Talk Morgan Forums Community The Malvern Arms Morgan 100 Years plus , what do you love?

I think even andy and i only expect a aero to be leak proof from spray and rain, not river proof.

Im less worried about small leaks im more worried about the other things which make it possibly dangerous or more half finished (davew and hook's points)

Maybe Graham should buy a convertible. My daughter (TM regulars will recall) has had a BMW MINI convertible since the end of September, and despite the car being parked outside in Exeter through the constant downpour of this autumn and winter, and having been driven 9 hours back home last Saturday through a deluge of biblical proportions, she has yet to experience even mild dampness in it.

HOWEVER, it has to be said that BMW's development budget for the hood of the MINI convertible was probably more than the entire development budget for the M3W. When you consider that Aero production numbers for each version has only been in the hundreds, and that they are already pricey, it's clear that there is a limit to how much can be spent on development. I do accept that for cars in the price range of the Aero, customers will invariably compare them with Porsche, high end BMW, Mercedes and so on, and that when you've shelled out that sort of cash, it just seems wrong that the roof should leak. This is the risk a manufacturer runs by going upmarket - it certainly did for TVR and has done twice for Lotus; when cars are cheap(ish) and make you smile, it's far easier to be a bit forgiving.

Maybe the way forward for the aero range would be for Malvern to engineer them so that they fit the hood from a mass market car (the BMW Z4 for example) seeing as they're already supplying the engines.

I'm a bit confused here regarding comments about the Aero leaking......are we talking about the Super Sports with its targa roof panels or the Aero 8? If the latter....how can you expect the company to make improvements when the car is no longer in production?

I'd be a tad annoyed if I'd bought a new Plus 8 and found the roof leaking although if I were to spend in excess of £80k I'd certainly be test driving it in heavy rain before placing an order. I expected the 9 stud very traditional hoods to leak a little...you only have to take one look at them to realise that they would...and mine certainly did! I ended up getting paranoid over getting the interior wet and had an Allon White hood fitted. That has survived several torrential rainstorms and never leaked a drop. Ironically...driving back home from the Le Mans Classic I was caught out a couple of times with the roof down and some heavy rain and nowhere to stop to put it up. I then realised that a). most of the rain missed the interior and b). it was all part of the fun of owning a traditional Morgan.

Even £45k which is way above national average income, after deducting tax & NI and after living expenses would not leave much for a mog fund.

Take a while to get to Aero money.

Most Aero owners seem to have cash cow businesses plus Starbucks trained accountants (you know who you are!)

In any event to spend £70k or more on a car personally, I would need own house, no debts, no future upsizing, £300k bare minimum invested plus good income stream and adequate kids education fund.

If this was uploaded to Talk MX5 they would probably be shocked at the disposable income allocated to cars. (Bet MX5s don't leak, but not swapping!)

Regards Captain Sensible.

Make sure you keep the water drains in front of the windscreen clear Giles (bit like keeping those on MX-5s and Boxters, to name just two, clear).

yeah but not all of us are as sensible as you Dave!

The other thing in mind is that if your a bit nutty like me then its more a case of reallocating existing cost, already have cars at each flat/house and spend £20-25k a year on flights and taxi's in europe. So moving money to a Mog fund is possible if the Mog can do the travel.

As a MX5 owner for a number of years - no they don't leak, they are reliable, comfortable and affordable - but bl***y boring compared with a Morgan.
My Roadster roof has never leaked, even after the downpour at Berrybrook last weekend which was pretty severe. So perhaps problems are down to build tolerances and probably a little bit of luck

Neil

For those of us also from Manufacturing Backgrounds (Fashion myself - 450 New Styles Every Season, Twice a year, with Salesmans Samples to be made during Bulk Production Runs)

I have nothing but praise for the advances made under Charles Morgan's watch in a business which could be said to be somewhat 'Trapped' by Customers Expectations & Tradition.

Outsourcing Parts, for example, to optimise New Technology without the Prohibitive Cost of owning the Equipment while needing to be as Flexible as their own internal Hand Crafting People.

Developing the Chassis used for the Aero Range was a Big Risk to take and who are we to debate if it has been a Financial Success or not. It has allowed production of some Beautiful Cars.

Like the New Trike, it is moving the Business forward and extending the overall business capability.

Pushing the Price Boundary upwards (recommended by Sir JHJ in 1990) makes good sense as long as it does not begin to cause reduced sales and hopefully, is increasing the Nett Margins earned and not being done to carry the cost of growing inefficiency.

The Purists may not like the idea but with such a Labour Intensive Process at Morgan there is still plenty of scope to further rationalise production methods without losing the 'Morgan Feel & Look' should Lack of Skills or Prohibitive Production Costs demand it.

Roof Leaks (if you are unfortunate enough to have and worry about them) are more about hand crafting variables than 'sloppy workmanship'. Did you never have a button fall off?

Indeed. Had MMC not put the M3W into production, the outlook would be looking far less rosy right now. I consider it's introduction to be a very astute decision, as it has opened up (as did the Aero) the marque to a new (and younger) demographic. As Frank rightly points out, the outsourcing of parts of the manufacturing process adds flexibility and enables them to meet the high demand in the aftermath of the launch; some of these processes they can bring in-house at a later stage if needs be when demand settles down.

Am I mad,
I recall reading Culminator's post last year about changing his Colin Musgrave Plus 8 for a Series 1 Aero. He progressed in Morganeering and I wanted to follow. All sorts of motivations, bigger engine, better sound, faster car, wild horses would not get in the way of this dream. Some months later into Culminators ownership, he posted images of leaks and rain streaming down the inside of his new Aero. Perhaps a sane person might have been put off by this episode, avoid those cars and stick with what you have.
So it was a year later when my chance came up I set off on a 600 mile round trip to change to a series 1 Aero, I had not forgotten the incident or considered it a problem I just travelled with 4 bath towels. My neighbours and friends think I'm mad and I'm not sure.