Talk Morgan Forums Community The Malvern Arms Antiques Road Show

Thanks for sharing those wonderful drawings and a bit of their history Simon, it was the hand crafted/coach-built aspect of Morgans that drew me to the marque. I am attracted to the hand/man made aspect of much around us, I guess it is just an age thing..(-:

mph, thanks for posting the vid of those engines in operation. No ear defenders in evidence.... The baby boomer generation sacrificed some aspects of their health to just get on with the job in hand, but then their fathers and grandfathers had to sacrifice so much more..and for much lesser rewards than are available today... hmm..?

I ever felt drawn to the sea and engineering as a youngster, following on in my ships engineer grandfathers footsteps, though my desire to ride m/cycles was ever that bit stronger and thus kept me on terra firma, though fortunately I seem to have inherited a smattering of grandfathers engineering chromosomes, which seem to have served me well... (-:

Great drawings Simon, I can't think of the correct term but there's something warm & inspiring with proper hand drawings, I grew up in an extended family of Draftsmen and Architects and love this stuff

Hi quite right got carried away with my 0s after 40 odd years Cheers.

A fantastic legacy.....

Great drawings and photos Simon.
My dad was a coachbuilder and did some good stuff. Renovated a Hansom cab (horse drawn taxi). Rebuilt a Morgan, built a recovery truck, many caravans, beach buggies,looked after several cars for locals (Bristol, Jenson, Jags, RR, local funeral director vehicles).
I have a small book from my early years with details of many cars from the pre-war era. It is similar to the “Observer Book of...” series in size. I also have a line drawing of a Moss box Plus8 found on ebay. I have scans of it in A4 size and, I think original A3) if anyone wants one. I’ll try getting it onto the Image site to post.
Keeping old archive stuff is too often overlooked.

Am in a bit of a quandary regarding the model Valiant battleship that belonged to my father. It is an early 1920s tinplate model made by Sutcliffe Pressings Ltd and was handed down to my father in the later 1920s and then on to me in the mid 1950s. I have treasured it ever since although you wouldn't guess that from its condition! I suppose that is what comes from re-enacting sea battles in the local ponds and, of course, in the bath.

The power source is hot air propulsion with a metholated spirit burner heating up the air in copper coils located under the rear funnel, hence the burn marks there. Apparently Sutcliffe replaced this methodology with a clockwork motor in the late 1920s as it was thought to be a bit dangerous for the lads that were likely to own one.

The quandary is whether to restore and, if so, how to do it without taking away all the paint and it's character. The tinplate has acted like a galvanised coat and resisted rusting but stripping down and repainting might damage that. Patching up will be too noticeable but I don't want something that looks like a new toy either. My indecision means that it will probably never get restored but I am quite happy to keep in in full view as it is.

It's wonderful, I wouldn't touch it at all.

^ +1

It’s glorious, every mark is a memory. A wonderful thing just as it is.

BR
Colin

I agree with the others, if you remove the existing patina you delete it's history, perhaps just a gentle rub of beeswax