Talk Morgan Forums Morgan Sports Cars Classic Morgans (pre-CX) Hood down Dangers

Its all in the mind. Your perception of risk is just that. My perception is probably quite different.
The only time I have felt a little uneasy in the way you describe was while driving through a very narrow gorge in the Pyrenees - overhung with vertical rock, and noticing fallen stones and little patches of asphalt where deep dents had been infilled.
Directed me NOT to use the horns in case the sound disturbed the rock face above.
Drive on regardless.

My only close encounter was a pheasant flying out of a hedge into my path - fortunately he was very low but still trashed the grille, but it gave me an excuse to but a stainless one with the mesh

We had a heron take off and cross over us in Scotland. It was huge and only maybe 20 feet above us.

Thankfully it didn't discharge the contents of its bowel...

I didn't have enough screen wash!

I got hit by bird shite once while driving topless. Looking on the bright side though, it saved me from having to clean the leather trim!

Wonderful example of seeing the positive.

And also a shirt.

Thanks for the input. What I can gather from this learned forum is that statistically their is no real difference in reality of having or not having the hood up, when it comes to accidents.
Much as I thought really having owned several cars with sun roofs Targa tops and a S2000 convertible & the Morgan for over 6 years. Up till now it never crossed my mind that they were any more susceptible to causing injury. At no time did any of them have any object get anywhere near hitting me or the passenger.
“Now to convince SWMBO”

Are you tall enough that part of your head is above the windscreen? If so then you are at a bit more risk with the hood down since penetration of the windscreen will remove some of the momentum of an impacting stone.

Is it a risk? I used to travel for business so lots of miles and on two occasions I had serious car damage from objects falling from trucks. One even, it removed both wheels on one side of the car - a large iron casting off a scrap lorry in front. If either had impacted at screen level they would literally have removed my head. So yes there is a risk as there is in everything.

I wish you the best with SWMBO. My wife is unnerved by the boat heeling to the wind and it does not matter how often I explain the simple physics of it all, she still is frightened. Some fears defy logic.

I had a new hood made for my car at the factory in '97.

I removed it and it has been stored in a cupboard since then.

The worst incident I have had with the roof off in 33 years of Morgan driving is heavy hale stones, actually painful!

[quote=R1006]I had a bad incident in 2011 in my roadster on the M1 close to getting off at junction 30 doing about 40,
A large piece of debris flew up from a passing lorry hit the top of the windscreen and over the car, roof was off.
No passenger in the car otherwise they would have been seriously hurt
It cut the power and I cruiser onto the hard shoulder,
Damage was screen, screen pillars, bodywork approx £2400.

Hopefully managed to get the photos uploaded