Talk Morgan Forums Community The Malvern Arms why trad rather than caterham?

I’ve had 3 Caterham and 3 Morgansover the years ... and I love both marques.
My first Morgan was 45 years ago, and I used to swap it with a friend’s Lotus Seven S4. The MOG 4/4 was a nicer car to live with, but the 7 had incredible roadholding and performance.
Then a long gap till a Caterham 7 Roadsport, then a Blackbird (Caterham with a Honda Blackbird engine and sequential box), then a Superlight, then a 3.7l Roadster, and finally the Aero.
Domestic circumstances meant the Aero had to go, but I did look at another Caterham Blackbird earlier this year. Just as utterly bonkers as the previous one, but this time my head ruled my heart.
All six cars held their value well, which is important to me with a pure toy. I sold the Blackbird for more than I paid for it, effectively a free year of motoring taking account of insurance, tax, servicing and fuel.
The next will be a M3W.

Like Madmax and Culminator, I have built and owned over a dozen Sevens since my first '69 S3 X/F Lotus in the mid '80's, including a couple of CSR's (the all independantly suspended ones), but I would say the main and limiting factor is now my age and age related body functions, or lack of!

Sevens are great cars, especially if the owner builds them, that is half of the owning experience, they can be made into whatever the owner wants - track weapon, touring cruiser, supercar, you name it and just do it. Virtually everything can be done at home, short of a full engine or gearbox rebuild, and just with tools sourced from Lidl.

They are just so efficient, Chapman was a genius, but then on the other hand what he did was just so obvious, once it has been pointed out - lightness is the answer, any Morgan is a vast fat and overweight beast, made by blacksmiths, in comparison. It has taken me a while to accept what Morgans are - real cars, which have hardly changed for over 50 years with modern drivetrains. Having owned an MGTD for 30 years, I was not looking to recreate the MG, rather for a real sportscar with character, that would stand out in todays roadscape and something of which I could be as proud of as I was in a Seven or an old MG.

For me the ARP4 fits my profile perfectly with its' tuned Cosworth engine, decent gearbox, 5 link coil sprung rear suspension with LSD and discs and all the nice touches in the cabin that cost extra on normal models. I cannot drive it with the same scalpel like deftness that I can a Seven, but my wife will join me and actually enjoys it, rather than gritting her teeth and complaining about my 'tincan'. I still have a 170bhp bike engined Seven sitting alongside the ARP4, but more and more, I would rather take out the Mog, so perhaps in the spring the Seven will be advertised?

Howard, how hardcore do you really want?

Don't like to say this but we are wanting a slightly steadier life/car experience ?

I have two friends who have or have had Caterhams. The first swapped his MW3 for one and ( with the insistence of SWMBO ) got rid pretty damn quick as he considered it verging on dangerous on todays roads.
The other chap has kept his for years as his dream car but his SWMBO really wants a Morgan. I have been out in the Caterham and, yes it is silly fast but you have no weather protection worth talking about ( and I have never used my side screens ) also, if you remove the door screens you have no mirrors so like others have said, the C7 is a "fine day lets go for a blast" sort of car whilst the Morgan is more of a gentlemans express with masses more comfort and, if I may, more desirability.

I find it interesting that some say the Morgan has lousy road holding. To me their road holding is really rather good when set up correctly with after market components. It is a long time since I drove a lotus 7, so I can not compare, but it would be interesting to do a direct comparison. I suspect their would not be a lot in it.

I'm not sure if it actually 'silly fast' Reg, more a matter of impression of speed, because one is sitting so low - 70mph feels like 100 etc. Of course they can be Supercar quick, depends on the state of tune and engine, but then the same caveat would apply as to any quick car.

The weather protection is actually pretty good, the sidescreens are essential for anything more than a pootle around the countryside, and the hood, whilst a separate entity, is remarkably good at keeping the rain out, about the same as a Morgan I would say. If one wants sidescreens off a lot btw, there are perfectly good mirror extensions which screw onto the screen stanchions and can be used with screens on too, but limit the opening a bit. Seats too are quite comfortable - I once drove from Somerset to Norfolk in one hit, in a CSR260 with fibreglass race seats, took around 5 hours, and got out fine, albeit a bit stiff.

The bottom line is that you make the car what you want, it's all there is you know what you are doing, most people who only keep the Seven for a short time, don't know.

With regard to roadholding, I would say that there is a lot in it, when driven back to back, in fact there is no comparison. After an Elise, a properly set up Seven is probably one of the best cars you could get.

Paul J is on to it I have had my 7 for 27 years now and there is quiet simply nothing like it on four wheels here but the noise is pretty full on (in mine) and I desired a plus 8 even way back then when I built it , and with age the need for the ultimate road/ track weapon has diminished , happy new year to one and all from the very sunny Hauraki Gulf where we have just finished a lovely New Year's Day yacht race 🍹

My 7 is 1992 vintage with a cross flow so probably the same as yours waikiore and you’re right about the racket, it’s an incredible noise, so much so I have to be careful if I meet horse riders in the countryside. Cyclists aren’t a problem though, it scares them from a mile away!

Happy new year everyone one, Northern and Southern Hemispheres.

Paul,
What are these mirrors to which you refer. I don't think my mate can be aware of them and it would be nice to point him in the right direction.

It is a legal requirement to have two mirrors on a vehicle registered from 1st June 1978, one must be an offside mirror. Penalty £50 and immediate prohibition.