The secret to a good handling Morgan that retains decent ride quality isn't actually a secret at all, because it really isn't any different to giving any other car well performing suspension, start with quality springs then be sure to pair them with quality well matched damping, and if the car is burdened with a solid axle a correctly installed Panhard rod or better still a Watt's linkage will only deliver further benefits.
I cannot agree. But after I explain why, I think that someone with your acumen will understand.
ALL cars today are built on rigid frames..Morgan went to considerable lengths and added millions in cost with the Aero and CX lines to achieve that.
Yet everything else they have made from 1909 to 2019 had a flexing frame, which used to be a characteristic of vintage cars. As a frame flexes, it becomes,an important part of the suspension, the handling, the car's elan. It immediately charms every new driving
or dismays them if the car has not been sorted properly. The frame is affected by all sorts of things, from the way they stack them at the Factory, to the equipment it is finally fit with, to how it is stored and by driver's style over time. After a short time, no two trads are alike or even as it was a decade ago. Each has to be fettled individually and continually.
When it is tweaked perfectly, a trad is deliciously sensuous, an experience that cannot be duplicated by modern vehicles. Sadly, most designers and after-marketeers these days have been trained to design for stiff frame vehicles. That allows to wrongly promise that one size fits all.
One example is the rear suspension we are speaking of.
One should avoid focusing forces at a single point with a vehicle with a flexing frame. It is infinitely wiser to spread those forces along the frame with a fine set of leaf springs. As you suggested, leaf springs are capable of far greater sophistication and design than coil springs. Problem is, coils springs took over the industry. That is why I am interested in BBC. Not because of his "anti-tramp" leaf springs but because of his enthusiasm and quality
L.
