Talk Morgan Forums Talk Morgan Members Section Special Information Need help from connoisseurs

Wow Mario, what a fantastic find. The drophead coupe is always much admired and sort after. They look just fantastic when they are fully restored. If it can be had at a reasonable price I am sure it will give you many hours of frustration to get it all together, followed by years of enjoyment.

Here is an example from Wikimedia

THAT is GORGEOUS.

Surely not better looking than an ARP 4?

Yes more classic.

MUCH (Capitals intended).

A Plus 4 DHC, Flat Rad, is one of only 117. Especially with matching numbers on the Vanguard. It would be a fairly rare Morgan. Do the math correctly and this could be a good investment, or a very pleasurable car, regardless of the math.

Cheers,

Thanks all for your input. I have a few problems here I'm trying to solve and of course I can't plunge into this without due consideration.

I have no doubt the car is genuine, although the documentation is missing. Something I can and will easily solve (I know a thing or two about the needed legal and administrative procedures).

Last I went to see it I couldn't find where were the chassis and engine numbers but another visit will solve that (I already queried the portuguese dealer about where to find the numbers and I think he forwarded my query to whoever may know this in the factory).

Now, the problem is that I am unable to "do the math" on this. I already know how much a fully restored Flat Rad DHC +4 might be worth but that is of limited interest to me. If after I'm gone my heirs want or need to sell I hope they get plenty from it. Not too concerned ...

So, what concerns me? Since I never owned a classic, restored or not, I'm in a state of absolute lack of knowledge on how much a full restoration of this car will cost. If I knw that the only thing I need to do is to add to that sum the price I'm willing to pay for the car "as is".

I know you guys have no clue on the prices here in Portugal but please help me out based on the prices in your own countries. Let's say that this car only needs bodywork and mechanical repairing, plus painting. Let's also imagine that this car needs everything else (with the obvious exception of the instruments panel, and even then I'm missing the separate rev counter I see in many flat rad dashes), from mirrors, headlights, bumpers, tail lights, a complete new hood, seats, etc etc etc ...

What then would a full restoration like this cost in your country? I know an exact figure is not possible, but give me an interval. Labour and parts (assume plenty of parts).


Either I get an idea on the full investment or I have two options: a) take the plunge and pray that this doesn't turn out to be a costly mistake; b) give up.

Mario, I would guesstimate that if you go the full deal and get someone to do a full body off restoration, replacing/repairing chassis, fixing panels, respray etc, then at least £15-20k I would guess £5-6k of this would be parts and or refurbishment. Rest labour.

Best way is to list all the things missing or that need replacing, and price them up. It take a garage about 2-3 weeks work time to do body off and chassis replace, obviously elapse may be longer as things go away to be fixed. However if you take the hourly labour rate and have 40hours a week you will need roughly man hours times the hourly rate plus taxes. Over here it would be about £80*120 equal £11520 plus tax.

Hope this helps, why not talk with a restorer or good Mog dealer for a quote

Many thanks Adrian!

You've got most of the expensive bits with the car. Radiators are near impossible to find. That steering wheel is not being repoped and if it is repairable is worth it's weight in gold. Same with the instruments. Redoing the faces can be really expensive. Don't worry about the rev counter. Most flatrads didn't come with them. Getting a new dash is a slight problem as it's a DHC. Lots more wood there. Body panels and ash frames are fairly easy to obtain/ duplicate. The example of a finished product shown has the wrong color steering wheel and possibly the same with the instruments. That should be an indication of how hard it is to get those items now. I know, we are involved in the restoration of a 1952 +4 right now.