First a bit of personal background to this post.
As some of you will recall, I was one of the early members of Talk Morgan and indeed a moderator. I also have a history of actively working in support of the Morgan Sports Car Club. I founded the Aero Centre, I am an ex national and local centre committee member, undertaken FBHVC liaison, Classic Motor Show organisation and being part of organising Mog 06. My active involvement ceased when I moved to Portugal in 2008 however I moved back after my business venture suffered from the local economic climate.
I have followed with interest on the board, by private message and talking to club friends, the discussions taking place around the MSCC. I am passionate about the club and helping to bring together the wide and diverse membership.
For myself, I purchased my first Morgan, a 1.8 Zetec 4/4, in 2002 and within about 6 months of owning it I had set about making several “improvements”. Not that I disliked the original, but my sports cars have always been chosen primarily for driving pleasure. I loved the looks and wind in the hair driving. However I thought it could do with some more performance and improved handling to enhance this driving pleasure. Continuing the theme, I developed it more, and entered in speed, track day and even concours events. The story was written into a Miscellany article some years ago. My other Morgans have been similarly chosen for their pleasure as sports cars and used to the fullest.
I am sure there are many other members of the MSCC who likewise emphasise the “sports car” nature of their Morgan’s. Members who enjoy their cars for the fun of driving. Obviously, this also includes many competitors in race and speed championships. Interestingly, and sadly, some of the latter I have discovered are only MSCC members because of competition.
So this set me thinking. I now have the idea of forming a new national centre based around the general principle of the "sports car" and driving pleasure Morgan ownership. A working name is “SportsMog" centre. Some of my ideas of what the centre could do include:
- Be a natural supporters club for the Morgan Challenge race and SpeedMog series.
- Organise group visits to dealer and other track days and even, if there is demand, seek to reinstate MSCC track days.
- Organise group trips to general motorsport events inc British GP, Le Mans, British GT, Goodwood
- Organise “driving trips” within the UK (e.g mid wales) or abroad (e.g Stelvio pass, Nurgburgring)
- Group book speed and hillclimb school days
- Organise club displays at supercar days
- Provide technical co-operation and a knowledge base for tuning and modifying Morgan’s
- Negotiate group discounts on performance parts etc
- Even organise another Mog type event at a race circuit like Mog 06 was at Mallory
I'm sure members will think of more things that could be done.
Why a “centre” not a register or other structure? It will be difficult to hold regular monthly noggins like other centres’ do for example. Well there is a precedent. Back in 2007 I formed a national (not geographically local) centre for the Aero 8. It was very popular, well received and helped to cement the Aero today as a true Morgan. A centre is also a well understood structure within the MSCC and is part of the formal membership structure of the club. Centre requirements are well understood in terms of membership, constitution etc. To be a centre member you need to be an MSCC member.
Following consultation with the current chair, past chair and vice chair, I presented and got approval to proceed to the next stage at the MSCC NCM on 18th October. My next step is to seek out support from members for the centre. In time we will need to form a committee, confirm a constitution, etc. The centre will only work if members support its events but also get involved with ideas and organising things. I learnt from the Aero centre, that a national centre needs a team not just a secretary to work.
Anyone interested with ideas, suggestions or wanting to help practically then please get in touch with me initially via private message. My objective is to gauge interest and hopefully have all the necessary things in place to go back to the next NCM in January 2016.
