Talk Morgan Forums Morgan Sports Cars Classic Morgans (pre-CX) Morgan Development

After reading the thread on galvanising chassis and the subsequent thread drift into how Morgans may develop it would be interesting to know would folks on TM buy a Trad Morgan with for example an aluminium alloy chassis or even a carbon fibre chassis / bodywork?

The new multi link rear suspension may become standard in a few years then what about a modern front suspension?

To many I guess its the look of the car rather than how or what its made from. I like old cars so I like the wooden construction and that a guy has hand made some of the bodywork so I doubt if I would buy something with a carbon fibre body / chassis if it ever got to that point.

I was thinking about this yesterday funnily enough. I went from an aero-style modern chassis to just a revamp of the suspension all round with a modern unit at the front. I would also like an outside temperature guage so I could tell, empirically, how hard/soft I was being at any particular moment. Only other thing would be a six speed gearbox as standard. Keep the frame and bodywork as it is.

I do like the imperfection of the Trad. Driving fun at low speeds too.
A modern alloy chassis could be accepted but no carbon fibre!

100miles/h in my Audi is rather boring while 80miles/h in the 4/4 provides lots of action. Let's keep it that way!

I like the feel of the traditional Morgan. All the 'little' bumps and creaks are part of the enjoyment. There's also something to be said about knowing that you're driving around with a suspension design that's basically 100 years old mounted in a car that's built by hand.

I agree with most of the points already made, but would like to add a couple of other observational pointers..

I think Morgan have had the mix/balance just right, by having the Trad's and the Aero's built the way they have been.
That is to say that keeping the trads as close as reasonably possible to the original materials and build wherever economically possible, and the Aero series leading the way for future prosperity, maybe even, the long term survival of the company.
The other point is that by keeping a link in the chain whereby both series are built by the the same craftsmen and craftswomen at the same facility, brings a level of cross pollination of earthiness and advancement of materials/technology to all Morgan products....It's got to be the best way to move forward.
However, i'm not convinced (yet) that turning the Trad into a modern 'fake' is the best way to go, but things don't stay still, they always evolve...it's a fine line.

Excellent points made here thanks for this , I for one would buy one and agree that its the looks that sell a Mog more than anything , it would be very difficult then for the Evo magazine to make rude comments about horrible handling and bygone mechanicals if the Mog started to snap at the heels of dull modern sports cars they seem to love blindly !

Actually the wooden bodyframe is surprisingly resilient. I know someone who managed to bend the entire car at Doune hillclimb by going well off track and vaulting a stone wall.

Without separating the body from the chassis, the entire car was put on a jig and the chassis realigned. When the chassis was done, the bodyframe actually came back with it, and most of the panel work too. You'd not do that without a steel chassis and a wooden bodyframe.

Damage that would cause a modern car, or even an Aero derivative to be scrapped is often repairable on a trad.

This is a major advantage of the tradition car, and most owners with a well equiped garage could do the work themselves.
My only fear with the aero is that it would be so easy to right it off in an accident.

Good topic John. My first choice is the traditional Morgan of steel, wood and aluminium. But I wouldn't rule out a traditional shape Morgan with an aluminium chassis and modern suspension, parked alongside my old one. Carbon fibre; It certainly is light and that's also a Morgan trait.

Actually Henry Catchpole was rather complimentary about his long-term 4/4, which had a tuned or replacement engine in a standard chassis.

When I first drove a few Morgans in the late 1970s - Plus 4 and Plus 8 - I thought they were awful and that Morgan enthusiasts were a bit barmy. The handling was dreadful and the driving position poor.

Even in basic form, the modern 4/4 and Plus 4 are enormously improved in many respects and with the addition of two inexpensive extras, brake reaction rods at the front and Panhard rod at the rear, they now handle very well, even better in my view when you add the Suplex/Bilstein front suspension kit; I believe some of the other available front end mods also work well.

For the trads in the future, I see no objection to an aluminium chassis, front wishbones and multi-link coil-sprung rear. Whether it is worthwhile introducing such changes as standard production is another question.

The big problem for the MMC, as is well known, is increasingly restrictive legislation. Will it be possible to sell trads at all 10 years from now? Can an Aero successor be made to comply with even existing US homologation requirements - and if so, how?