Talk Morgan Forums Community The Malvern Arms MSSC, 100days at (nearly) the top. What has improved

Excellent points Roger

I quite agree Roger. I would see a National Centre ( Morgan Top Gear Centre) as a conduit to be all inclusive, in other words an area to bring together events relating to Morgans or events that Morgans may be attending. In summary this would enable Morgan race meetings, of whatever type Aero Challenge, SpeedMog, Trials, Hillclimbs and other events such as Charity Track days, Hillclimbs, also it would enable members to post events of interest and invite others to attend. It would also enable Area Clubs to invite others from further afield to attend if they so wished. I think if setup and organised properly it would be of great benefit to all in MSCC and would enhance and open up opportunities to meet up with other owners with similar interests, be it racing events, attending classic car shows, or just meeting up for a chat. I don't see this happening overnight but I am beginning to look at how it could be achieved. It obviously would need support from others to be a success, and as others have said before a club is what you put into.

I'll stick with the TM forum I think....I've no desire to get involved in an MSCC forum when this one does everything I want out of a forum.

Adrian it is all about evolution. What was relevant 20+ years ago is very different from today's needs. I think that on TM there are many of us who are still working/ have businesses so when we get time out want to drive our cars and join up with like minded people rather than drive 5 miles to the pub for a 3 hour lunch.

For reasons we've discussed on TM many times before we're part of a different breed of owner and when our children's generation come through, hopefully, one day into Morgan ownership their needs will be different again. Stewart's already worried what his son might want to do to his - Pimp my Mog maybe?!

this conjures up all sorts of images, a fish scale paint job and sea shell hub caps come to mind

Gents, I've read all of the views with great interest. I've been a member of MSCC since I've owned my MOG (7 years), I joined Hopmog about 3 years ago. I still work (unfortunately) and have a large family so weekday outings are out of the question and even weekend meets are sometimes difficult.
I love TM, it's usually the first thing I look at when I get home from work because I love the diverse topics, the banter and the technical "that happened to me" type advice. However I do think that TM might not be the magic answer that we're looking for. I enjoy car meets and the opportunity to look at and discuss other cars, SWMBO and I went to the Flywheel event at Bicester recently and following the "how will we identify TMers" discussion I made a TalkMorgan laminated badge and attached it to my baseball cap. Only one TMer identified themselves even though I discovered afterwards there were several others there. Similarly only one TMer said hello at MOG15.
Now we enjoyed both events but I do think that some of the complaints about being an outsider in the local clubs is also true of the TMers I'm afraid.
I do hope that this doesn't upset anyone, it's certainly not my intention.
We'd love to meet more of you nutty lot, we're pretty easy to identify at events because SWMBO is black and French, so if you see us please do say "Hi".
p.s. I'd probably join a TM club as well as Hopmog and MSCC.
Happy motoring.

I fully agree there is far to much top end money in the mscc these days. the motor CLUB days have gone, oily rags for olive oil. I still love morgan cars but it might have to be in my own private way.

Ray identifies a real issue, the MSCC is becoming less of the "oily rag mechanic/enthusiast" club and more of the leisure touring driver club.

This isn't limited to the MSCC, it is a change that has been driven mostly by the way the motor industry is changing.

Cars today neither need, nor encourage DIY mechanics. As a lad I had to service my cars, I can do a top end overhaul, re build a SU and strip and re-build drum brakes. Why? because the things needed a lot of attention, oil changes every 3000 miles, de-carbonising every 12,000 and so on.

The last car I did any DIY work on was a Mk 1 Alfa Sud in the 1970s. Since then there has been nothing to do, even if I wanted to. In the 1990s I had a number of bikes, they needed servicing and I became quite an expert on the new Triumph Bonneville. I looked very seriously at getting into classic bikes, but in the end decided I preferred riding to "spannering"and kept to modern classics.

Now I'm content just to wash, polish, check the oil, pads and so on. Most of the other LogMog members are the same, even those that are in the motor trade. As one said, it is all "connect to the laptop" and see what it tells me.

Yes, there are older classic Morgans that need "classic car care" but I suspect that increasingly this work is being left to dealers. One of the LogMog members who is in the motor trade has a Rover 4.2 Plus 8, he recently had the radiator, water pump and al the hoses replaced, prior to going to Italy. He is perfectly capable of doing the work, but let a specialist do it.

Most Mog owners are either comfortably well off, or over 60. The comfortably well off are happy to pay the likes of Tim Ayres at New Elms and many of the older ones no longer want to do the work and pay someone, even though they could do it.

MSCC is changing as the cars and the owners change. In another 10 years I feel the number of real "oily rag" mechanics will be fewer still and the number of pre 1970s Mogs actually on the road will begin to fall. Sad, but the way of the world.

The M3W Club has about 1500 active members: if you own a traditional M3W you MUST be an oily rag mechanic. I'm told the number of old M3Ws in daily use is declining, the young have either no interest or lack the essential skills. I think that this could be a prequel for the fate of the MSCC "Oily Rag" mechanics, so I'm very pleased to see the emergence of a Morgan Classic Group. I'd like to see that group become a recognised MSCC Centre, much as I've suggested we need a "National Centre" for those who want something different to the traditional regional social Centres.

MSCC has to change and evolve.
But it must be done from the inside, not by splintering.
So, those who want change have to make it happen. I had a long, positive and rather exciting chat with Adrian last night.

Not quite "MSCC, boldly going where no Morgan has gone before", but something like it!

Wanted to join LogMog but my email didn't get through

There must have been a bit of a blockage!

This is one of main reasons I didn't renew this year after 22 years. I do, and always have done, all my own servicing. I don't need a club to organise my leisure touring as I'm more than capable of doing that myself.