As a matter of interest, have MMC added this as standard on any of their models? If so, which ones and when was this safety feature added?
As Morgans became non-compliant in many countries in 1971, structural improvements became a must for their importation. However, Mr. Peter Morgan would not get involved in non-UK compliancy so the Agents in other countries who remained became federally licensed as auto manufacturers in their own right!
These Agent/manufacturers would disassemble the Factory Morgans on arrival, and alter them to pass their more stringent safety tests. (In the case of the US only, there was also an issue with emissions.)
The only thing sure about world safety standards is that they all go in the same direction. What happens in North America and Australia and New Zealand simply happens earlier. Because of that, most of these Agents' modifications have been taken over by Factory since, and are now installed as stock and keep all trads on the road this day.
The under scuttle roll bar is a 1970's creation of Bill Fink, the Morgan icon in the United States. The idea was to provide a cabin roll safety area, serve as a protection for side impacts and act as an anchor for reinforced doors. The door hinges are bolted into the roll bar rather than a wooden post.
By the 80s, UK racers started using them as it was found that they steady the handling remarkably. At that point, the Factory began offering them as an option for everyone and a standard for cars exported overseas..either downunder or west. They became a stock for ALL trads a few years ago.
Having been rear-ended quite severely, I can attest that they act as life-safers, especially when fitted with the barred doors and their hinge assembly.
The company producing pre-1997 under scuttle roll bars is Safety Devices in the UK. They do not do a post-1997 version (or at least not when I talked to them a couple of years ago). The post-1997 versions have to account for the lack of under scuttle space in the long door models and are shaped differently.
Lorne
