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Not legally but saves a lot of hassle

I tend to agree with both Easter and Rog. It would be interesting to hear what the spec of your car is. The later 1800 powered car will be better specced than a 2009 1.6 4/4 and many will think, a better engine too. You do need to talk to your dealer but please don't feel that you have ended up with an inferior car....you haven't, and this will be reflected in the retained value of the car as the years go by.

Thanks
I do not feel it is right at the moment to name the dealer as I hope they will be able, albeit belatedly, to see my point of view and come up with some "help"
However if this turns out not to be the case I will certainly name and shame.
I have always tried, as a somewhat old fashioned Englishman, to be as fair as possible.
Perhaps this attitude is not so prevalent elsewhere.

Absolutely. I think you need to establish exactly what it is you feel you have been short-changed on, the calendar year a car was constructed is immaterial compared to the specification and condition.

If you were talking about a eurobox saloon then you may have a point, but these are not disposable tin boxes with normal depreciation, and the same standards should not be used to judge them.

If it comes to it you will need to demonstrate "loss" this could be difficult.

But good luck with everything.

You seem to have a most sensible approach to the issue which is the best way to be.

The question of how cars are advertised is a good one for the lawyers
All we ever see on almost every advert for used vehicles, regardless of make, dealer type (franchised, independent and even private) is one date which, I suspect in 99% of cases is taken by the prospective purchaser to be the year the car was made.
Otherwise it is open to large scale abuse if new car prices go up by more than interest rates - dealers would stock cars and then sell then two years later at a bigger profit.
I would personally like to see two dates if the year of manufacture and first registration are more than 12 months apart!

Here on the continent the age of a car is mostly specified by the first registration date. Or does anyone expect a car to be built same year when you get a (e.g. US or Japaneese od Korean) car in January??

Especially when a Moggy is more than one or two years in age the price orientates mainly on specifications and conditions than on build year.
My silly point of view...

As with many other makes the "age" of a Morgan can be rather "grey". At least Morgans don't sit on airfield parking lots for 6 to 9 months after they are built, as has happened in the past to some "premium" brands imported into the UK.

A case in point: my Plus 8 was registered on 2 April 2014, by the factory.

But the internal build sheet shows it was ordered on 2 July 2013, went into production on 3 October 2013 and PDI'd on 29 November 2013.
So is it a mid 2013 car or an early 2014 car?
Why was there a 4 month gap between order and production and what happened in the 4 months between PDI and registration?
The answer is that it was taken by R&D to develop the paddle shift system introduced with the Speedster, which both delayed production and took time after pdi. Only when R&D had finished with it did it return to Sales for its intended use as a demonstrator. I bought it on 24 November 2014 when it was, depending on how you look at it, from 8 to 12 or even 18 months old! According to the factory it was 8 months old as the Warranty runs until 2 April 2016.

I am not concerned, but I use the example to show that with Morgan Cars nothing is exactly as it seems and the most sensible "new" mark is probably the date first registered, and then look at the condition. More than any other make condition, specification and history determin the price.

Depreciation after the VAT has been depreciated is largely glacal. I bought a tidy, if high mileage 2009 Roadster in 2012 and part exchanged it in 2014 (when we got the Plus 8) for about £2K les than I'd paid for it.
On the way I put about £2K worth of upgrades and improvements into it: either way I felt I'd had a good deal. The new owner called me, he'd paid about £2K more than the dealer had paid for the car, which was a good price for it.

To end this ramble, get the build sheet from the factory if you can. The VIN number can be allocated long before the car enters production, let alone is pdi'd. In my case it was a few days short of 6 months....!

So, if there really was 2 years between the factory PDI and first registration you deserve an explanation.

As to the value of the car, it could be that the price you paid was a fair one, irrespective of the year. Morgan prices do not follow normal motor industry rules, more classi car "rules".

Peter,
Please understand the big difference between your situation and mine.
You were aware of the time differences and the various dates.
In my case the dealer either "forgot" to tell me or deliberately failed to tell me. Also, the log book has been falsified as it shows year of manufacture as 2009 NOT 2007, which adds to the deception.

What is it about the specification of a 2009 car that represents an improvement or benefit over that of a 2007 car? Do these outweigh the factors that, as have been discussed, make the 2007 model a more desireable proposition - the bigger engine, for example?

Once you have quantified this, you will be able to determine the loss which you have experienced, and thus be able to seek compensation for this loss - although as 4/4boy has indicated. Otherwise, it just appears to be a wrangle about dates, with no material difference to the car.