So here she is. May we introduce Madame Fifi…our 2014 Pus 4 GDI in Willow Green with Butterscotch leather. When we saw this unusual colour combination, we immediately fell for this temptress of a car…and so the journey begins.
Our journey from Ayrshire to Perth by (very) early morning train, saw us arrive with Russell & young Elliot at Revolutions, bang on our ETA of 9:00. So far so good!
I have to say Russell & Elliot were fantastic and spent a full 2 hours going over everything in considerable detail, answering all our questions and giving us loads of tips as well as the usual run through the car itself.
And so…just a little after 11:00 we set off on the first leg of our journey, (hood down , side screens on) very cautiously at first, before arriving a full 3 ½ minutes later at our pre-planned 1st stop… at M & S in Perth, to pick up a bottle of champagne and a nice bottle of red for our stay at Stonefield Castle near Tarbert later that evening.
This is where it first happened! Mrs Mac had nipped into M & S…and I was standing at the back of the car generally admiring our purchase, when an elderly lady driver in a bright orange Audi TT approached without me noticing… and I had to step aside to let her into the adjacent parking space. When she got out, I apologised for not having spotted her saying “I’m sorry…I was in another world there”. She replied saying…”If that Morgan was my car I’d be in dreamland too” and proceeded to walk around admiring Madame Fifi from every angle and asking lots of questions…which I answered with a strange, ill-founded confidence!
Next, another elderly lady driver arrived to park on the other side of Madame Fifi…just as Mrs Mac returned with the champers & wine. As the lady stepped out her car she immediately started asking questions, squealing with delight, saying what a beautiful car we had and… was it a very old car we had restored? She was so enthusiastic & Mrs Mac & I pretended we were experienced owners who had owned the car quite some time (Well I guess it was about 20 minutes by now!)
We had already decided to alter our original pre-planned trip… so instead of heading south to the bottom end of Loch Lomond, we had decided we would head west to the top end of Loch Lomond…along the A82 via Crieff…then Crianlarich, turning off at Tarbet onto the A83 …up over the Rest & Be Thankful…continuing along Loch Fyne to our overnight stop at Stonefield Castle just outside Tarbert.
So off we went again driving for just over half an hour (that was a full half hour this time!) to stop off for lunch at Crieff Hydro. As we drove into Crieff, we encountered a group of about 30 uniformed school kids and their teacher…who all spontaneously started shouting, cheering & waving as we approached…and as we passed by, heard once particularly enthusiastic (and clearly knowledgeable) 14 year old schoolboy shout…Look it’s a Morgan!
We enjoyed a very nice light lunch, but found ourselves eating more rapidly than normal as we couldn’t wait to resume our journey…and so off we went once again. By now we’ve had the car nearly 1hr ½ , and when leaving the car park, experienced our first unexpected sleeping policeman moment…which gave us the slightest of “dunts” underneath. Lesson 1 learned!
Leaving Crieff, we had a couple of people give us a wave and we set off on our run to Stonefield Castle. Over to Loch Lomond and then heading up & over Rest & Be Thankful, the sky became very grey and a slight mist descended bringing a very light drizzle, all adding to the atmosphere. We stopped off at the top to take this picture looking down the old military road in the valley below.
Continuing onward through various towns & villages, we encountered occasional horn toots, light flashes, thumbs up and waves. (It is truly remarkable to experience at first hand peoples reaction to these fantastic cars)
Heading southwards along the banks of Loch Fyne was just fantastic. Mile after mile of gently twisting roads and hills gave me great opportunity to get to know how the car handled and provided invaluable early experience. It was truly exhilarating (a word we used often over the weekend) and we loved every single mile. We hooped & hollered lots and couldn’t stop smiling. We realise now that only Morgan owners know why this happens!
We arrived at Stonefield castle at about 16:00. As we parked the car …a rather splendid brand new Bentley rumbled up to park beside us. As we all got out…a young staff member came forward and said “Would you like me to get you a cover for your car Sir?” Yes, that’s right…he was offering this to us…and not the rather miffed Mr & Mrs Bentley driver. We politely declined saying we had brought our own (storm) cover ..and off he went without a word to Mr & Mrs Bentley. (We did laugh!)
Spent a lovely night at the hotel and enjoyed a beautiful evening meal before heading to bed, but not before checking on Madame Fifi, who was perfectly tucked up under cover in the car park.
So that’s day 1 of our Morgan adventure. It was truly fantastic. As I said earlier, its really amazing to see how people react. Great fun….and (by the way) a flippin’ great car to drive too!
Part 2 to follow tomorrow…meanwhile, thanks again to everyone for your comments. (Donald...we hope to see you at the Popinjay)
Cheers
Mac
and the hound on board the LR was behind me.
