Talk Morgan Forums Community The Malvern Arms September MogMag

Come on Peter, I know from your past posts that you enjoy more than the occasional long lunch. Don't know your nocturnal proclivities, but guessing the Michelin guide is never far from hand.

Let's live a little!

Brian

Brian, can you give any more info or clues?
I woke up last night thinking about it. How sad am I ?

Actually Peter, it is a very drivable car, it will cruise at low revs in 5th or 6th gear within legal speed limits. What's nice is it has 911 performance, so if you want to loose a dawdler you can easily and very quickly. The assisted electric power steering is very good at speeds and I believe I can feel it in action at up to about 35-40mp, control and feedback is still very positive though. The gearbox is lovely, changing being smooth and positive, sorry chaps but much nicer than the 3l 5 speed roadster boxes. Mine has 15" wires with 65 profile tyres, so these give a comfortable and forgiving ride. If you wanted a more sporting feel the 16" with lower profile would be the way to go. On the track I am sure it will come into its own, but it is not excessive, I love it so much that I've done 1k miles in 6 weeks of ownership. I would not hesitate to go on long journeys in it. In fact I'm hoping Sue and I will tour Northern Spain next year on holiday in the roadster, and I hope to come down your way the next year. In the wet it is drivable, the power is controllable, and it is stable in the wet when driven sensibly. In my opinion it will eventually go down as one of the great Morgan models, similar to a Plus 8, not that they are not all lovely. When I next see you, you can have a drive and see what you think.

Life is indeed for living and the Michelin Guide is a valuable source of indulgence. But you know, I'd rather spend £400 on a good lunch or two than on "event catered food" whilst looking at some interesting cars... I like eating and driving. Watching food is less enjoyable than watching cars, but the difference isn't massive.

Whatever the Morgan Special Project is I'm looking forward to it, just as much as lunch as Le Gaveroche.

Peter

Brian, as you know I love my new acquisition, I think the engine is a dream, it's great with the 6 speed box, but could see if it was mated to a good modern auto for a GT car would be very nice to drive and cruise in. I will be very interested to see the car when it is outed, I hope the aim may be to create a truly great new Morgan that is affordable to more and bridges the gap between trad and Aero, and helps grow the future of the company. I am sure it will be very interesting.

I admit that I meet the " old man" criteria. But when I tried the current 911 complete with flappy paddle box, the most impressive / fun piece of technology on board was the box. Complete with throttle blip so on a twisty road you could position the car precisely, left foot brake and floor it on exit in a way you could not do with a manual. And not to be ignored it was the smoothest auto ever in nose to taii town traffic.

Ian, I'm afraid that there is a ban on publishing photos before the event so we'll just have to wait I'm afraid! However I know that Mog mag will do a full feature on it in the October issue due out shortly.

Like you Adrian, I love the Cyclone engine and think that it is well contained by the current chassis which is very different to the original whippy Morgan chassis' of old, e.g. much heavier gauge, roll-bars, inner wings in Supaform, etc.

My Roadster Brooklands is coming up for sale to make room for the new car though, but the project car has the same running gear if not the same suspension.

The project car is manual for now, but it may be altered in the future. It is not a series production car, but a one-off and as such features the foibles and taste of one individual and thus may well divide opinion. No apologies yet, but don't blame MMC!

Peter, luckily there are some perks to being involved with the sponsors so it is not as damaging to the pocket as you'd expect.

As regards Le Gavroche, the Business Lunch is one of life's pleasures and with a half bottle of wine and water, at fifty odd quid pretty good value.

Lastly Howard, I also more than qualify for the 'old man' criteria but do like the modern iterations in their various forms of the modern day autos with flappy paddle control too. Whilst the PDK box with its development in motorsport is a cracker, I read an article in the motoring press that said that normal autos were now so good, viz the ZF 8-speeder for example, that twin-clutch boxes were no longer necessary and would be dropped over time due to their weight penalty. We shall see, as a counterpoint in our track day car we have a dog-box and that really is a real trial to drive on the road.

Brian

I for one cannot wait to see the finished design and reveal. May you long enjoy a one off I can long only dream of. Many happy (s)miles.

With automated boxes the devil is in thedetail. Swmbo has a smart roadster which she loves. True it holds the road very well and is even reliable and economical but the automated gearbox is dreadful with at least a 5 secs delay on any change and a desire to immitate a kangaroo in very slow manoeuvres.The only option is to drive like a granny butthen she is a granny!

So it is not so Smart after all. Perhaps it would be better to buy her a real Roadster