Talk Morgan Forums Community Welcome Forum 'Ello from California!

Gregory

Welcome to Talk Morgan and I do like your XJS
I will leave the more technically competent members of the site to answer your specific questions; but my experience of ownership has been good. (8 years and 30,000+ miles)

Bud
__________
2003 - 4/4

Welcome

We have owners who drive their cars daily; however, even in sunnier climes, I think you'd find it tiring to use a Morgan day in and day out in all weather conditions. Could you do it, absolutely; would you want to is another question!

Some of us use our Morgan as a daily drive even when it is raining hard, freezing, snowing whatever. That is what is is for!!

Indeed, day or night, what is a hood? (US: Convertible lid).

Welcome to TM and be happy tahat you found the thrill with this brand in your early age. Yiur Jag looks fabolous and is very sought after in Sweden. Had my firdt MOG, a 1959 +4 for 28 years, but now it is a 2004 Roadster.
Ken in Sweden

Welcome to TM I also reasonably new to site as well, however I purchased a new 2012 Roadster arrived here in NZ Dec last year. Has the 3.7 ford mustang motor and believe me it is quick. Very much a fun car to drive. For me not a daily driver but try to get out in it as often as possible. enjoy the site. Randall New Zealand

ISIS did a +8 a few year ago with an American V8 engine what a beastie it was . Now you have a perfect reason to visit .

Thanks again for the replies, folks, and for the compliments regarding the XJS! I purchased it about ten weeks ago and have already put nearly 5,000 miles on it - about half commuting, half tootling around. It's currently got 153,500 miles on the odometer. The engine CPU needs to be replaced to fix an idle issue that it has, and it's just that sort of a fuss that I dislike about modern automobiles. I can competently rebuild a carburetor (albeit with a bit of my dad's tools and his occasional glance) but I think that brazing alloy circuits on a CPU will remain beyond my scope...

Steve, thank you for the succinct explanation on the various 'phases' of Morgan cars to date. I was partially aware of the distinctions based on this forum's layout, but it's nice to see it put so. I'd have to say that despite my interest in a newer Morgan roadster, if they do have lots of little CPUs and such (which I imagine they do) then the '60s-'70s model Morgans seem to be what I'm after... Something I can get underneath and understand, and confidently pull apart if need be.

Simon, Dave, et al, thanks for chiming in about daily driving! I'm a big fan of roadsters (onto my second now, as can be seen), but I'm always a bit concerned about using mine in harsh weather; here in Central California we don't see much more than a dozen days of rain per year, with intermittent sprinkling in the Spring and Fall, so it's not so big a deal. Whether or not I'll be here in a few years is a different question!

Another thing that comes up as a concern is leg room. I'm 6'1" tall with a 34" inseam, and one thing I've thoroughly enjoyed about my XJSs' is that both had plenty of leg room for me as long as the seat was in its proper place (i.e. all the way back). I've been reading remarks on various reviews and here on the forum about Morgans positioning the drivers "close to the steering wheel" or "lacking leg room" (sans in the case of the newer Aero models and the Plus 8). Might this be an issue that comes between me and my dream? I love long-distance drives - say several hundred miles per day - and absolutely require comfortable space inside of my rides. Despite that, I also enjoy the feeling that I'm sitting in a cockpit-like space, and like having everything clustered very close to me. It's a bit of a paradox.

And it does sound like I'll have to visit Isis! I just saw the Corvette block/tranny conversion they do on their site this morning... Very nifty, and quite in line with many of my concerns for practicality. A 350/350 in a Jag (as mine was) seemed a bit contrived, but since Morgan has always borrowed blocks from other makers the concern is extinguished!

Thanks again, VERY much! I've been participating in forums for various subjects for over a decade and have never had such a warm welcome into a community, nor so much earnest feedback to my initial queries. Cheers!

- Gregory

Welcome Gregory - good looking Big Cat!
Bit of a fan of the XJS and XK8 meself (but own neither).

Enjoy the forum (and your visit to Isis)

A warm welcome to TM Gregory - that's one handsome Big Cat you got there.