Talk Morgan Forums Morgan Sports Cars Morgan Aero 8, 2012< Plus 8, SuperSports, Coupe & Aeromax Living With a Plus 8

There is nothing, other than a Caterham 160, that is cheap & I'm not sure it is comparable with anything.
Perhaps the base MX5 sets the floor level at £18.5K.

Consider the following, remember we are comparing "new with new" and excluding extras and delivery.

Car.............Engine...Price
Caterham 160....1.6.....£15,000
Mazda MX5.......1.8.....£18,500
Mini Roadster....1.6.....£21,000
Audi TT ..........1.8.....£26,500
Lotus Elise......1.6.....£28,000
Morgan 4/4....1.6.....£33,075
BMW Z4 ........2.8.....£33,650
Mercedes E Cab..2.5....£34,500
Mercedes SLK...2.5.....£35,720
Morgan +4....2.0.....£36,285
BMW 4 Series...3.5.....£41,000
Morgan Roadster 3.7..£45,900
Poesche Boxster.3.4.....£47,035
Caterham 620 R..2.0.....£50,000
Lotus Exige.....3.7.......£52,900
Jaguar F.........5.0.......£65,000
Mercedes SLK....5.0......£83,445
Morgan +8....4.8.......£85,200

So:
"Poverty" Models need to be under £30K. The 4/4 needs to be about £27K, not £33K
"Mid Stream" models should be between £30K and £40K, the +4 is well priced.
"Blow" modesl should be between £50K and £80K: the Plus 8 is too expensive.

Conclusion:
MMC are not too far off the market prices in the middle, especially when considering the brand value and iconic hand built status.....no coincidence then that the Plus 4 is the best seller...

The 4/4 needs to be less than £30K to be attractive.

The Roadster sits in a difficult place: it isn't that expensive when compared with a base Boxster, but it is not comparable dynamically or as far as bild quality is concerned.

The Plus 8 is over priced. possibly why it doesn't sell that well but at £70K it would compare more realistically with things like the F Type and SLK. In terms of performance and refinement it is already there, it is just too expensive.

...and don't forget plenty of keyboard warriors too :xmastree:

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I would honestly think at least one member would know the cost of the Aero bonded chassis, that person has to be Brian aka Aeroman.

I will take a very wild guess the chassis cost no more than £10k, but will gracefully accept being proved wrong

I have been told by a Morgan Dealer that for the dealer to buy a new Trad chassis is less than £1000 and to buy an Aero tub is over £20,000. Both plus VAT.

That suggests MMC buys them in at 50% of the sale price. so less than £500 vs more than £10K. A factor of 20.

I'm not surprised at the difference.

The Trad chassis is made of about 20 different bits of bent steel, something that a good welder could, with the right jig, put together in an hour or so. It is then galvanized.

The Aero Tub has to be assembled from a large number of carefully cut pieces of aluminium that must be cleaned and then with great care, adhesive applied in the correct places, pop rivets fitted and then it is subject to a heating process to cure the adhesive.

Then various extrusions and machined parts are welded in place. The welds are of aviation quality. I'll bet it takes more than a day.

It is a work of art.

But it is total overkill for what it has to do....!

The Aero is a wonderful achievement but I doubt it could be considered a financial success.

It all comes back to something I have said before. I don't see why a re-engineered trad chassis with an updated front suspension, coil rear suspension, slightly wider cockpit (for the larger bodied occupants one finds these days) and perhaps some careful work to introduce more luggage space, would not be possible without impacting too much on the price.