Talk Morgan Forums Morgan Sports Cars Classic Morgans (pre-CX) water comes in above windscreen with trad hood

Agree with Steve regarding Morgans and Jays on the MX5 - the new one has styling issues but drives really nicely - the fiat version is better looking but has a fiat engine.......

As a long term MX5 owner I think they are great little fun cars - easy to use just a car A-B, but with deep hidden abilities i imagine some owners never discover. They need to be driven - at which point they offer a huge amount of fun, if not outright speed or power.

Unlike a Morgan they don't have bangs from the front suspension, squeaks from the rear, leaks from the hood/doors etc - pretty much perfect bar a slight lack of power. Better than a Morgan? Well no actually. The major lacking feature is character - no matter how competent MX5s are they just can't come close to Morgan for appeal.
( but great value at less than half the price i guess)

Below is my MX5 - a bit like an MGB but better IMHO.

I followed a Fiat version for part of my trip back from Somerset the other Sunday. It sounded good, but the total ineptitude of the nut behind the wheel staggered me. He nearly lost it (in the dry!) on two roundabouts and no, my 4/4 wasn't breathing down his exhaust pipe...
If there was more storage space, I would contemplate another MX-5 as daily driver.

I reckon you are wrong. As a student I had a Spitfire and through summer and winter it never had its hood up except for real down pours. The secret was a tonneau cover and keeping the car moving. That way you stayed dry.



Whats the point. If you want a modern characterful sports car then travel over to Hethel.

A trad is a cult car with an appeal to a small section of mainly older motorists who want something that looks like a classic but isnt such a PITA as the real thing. The only reason it has a modern engine is that bulk supplies of old engines arent available. And the reason that hood dont fit and wings have to be trimmed is down to two factors - tiny volumes and archaic production systems.

I'm not at all sure that a modernised Trad would sell. When I was negotiating to buy a BMW engined Plus 8 the price was from memory a little bit more than 60k. With a Ford engine it might have been maybe 50k - similar territory to a Roadster. But I never got the impression that there was a big demand for the Plus 8 and numbers on the road suggest not. And this may be contentious on here, though I am not trying to be so, there are better modern sport cars than the Plus8 / Aero family reflecting the tiny resources that MMC have available to develop a modern car.

I like Morgans. I am edging ever closer to buying one and if I do it will be a trad simply because I want something simple and non digital that I can use to bimble in. If I wanted to go fast I would buy something else. If I wanted corning power I definitely would go elsewhere , likely to Lotus.

So, you did use the hood then.

Besides which, there's a world of difference between an impoverished student who only owns one car and a 50-something Morgan owner who probably owns a least 2 other cars and is able to choose the most suitable vehicle for his or her purpose.

Proper Morgan drivers use their cars whenever they want, and aren't afraid to use the hood to enable them to use them in a wider range of conditions than would otherwise be the case.

As I have reported, I drove My Sister-In-Laws 1998 Miata for 5 weeks in New Zealand. My friend Loretta and I only take luggage that will fit carry on. We could fit Her luggage in the back but not mine. I borrowed a soft bag for My stuff and We did OK. But space was certainly minimal.

I had a Hethel product, a 111S, until last year when I sold it, along with my 911 to buy an F Type. The 111S was a great sportscar, quite akin to a Morgan in many ways in that it needed regular attention. That to me is what fun cars are all about. Modern cars are boring in that there’s nothing you can meddle with. I think fondly back to the days of the weekly checking of the points and balancing of the carbs. Can’t wait to get back into Morgan ownership again though I doubt I will be able to tinker with the engine!

Why not buy an older Morgan, then? Much less of a hit financially, and you can play with the engine to your heart's content. With the money saved over the cost of a more recent one, there are no end of aftermarket specialists you can go to for all sorts of upgrades if you fancy.

Absolutely no intention of buying a new model. No chance of a discount for cash! I lean towards a late Rover engined Plus 8. I had a Plus 8 back in 1988. I am familiar with the marque having stripped and rebuilt a 1985 4/4. Reassembled with all stainless steel fixings from John Worrall at Heart of England Morgans. I think he was club chairman around that time.

Steve

Certainly the trad chassis has its limits but putting rigid suspension on it is only going to make it flex more. Put compliant suspension on it and it will reduce the stresses on the chassis.

I think a lot could be done without changing the basic concept too much however, as was rightly said, substantial changes may require a complete re-homologation. Given the way new car prices have gone up I think I will stop with what I have. A new car, with the extras that I would want would cost me over €75K and, to give me what I really want, probably another €15K.

Mind you I am not so far off €65K with what I have put into the 2012 car (I'm not thinking about it too much - I might shock myself) but I really am stopping now.

Between €75K and €90K there are quite a lot of desirable cars out there, and, to get back to the topic, they probably don't let water in

And then there is: