of the collectors and what they want. Morgans could fall into the same boat, younger people more comfortable with modern cars might not like the Trad Morgans as much and eventually they might drop in popularity. The second being legislation changes and electric cars forcing ICE cars off the road which I agree could be possible in which case the price of the remaining Trad's will start to drop.
I agree with both points.
Regarding the first point. My view firstly is that Morgans have increased in cost significantly compared to other cars which doesn't help the newly retired person to decide it is still their dream.and they should go ahead and fulfill it.or not. Assuming the dream was created in 1980 using Australia as an example it was possible to buy a new Morgan for the price of a Ford Falcon. So at the age of 20 in the 1970's/1980's it would seem quite sensible to plan to order a Morgan 5 years before retirement and replace the boring family car with it as you will have paid off your house, kids moved out so not need 4 doors and seats etc. or to drive to work every day. Fast forward to 2020 and retirement age and the good news is you don't have to wait 5 years any more but the bad news is a new Morgan is over 4 times the cost of the boring family car and while the quality of the Morgan has improved the improvements and features in cheap cars has been amazing in comparison. My second thought is that in 1980 at 20 you thought a Morgan as a retirement car would be perfect but in 2020 at 60 with less flexibility and maybe a larger waist, driving automatics for 30 years (the average person,not me as I have always had manuals), more speed bumps and traffic on the road, old Parents who can't drive and need taking to specialists etc. Grandchildren on the way etc. maybe the Morgan is not such a perfect retirement purchase after all. Add that to the difference in cost to a standard car and it is not as easy to justify buying.
The second point is interesting, if you assume Luddite is correct and with time classic cars will start to drop in price probably bringing the Trad's down with them then there are two options, 1. Enjoy a car you like now and accept you could lose a lot of money, 2. sell any cars you have and buy the cheapest nearly new car that suits your needs to try have the least amount of capital tied up in motoring in this time of change.
I think that the new Plus 4 is a great car but whether it is any easier to justify as a retirement present to yourself is hard to tell. Yes it will be easier to live with but it also costs a lot more so even harder to justify with man maths.
