Talk Morgan Forums Community Vehicle Talk (non-Morgan) Alternaive to Morgan..?

Some years back I photographed this Ronart at Hayston Motors in Kirkintilloch (nr Glasgow).

Hayston were formerly located at Stepps also near Glasgow where they were Morgan agents.

Note that this Ronart has a full screen and wipers The Ronart was designed to appear similar to the Mercedes 154.. ??






Rovert/Brian, Unfortunately I never spotted the Competa Kougar while there, though while staying on the outskirts of Los Romanes I spotted an Auburn passing on the road below...

Love the exhaust.

Ah yes! The windscreen that doubles as an airbrake! Takes 10mph ( maybe more) offthe top speed and creates an airflow that keeps your hair on the move , assuming you have some!

Sospan, while there is no denying that Ronart`s screen is bound to reduce max top speed and even increase fuel consumption, the screen seems likely make the Ronart just that little bit easier to live with in our climate...? There are those Morganeers who are desirous of folding windscreens and the Biggles Goggles to go with it, flying jackets too... so the Kougar might fit better with their ideals..?

My logic determines that wonderful race cars are perhaps not so wonderful on the road and adapting them to be more suitable for the back roads that many Morganeers so enjoy, can indeed loose something of the experience as imagined when one bought into the idea of enjoying a vintage Bugatti race car around one`s favoured ribbon of Tarmac..?

Such are the wonders of the web that we have been extended some of the privilege of sharing such experiences, all be it from Mossy in his very enjoyable Morgan vids, and one vid that was memorable for me was a virtual ride in a Bugatti, all be it on an American urban road, which showed the experience to be somewhat mechanically noisy and not in a good way, with panel rattle playing it`s part too, so perhaps not an ideal experience for the likes of me at least, thus perhaps not entirely worth whatever it might cost to buy a Bug if I should ever win the lottery..... Do you have to be in it to win it...Hmm..?

So for me, while the Cougar seems a wonderful machine as do so many others, it just seems that it`s likely usage would be more of a garage ornament than a car, and perhaps more so for those of us who are baby boomers, call it a natural progression if you will... (-:

The term garage queen seems marginally derogatory, and to me the term matters not a jot as to the way one might enjoy ones vehicular pastimes, that there is joy to be found works well enough for me..(-: It just seems to me that a Morgan is that bit more...err...practical (!) than pseudo race cars for use on the road, and JayEmm pointed out some of the realities when he switched to wearing his Biggles goggles, in order to protect his eyesight. As a former motorcyclist, I have swallowed the occasional fly, and been hit more than once by who knows what thrown up by other vehicles..Thus for me the Trads windscreen is a prerequisite.

Practicality of a Trad Morgan..? Well..err..yes, within reason (-: While in my time reading of the exploits of Morganeers on eMog and others since the late 90`s, it seems there are those who`s desires are to create any Morgan to more perform more like a race car on the road, and some who spoil their enjoyment found in the process of conversion while researching sourcing and creating their IDEAL Morgan, to find that the reality can actually be a destructive process in terms of THEIR Morgan related enjoyment, for real race cars are designed solely to race, and are entirely unsuitable for use in traffic situations of all sorts, and some folk spends a great deal of money to find that out...?

Me..? Yup, been there done that to my motorcycles and my first car..but we were all young once, though some of us were/are too busy when young, and it may not be till we retire that we learn such lessons, the Kougar and it`s like may be one such lesson for some..?

Practical Morgan...? What is practical for some will be different from the practical desires of others for sure, and the Kougar looks wonderful, the experience seems well described by JayEmm, who currently runs a 12 pot modern Ferrari for his other fun times. Thus the description of Sunday Morning drive time car fits well relative to my thought patterns. When I finally acquired my Morgan, my ideals were along the lines set by large engined vintage sports cars, and the +8 Morgan fitted well enough with my budgetary requirements of the time... Job done... I was delighted to be able to run around my local country roads almost free of traffic mid week, for which the Morgan was perfect, more so sans it`s resonators allowing it to ROAR on occasion...(-:

My good lady interrupted my Morgan ideals somewhat, having listened to me prattling on about the GoMoG webmasters touring adventures in his Morgan, from Canada down into the US ( latterly on to the UK and Europe) and roaming around there at will. Seems she was finding our usual skipper and one crew sailing adventures out and around the Scottish West coast perhaps ..err..a tad wearing.. which lead on to the Morgan and I being press ganged to head out in search of adventures new around Southern Europe, a task which It coped with, much better than I would ever have imagined. Sure not entirely practical but I imagine much more so than the likes of a Kougar when it rained and when taking a hit from a Locust etc.etc.etc. Would not have fancied a set of Biggles goggles taking that size of insect on..!

Morgan practicality TODAY..? Yeah well now almost 20 years older than when I bought my Morgan, time has taught me that I bought it at exactly the right time.. for ME.. (-: My old Morgan has proven it`s self able to provide joyful experiences over a number of years in terms of roaring around local roads and more. In terms of my intended original ideal Morgan usage, given the increase in traffic over those years I found myself getting up and out ever earlier in the morning to find the roads free of old codgers like me ... European adventures..? Yeah well, time takes it`s toll on us more than the Morgan and it`s foibles are relatively easily overcome, in comparison, to the extent that if more comfort takes priority over excitement, then modern "family" transport might be chosen for long distance motoring, perhaps more so if motorway, or autostrada miles are likely to be encountered for part of the journey..? Sure there are those who may be, fitter or more masochistic than I relative to the ageing process... power to their elbow too. These days, Covid aside, I am ever more selective on when to fire the old thing up and head out of the garage for a run in the warmth of the sun.

Can`t remember who typed it in this thread, but a bit liked the thinking behind having a Kougar for that Sunday morning run and keeping the Morgan as the more practical option, which would seem to have great potential for some fortunate folk..? However, I have reached the stage where my ideals would be to keep my Morgan mostly as the garage queen it seems to have become, providing great pleasure in it`s existence as such, memories and all, and have a more modern tin top sports car providing a bit less of a RAW motoring experience for those early morning drives, and as such the tin top extending them to an all year round experience snow and all, just as once I was able to enjoy in my Morgan. I kinda like Max5`s choices in that regard....

One of my regulars 25 years ago had a Kougar. Properly mental car; I loved it.

My preferred alternative to a trad Morgan would be a Suffolk SS100.

I saw a Cougar a few years ago at a car show. Burgundy colour. It was parked in with some Jags. I would be highly unlikely to buy a car as a garage queen. The Morgan is used as often as needed, shopping trips, golf club, organised trips, day out, drive for the hell of it. Now distance limits are lifted in Wales I will be out in it. Busy today, golf tomorrow so short trip, weather will determine after that.
wants to look at patio tiles in a showroom in Cardiff 60 miles away. . Morgan a probable and double up with a visit to sospan jnr who lives there. A48 rather than the M4 with no real time penalty. Cardiff used to be a daily commute and A48 often used instead of M4.

I would have a Kougar - fantastic cars.
I first saw one on the Plymouth to Roscoff ferry. I was enroute to the Le Mans 24 Hour in 2007.
Parked in front of me on the ferry, it sounded gorgeous.
Leaving the ferry, it was p***ing with rain and they had no hood an only aero screens.
I saw them again drying out, at a service station about 40 miles short of Le Mans.
We drove in convoy the final miles, me with hood down and half tonneau cover fitted.
Happy memories.

Bud
4/4 - Stanley

ps 2007 was the wettest 24 hour I can remember, and the Cowsheds became even more ‘characterful’ that year!

The looks of the Kougar put me more in mind of a Frazer Nash Le Mans than anything.

The Kougar was fitted with a windscreen and weather equipment but some owners chose to fit aero-screens or an abbreviated perspex "windscreen". They also have a useful boot - accessed from behind the seats on earlier cars, or a boot lid on later models.

I bought my first Kougar (new) in the 1980's. Aside from my love of Jaguars, it was the properly designed and immensely strong spaceframe chassis that appealed to me. Many replicas have a simple ladder chassis but the Kougar uses substantial tubes which also run along the cockpit sides giving impact protection.

Am not sure any of these beautiful cars have ever made it to America....the top picture (the green car) looks stunning. The bottom one (the red car) is as stunning, but looks enough like a Morgan to be a cousin. (Note the leaping Jaguar on the cowl of the red one....nice touch.)