Originally Posted by Luddite
Originally Posted by +8Rich
Thank you Heinz, over the years on here I really feel that you too are a purist in the way you appreciate the foibles of our cars and adjust driver input accordingly, in many ways to me this is the challenge to get the very best from what the car has to offer rather than change everything out to make it feel better suited to Audi V10 handling characteristics formidable as they might be.

I have always been a believer in buying the car you actually want and not the one you wished it was as I believe this is totally illogical and expensive (Button had a like mind).

Reading the "real world" driving reports on here not the journalists they are merely paid to spew out words not get involved in the experience, some of the driver experiences on here have been very illuminating and the Plus Six is I believe for very few people that possess the talent to keep it on the road, certainly not me.

The Plus Four sounds like the sweet spot with the autobox but it really isn't the car I'm after I've realised, I really enjoy the old fashioned qualities of our traditionals now more than ever and as you rightly point out they have ceased production I don't think you and I will be unique in our thinking that we will hang onto our bits of delightful history.

As in most things it's always worth reminding yourself what you fell in love with all those years ago smile


Interesting thinking Richard. I suspect in my later years I too might be identified as someone who values a degree of originality in my vehicular prioritisation, though would not like to be thought of a purist fundamentalist or one of the faithful, as that hints at the sort of blind faith that risks creating a sect of blinker wearing believers, whereas I would like to think I might be a tad more open to alternatives..I have ever been somewhat of a CARsonova..(-: BTW quite fancy your lovely +8, those centre lock wheels look very attractive...(-:

As for the mad modifiers... Boy did I take stick over the years on eMog, for promoting the idea of ORIGINALITY as THE DATUM point in determining that which might be considered as a Morgan, as opposed to an individuals idea of the many and varied ways that a Morgan might be improved upon..? Given the vintage design and construction methods, how hard is it likely to be to "improve" of such rudimentary design..? I given automotive engineering had advanced considerably, whereas Morgan seemed to remain rooted in the past as much as legislation allowed... I guess that simplicity is that which attracted so many to think they could so easily improve upon this or that aspect of a Morgan to more suit their personal ideals..?

In the early days of eMog, as best my memory serves, Bill Button was ever experimenting with modifications of one type or another, some of them seemed a tad mad-cap, like his thinking on an electric handbrake which he fashioned to fit on his Morgan, but Button as he seemed to prefer to be called, appeared to pass a lot of time messing about with his Morgan projects, but then he was retired and spent a lot of time sharing his thinking and fondness for all things Morgan related on eMog.

Richard, that which you interpreted in terms of Button`s thinking differed from my own, though I lost contact with he and all the other former eMoggers, as the result of growing demands of all my time and efforts requiring to be directed towards my self build home improvements project that grew and grew and as such, took somewhat longer than ever imagined to complete, well as much as any self-build is ever completed...sigh..! I have no doubt that you will have made an accurate assessment of Button`s thinking as it may have evolved to become in later years Richard.

As a once mad modifier myself in my formative mechanical years, messing with 11:1 compression ratio pistons on an old Triumph m/cycle and grinding crank-cases on my Norton to fit an ever higher lift polydyne camshaft, I sure knew how to create a ride to work m/cycle that roared like a randy bull, drank fuel, was a PIG in traffic, had zero ability to idle and produced next to no power until it arrived on or near enough the very the top of the rev range.... I carried that type of nonsense on into my first car, a Mk1 (Frog-eye) Healy Sprite..double DUH!! My dear old Uncle, a former m/cycle racer, on sensing my youthful frustration with aspects of that which I had created, suggested that if I wanted a high performance machine, best to buy a machine that was originally designed for that precise purpose.... I bought a Lotus Elan.... and boy it did not take too long to learn that old uncle James one wise individual...(-:

Sorry, I drifted off a tad there as ever.. (-: As I have typed perhaps too often, I came to Morgan ownership in search of a vintage motoring experience and one which provided more than enough performance to keep up with modern traffic, that I had to grease suspension added to the sense of connection the vintage aspects of that which are to be found in a Trad Morgan..

As the result of my promotion of the value that might be found in a degree of ORIGINALITY while on eMog, it seemed only fair to point out that MY Morgan was not "original," As Kevin had fitted the rear hoop and Koni tubular shocker arrangement that was very much in Vogue at the time he rebuilt the old thing, thus my Morgan is like so very many others... MODIFIED...and thus not entirely original, though it seems to have lasted rather well in the 18 years or so I have owned it since Kevin rebuilt it, at the time incorporating even more care and attention to detail in terms of fittings and finishes, than one might expect to find in a truly ORIGINAL Morgan +8 and one which has never ever caused it`s rad to spit out water, perhaps as, it`s engine was kept in "original" state of tune which even in the HEAT of a traffic jam in Naples kept it`s cool, even if the driver and passenger were close to melting...(-:

Just thinking in type as ever...
oldgit hide

As ever very interesting thoughts George from your very varied motoring career and it's clear you have had some lovely toys in the cupboard over the years allied to the talent to seriously modify them as well, placing you in a very good position to pass comments on lots of things on 2 and 4 wheels and I also find it interesting that the purity of the traditional Morgan experience is a priority with you and reassuring.

It is in the nature of some people to forever be tinkering with things but if it ain't broke leave well alone I want the experience of driving more than polishing, once a year is more than adequate for me and I hate add on's and stuck on bits.

I've had my share of building kit cars and swapping small engines for bigger one's etc but you grow out of that and want something with reliable performance in the end is my experience but with the raw experience preserved and that is exactly what Peter Morgan and Mr Owen produced in the little tin shack all those years ago.

Very interesting to hear the opposition to keeping it real on emog and a little surprising.

Button was a great engineer and innovator but he liked the purity too and rather interestingly when he advised young Tom on here about speccing his new car he said get whatever you want on it at the factory don't keep adding bits and pieces afterwards, after all his years experience this has to be the best advise.

Keep her for a while George and plan a couple of trips for late summer.

Heather's Polo is a hoot to drive with192 bhp on tap and all the aids you need to keep it on the road and in the right mood with the need to get somewhere fast it takes some beating, visceral it's not and that's the whole point of a Plus 8 you feel it, you hear it and you smell it thumbs

2009 4/4 Henrietta
1999 Indigo Blue +8
2009 4/4 Sport Green prev
1993 Connaught Green +8 prev