Talk Morgan Forums Community The Malvern Arms Crash Test Dummy?

(Have fun but be careful out there though - you are not immortal. )

This little nugget of advice prompted me to think that I had never considered safety when buying my Plus Four.

Obviously, we never crash our Morgans, but wondered how
they might compare with an "ordinary" car in the unlikely event of a prang.

Obviously, classics are a throw back to earlier times, but unsure with aeros and m3ws.

In the hand book it (ominously?) says that children should not be transported.

So, had a look on the NCAP website under manufacturers and Morgan don't seem to be listed.

I presume they are crash tested - not expecting five stars, but have no idea how safe/unsafe the respective models are.

Maybe they have some kind of crash standard exemption as a low volume manufacturer.

So are they similar to other cars or do we have to accept that as part of the Morgan experience, if we have the misfortune to be T-Boned by a Rangey, we are road kill?

Any info?

Hope I don't set dogmanjack off stressing again, but would be useful to have some knowledge - might make us a bit safer?

Clipper, not sure about NCAP ratings, but may be this clip will set your mind at rest about strength of a Trad in an "event"... can't vouch for the Range Rover (other makes and models are available) T bone though

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WAU6Lv8zPXA&sns=em

This photograph taken several years ago speaks volumes. Yes that's the spare + a bit of frame by the door, hopefully been placed there by plod.

No matter what you are in Luck has to be with you IMHO.



Apologies for scan copy quality.

Thanks MonteZooma - will be watching those kerbs a bit closer from now on.

Don't understand how the passengers were not seriously hurt in that one - it looks none surviveable to me?

It's extracted from Morgan First and Last etc by Gregory Houston Bowden my 1974 copy, I would have thought his research would be accurate as you may know he is a fairly well educated man

My initial reaction was the same though.

The introductory Factory Tour video shows a Trad in a crash test. Pre NCAP but impressive results nonetheless. They also crash tested them in the USA back in the late '60s and they came out well.

I cannot remember all the details but when the factory tested the Classic range at Millbrook, the car did a lot better than vehicle testers expected. A lot of this seems to have been as a result of how well the ash frame absorbed impact energy.

As for a t-bone, well, a lot of that will depend on the size and type of vehicle doing the impact. A small city car would probably not be an issue but an SUV would be another matter all together.

I recall a feature in the paper once on the crash testers. The journalist asked one of the engineers if he didn't find it upsetting destroying Astons, Bentleys and the like, to which he replied that it was only crash testing the Morgans that he found traumatic and wrong.

One of my other cars is a Citroen 2cv. It apparently disturbed my last passenger when at 70mph on the M25 he asked me what the crash protection was like, and I replied deadpan that 'we are the crumple zone for the car behind us'. It has not stopped me from having more than 30 of them.

I accept that the cars are dangerous, and yet because I like driving it I choose to keep driving it anyway, because I enjoy the car for what it is. If a Morgen has passed, or is capable of passing NCAP then great. Thats miles better than my 2cv. However, if someone in an Audi Q7 wants to drive into you fast enough you will die. If you were in a Mercedes S class and the same thing happened you will die.

I accept if you have small kids, then it may be of more concern to you, but I'd say subconciously when you decided to buy your Morgan, it crossed your mind that it might not be the pinnacle of safety. If you are a member of this forum it clearly didn't worry you that much...