for the sheer pleasure of motoring and hands-on enjoyment of repair and restoration of my sports cars over many years, I had spent perhaps two decades or more in air cooled Porsche ownership, the last of which was an 80`s 911SC, and no slouch. However as I aged , I seemed to become ever more interested in vintage sporting cars of the type I would be unlikely to ever afford... and following a open topped big old 20`s/30`s Bentley being piloted enthusiastically down the side of Loch Tay, skipping, hopping over the bumps and ruts and straight-lining through the bends that was IT... No ticky ticky old Austin Seven would fit the bill for me, but what...? I arrived at a mid 80`s carb fed +8 as a substitute for a real vintage car, a machine which would provide at least a degree of the vintage driving experience while more than able to keep up with modern traffic. Never planned pre purchase, but ended up touring a fair bit of southern Europe in it too, where the benefits of a large relaxed engine paid dividends..
Andy makes some no doubt hard won and very wise and practical pointers well worth considering relative to your intended use of your choice of Morgan or indeed any Classic. The exponential increase in traffic volume in the last decade or more can restrict the enjoyment of old cars in varying degrees, though living in Scotland`s SW the hope is that you have your own favourite routes planned to pootle along on a lovely sunny day.. What`s more to want..?
I bought my Morgan 20 years ago but even then I would on selected days, find myself up at or around dawn, heading out to enjoy my favourite local roads, all be it more for a bit of enthusiastic traffic free driving, and home for breakfast just as the masses were wiping the sleep outa their eyes... (-: Picking the time and place can make all the difference to enjoying older cars, though having typed that I still follow the same process if possible for pure driving enjoyment at any time.
Other than driving enjoyment of Classics, the challenge of repair and restoration can create a great sense of accomplishment and well being, though one has to watch out for OCD creeping in, to the extent that once everything is polished to perfection and exactly as you might wish to have it.... The last thing you might want to do is take it out on the road and chip the paint or dirty the underside... (-:
I think there are a few other reasons that old cars end up in the garage and not enjoyed as imagined, and finding out that it makes too many demands of the driver/passenger can perhaps lead to a lack of use.
In my case and in the 20 years I have owned my Morgan it has perhaps covered 26k miles in my hands, but then taking on an epic self build and the effects of the ageing process (on me) are my only excuses for lack of use.
Whatever you decide I hope it works out as you would hope.
Good luck in your decisions...
