Talk Morgan Forums Morgan Sports Cars Classic Morgans (pre-CX) Just ordered a 4/4 Sport !!

Wise words when a man has a gun trained on you.

Well, according to Rowan Atkinson, the kind of bloke you want alongside you in the trenches is a Morgan owner. Your pic would suggest this to be the case.

Mind you, they (Morgan owners) are not all the decent chaps they're made out to be. Coming out of Allon Whites last year following my first test-drive, I nearly got run down by a Morgan driven by that Gary Bushell TV critic bloke who everyone hates!

Bloody put me off owning one for weeks, that did.....

Still waiting to see if the press are about when J Ross hits a motorway with his roof 'folded' as it was in the recent picture.... Instant 'brake parachute' I suspect! (I learnt to fold mine properly after the photo above was taken, before anyone starts!).

Gary is probably following the 'Cad and a Bounder' Terry Thomas persona during his ownership - "Smithers, hop out and give that chap a jolly good thrashing"

I didn't know the 'overpaid one' had a Morgan. Having just seen the pics, he clearly hasn't had the car long. At least the bugger's got one though! I haven't even ordered mine yet (still amassing the dosh for the deposit - not long now!).

Any clumsiness exhibited by 'Wossie' will be as nothing compared to my performance when I finally get my car. I'm built like a shot-putter (cos I are one, innit) which means I'm 6ft 4in and 20 stone!

And here's where I ask for some advice. How feasible is it for me to have some personal input into how the car is built? What I'm thinking about is maybe talking to the relevant blokes in the factory with a view to them building me a 'big fat bastard' car. Has anyone ever done this?

Mark

Why not go to the factory and have the full guided trip? Worth it for any petrol head anyway, and since they are all hand-built, see if you can get 'measured up' for the car! And you can see each stage as the cars are built. Failing that, pay for postage and you can borrow the photo build record of mine - a +4, but probably pretty similar?

Yeah, I had the factory tour last year and it was brilliant. Watching the bloke dressing the edges of the hole where the spare wheel goes was really fascinating. He used a planishing hammer (I think) to get the edges right and you couldn't see the hammer marks; a true craftsman. Shame I won't need his services on my car!

I've emailed the factory about being measured up and I've now got my fingers crossed waiting for the reply.

Next, I've go to suss out how the missus will be able to drive it.....

I just had a good laugh. MMC told me that I shouldn't need to be measured up for the car as they made them all to be the same size.

Last year, when I tested a few (brand new) Morgans and sat in a good few more, there were some cars I fitted in perfectly, some where my head made a fetching bulge in the hood and one which I couldn't get in at all! I even took my shoes and jacket off but still no joy. I only hope the Swiss bloke it was intended for was a small bloke otherwise he was going to take delivery of a rather nice roadside ornament.

Mark,

You won't need to be 'fitted' for the car but two things you may want to pursue are: 1) test the different seat options. You will fit differently in cars that have reclining seats (adjustable backs) to ones that do not and (2) you may want to ask the factory to put less padding in the driver's seat.

If you're tall, this is a good idea, otherwise your head will sit proud of the windscreen.

The factory will be happy to entertain this if you ask them when you spec your car.

Thanks for that Simon. The problem is that the 4/4 Sport only comes with reclinable seats. I'm guessing that, because of the runners, they'll make me sit higher. Luckily I lost my hair at a fairly early age so it won't be too much of a problem in the barnet department.

I'll definitely try and get the factory to remove some seat padding when the time comes though. However it does occur to me that it may be a waste of time to go through official channels. Better maybe to arrange a factory visit and have a quiet word with the bloke who does the seats (ascertaining what he likes to drink at the same time: mind you, with my luck he's probably bloody teetotal!)

I took delivery of my 4/4/Sport on January 2nd 2009. She was collected from the factory along with 21 other Morgans as the first event in the centenary year. No regrets at all, the car is fantastic and superb value at £26.5k. remember you can pay £22,000 for a VW Golf, and a top of the range Ford Focus is £24k - but after 3 years they will have lost 2/3 of their value
Dennis J Duggan, Wales