Talk Morgan Forums Community The Malvern Arms Ignorant Car Review of Roadster

True, but that's not as big a problem as those who don't know their arse from their elbow. The author of that "review" for example.......

I'm probably......VERY probably in a minority here!

I thought the review to be quite reasonable when you consider that its all aimed at readers who more than likely have mainstream tastes. The suspension is crashy...lets be honest here...how many on this forum have complained about it and want Morgan to introduce more modern suspension? Compared to a "modern" car, the steering does feel differently weighted and ergonomics....how many of us have complained about dashboard design, poor indicator stalks, cramped cockpits?

We are all Morgan fans...we accept a lot of this as character.....others don't get it.

The reviewer is a blinkered numpty or at least he certainly seems to be doing his best attempted to channel that spirit in the review

That said, MSN is very US-centric and therefore, Morgans are less known to the main audience. This should have meant the journo took the time to understand the history of the car and where it sits within the market place. To review a car, IMHO, you need to appreciate what segment it is aimed at.

To my mind, Morgans sit very well with people who would love to own a classic but don't want much/all of the hassle of a vintage car, owners who want something different to the run of the mill sporting cabs (MX-5, used Boxster, CLK, etc) and appreciate the different will mean some compromise and lastly, previous owners, who know all of the above and couldn't imagine owning anything else. There are other groups but pre-coffee and just typing as I think, those are the key groups that spring to mind.

Lastly, IMHO he is comparing the Morgan to other cars in the wrong segment and therefore his Apples vs Oranges comparison has effected his perception of how he should judge the Morgan. Add to this a lack of understanding about the essence of the car and what owners want and you simply end up with a poor, uneducated, review.

Classic Morgans are unlikely to ever fare well in a test comparison when the reviewer is making an objective comparison with a modern mass produced vehicle.

The only way it is likely to receive a favourable review is if the tester is able to understand and factor in the unique Morgan proposition which we all buy into.

The M3W is so unique, eccentric, wacky, left field whatever you want to call it, that it seems to avoid these direct comparisons and often receives great reviews.

Everyone is entitled to their opinion but that works both ways. My opinion of him is that he is a tw@t.

If his "professional deliberations" are left to guide the industry we will all be in s Nissan Leaf 1100 spin-speed in domestic consumer goods white with the most amazing technical capabilities. The great thing is they won't be.

We have Lexus, Toyota and others and a cast of many not mentioned. God protect individual free will from lightweights.

The problem with the web is that people like me are given a voice and so that makes us feel important. As if someone was going to take my opinion as accurate.

I rue the day Wiki becomes the authority for society. I do welcome it generally but it has the same issue. "who made you god ?"

[quote=Jays]I'm probably......VERY probably in a minority here! [quote]

Maybe but you arent alone.

I wondered a while whether to reply to this thread. I am not a Morgan owner though I very much like the community on here. I dont want to offend the Morgan tifiosi and become persona non grata. But it seemed to me that the review was reasonably balanced and certainly not the slagging off that some of you suggest it was. The unwillingness to accept reasonable criticism of a Morgan from a mainstream non Morgan fanatic journo is a bit silly really. It's almost as if someone had said " your wife has a big bum" - personal affront.

Morgan lovers like the trad because it is - trad. What it says on the tin, so to speak. It still uses primitive front suspension and a separate chassis. But thats why you like it. However motoring technology has moved on by leaps and bounds and the latest mass produced sports cars are streets ahead by comparison in real world useability, and performance. Doesnt matter a jot to you enthusiasts but that does not mean that the difference doesnt exist. It just means that your tastes are different.

I'm not sure it's 'reasonably balanced' to call it the most disappointing car of 2012.

Some of us here probably have a lot more experience of owning a wide range of cars than the hack who wrote the article - so our view could be arguably more balanced based on real world ownership.

I have run newspapers and magazines, journos get a car for a few hours and often have the piece already fleshed out before they've turned the ignition key! In this case, the writer will never own a Morgan, and makes it plain he doesn't understand the marque.

Each to their own I guess, but I don't like seeing the car described as the most disappointing car of the year.... That's nonsense. Unlike the writer, I have a 200mph supercar parked next to my Morgan - I prefer driving the Morgan and am not at all disappointed in it.

Rant over.

Sadly, in a lot of cases, not necessarily for the better...

There's a difference between a bad car and a car not aimed at you, though.

A trad isn't for everyone but that doesn't make it a bad car, nor do I see how it can be a disappointment because it is transparent in what it does and is marketed quite specifically.

I have mentioned this before but it would be much more disappointing if a manufacturer claimed to launch a new eco-friendly car for everyone that returned 70 mpg combined but in fact delivered half of what's stated.

So from that POV I do find it an ignorant review.

That would be fair enough - but the review really is astonishingly ignorant because the writer fails to understand the genetic DNA of the car (which ought to be well known to any motoring journalist worth his salt) and instead blames the Mog's famous characteristics on bad planning and shoddy design. He then claims this as the “biggest disapointment” of the year - as if he has been sitting around the past year eagerly expecting something completely different.