As I have typed, perhaps too often, I bought into the idea of a Morgan foibles and all, as a substitute for a vintage Bentley, Aston or the like, fettling being my way of keeping costs to a minimum while also providing a degree of involvement that had been the norm with all my sports cars up till then. My previous sporting car had been an air cooled 911 of 80`s vintage, and I would suggest that driving it was a rather involving experience, though the later air cooled 911`s perhaps a little less so...?
Seems to me that modern sports cars with excesses of horse power which seems to require all sorts of digitally controlled decision making and activation to keep them out of the hedges, may have the potential get from A to B more rapidly, which may be where the confusion in evaluation creeps in, given us more err mature motorists, formerly equated fast with best, though those of us who have had the benefit of taking to the water under sail, already know the value can be in the journey and our enjoyment in it, as opposed to outright speed and early arrival...?
As a full time fettler of one kind or another, I gave up doing any work on my good lady`s cars when she bought her first Digital Mini Cooper, circa Y2K, and have to admit that today an element of challenge has crept into maintaining the old +8 much as it has to other tasks around the place, I guess it is just an age of man thing.. (-:
I had no real desire for a machine that looks like a Morgan and that has all the accoutrements expected of a F Type or 992 with Auto everything. For me a preferred Morgan is still a Trad, though I also accept that probably from day one folk converted their original V twin Morgans to more suit their personal preferences , be it converted to a small trades van or to suit more sporting needs, a process that carries on today but I suspect to a far lesser degree. As society evolved I suspect Morgan buyers preferences moved with the times and continually so. Today, I suspect most long term Morganeers may be of an age where a bit more comfort than even a modified Trad might be able to provide may be desired..?
I guess there will ever be fettlers by their very nature, but to fettle a Modern Morgan takes a different skills set, perhaps more suited to those in their 50`s more than those in their 70`s and beyond, more recent Morganeers perhaps less happy replacing king pins and greasing suspension and more into plugging up a PC to interrogate hardware or software issues, which is great for the MMC.
As for the mature Morganeers, I suspect they will be more than happy with the CX platform and the comforts it provides along with auto gear selection, though I suspect the younger prospective Morgan buyer might also expect all the auto control designs to be found in modern high performance machinery and may well be taken surprise to find themselves parked up in a hedge given the expected "stability" control does not exist..?
Me..? I would be back in a 90`s Porsche by now were it not for the tie between My Morgan and I. When I drove the new 993 as it was at the time, I thought in the process of seeking to make it a gentleman`s express and meet all the required safety and emission regs, it had become too comfortable and lost a degree of the all important driver involvement which along with it`s build quality was that which had initially attracted this former m/cyclist to the marque in the first place. Ultimately the then new Porsche had me go off in search of more involvement at lesser speeds than one might be inclined to drive at in order to feel really involved in controlling the 993...? For me the obvious answer to service my desires found me smiling from ear to ear and sitting in Kevin`s +8, I never even drove it before I agreed to buy it...(-:
Today, yeah well I am eighteen years older a tad more rotund, stiff of joint and popping prescribed pills, thus logically the Morgan takes a bit more effort to be enjoyed as it once was, and truth be told the restrictions that have crept in over the years causing me to contemplate the possibility that a 964 or 993 might be more suitable for the old codger I have become than it was twenty or so years back. I am not enamoured by Porsche`s early attempts at water cooling their failure rate of circa 3% is off putting which is unlikely to improve with age, thus the 997.2 is a possible sweet spot, jeez even the auto-box might be more desirable now that the family bus has been auto-box equipped for quite a few years now...Hmm..?
The old +8 still sits in the garage... and after our pootle round the Trossachs on Sunday last, it seems it is unlikely to be going anywhere soon, even if it just becomes more of a garage queen than it has been for some time now...
Each to their own priorities, though mine do not include a CX Morgan.
