So where do you place the various 3 wheelers that are similar to the Morgan? It is true that they are not the same as the Morgan but certainly some have been inspired by the original Morgan 3 wheelers. I never understood why Pete Larson was talking to Morgan about a licence (so the story goes) when the Liberty Ace was not a replica and really the only thing in common is that they both had 3 wheels.

It is true that the Suffolk cars are replicas and are touted as such but they are not being passed of as originals. I immagine that it would be easy enough to engineer in some slight differences to be able to say it was "inspired by" instead of a replica of the Jaguar. Most, if not all, of their cars use more modern suspension and steering and all of them use many original Jaguar components; engines, gearboxes, diffs, etc. Probably where they run into difficulty is with a car like the C Type where they (according to the Suffolk Web site) actually copied the C Type bodywork.

It all makes my wonder where the Frontline MGs stand. Probably they are OK because they are rebuilding cars based on the original chassis and adding new components just as any workshop could do for private individuals. No doubt no one could complain if Suffolk re-built a crashed or poor condition original C Type.

The big question is at what point does an object become "inspired by" instead of a "copy of" or a "replica" of the original?

Peter

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