"Mystery Morgan Buyer: Travels Furthest, Pays Most"Back in my early Motor Trade career, in the 70's - when the closest I came to a Morgan was much furtive daydreaming, accompanied by frequent scrabbling through the pages of Autocar, Motor Sport and the classified sections of the Sunday papers - this advert was always there: week in, week out.
Who was this enigmatic character, I wondered? Could he
really pay the crazy prices that these objects of desire commanded,
and make a living at it?
Many a time I would find advertised a 4/4, Plus Four, or maybe even an exalted Plus Eight; clock the price, and then leaf through the New Prices section of my Glass's Guide to find the equivalent "list" figure. Wonder of wonders: could these things
really be worth several £000's more than some blessed individual had paid for them - often 2, 3 or more years before? It made the dream of Morgan ownership even more tantalising ... and the prospect even more remote.
I'd missed my chance some years before, when a young guy came in one day with a shuddering wreck of a Plus Four from the Sixties - held together with string and chewing gum, wanting to trade it in for something utterly mundane. Its wings were shattered; its floor rotten. The engine smoked, and the Moss gearbox contained some gears - but where they were, and in what order, was a mystery. And I wanted it so badly, I could have wept (I still have the Profile Publications Morgan Plus Four leaflet I rushed out and bought, in my excitement, priced 3/-). He couldn't afford to keep its body and soul together any longer. Sadly - neither could I - so the chance passed me by.
So ... now that there's a Morgan in my garage at last, and the myth and mystery that I felt back then have dispelled somewhat ... I'm wondering: does anyone remember the Mystery Morgan Buyer - and even more intriguing - does anyone know who he was?
