Talk Morgan Forums Community The Malvern Arms Another senior appointment

I have driven both and find my trad has way more character for me.
The Plus Four auto is awesomely fast as is the plus six and very smooth but they feel like a modern car in a Morgan dress to me. I have driven a Porsche 911 Carrera 4S and it is the same , somewhat like a video game rather than driving

I think often if I should change as I age but if for now I can get into a tank drivers seat I'll keep the trad.

But prices started to really move upwards by mid 80's the basic list price for a 4/4 started at £10k and the specification of my 1985 4/4 Sunday Time competition car which was highly spec'd was about £14k new.

The choice should be instinctive, and for me if I don't get a "Must Have" feeling at the start, it's a non-starter.

I had a passenger ride in the M3W at the factory. He gave it the beans. Not for me.........
I drove the Aero S5 at BHM..................Not for me
I passengered in a Plus Six at the factory......Not for me

In fact I got the same feeling from test driving two Elises.........people rave on.....I didn't get it at all.

My first Morgan Trad ride was in a Plus 8 with aeroscreens, way back in maybe 2006. I knew immediately I had to get a Trad.

It's not about comfort or performance, it's that intangible feeling you get when you first sit in any car.

To me it all comes down to the Morgan Experience and what that means to the individual and how MMC can offer a myriad of experience to match many different expectations whilst remaining profitable within a rapidly changing regulatory environment. I wish them all the very best in that endeavor as they have given me over 43 years of adventurous enjoyment with some amazing experiences and education in the company of wonderful like minded owners. I also like to think that my Morgan Experience has passed on enjoyment and wonder to many others who will never be Morgan owners.

Indeed John ... I chose the mid '70s as that's when my car was built ... it's got basic vinyl trim that does everything you need and with the simple and sturdy crossow even now has no need to fear modern traffic (ok, some dozy modern drivers loosely involved in the progress of massive SUVs can be scary 🙂) ... and for the price of a boring family saloon. There seems to have been a time when Morgans switched from being a 'working bloke's sports car' to a bespoke prestige vehicle with hand-stitched leather et al and a price to match ... with the rise of the hot-hatch it may be that the change of buyer demographic was the way to go (they are still here which is almost unique amongst their contemporaries) ... as above, for me personally it's the engagement and wonderful imperfection that makes every run out a little event ... a rapidly vanishing thing in a world where user input is being minimised in as many areas as possible.

K

Thanks for the list, good to compare the Morgan to cars available at the time and I agree they were cheap compared to other cars making them very good value. I remember reading that in the 1970's Morgan makes the base car and the customer finishes it. Fine if cheaper than other sports cars but not find now if more expensive.

Unfortunately there is really only one sports car in the list to compare, the Triumph Spitfire. I would be nice if the list contained other sports car like MGB, TR5 etc. to compare to what might have appealed to a Morgan buyer at that time. I am trying to work out what the MGB was at that time to compare to the price of the Morgan 4/4 at £2300. In 1962 a spitfire was £729 and is £2184 in your list, a MGB in 1962 was £949 so on the same ratio would be £2843 making it more expensive than a Morgan, but still well under the MGB GT V8. Would that have been right?

At £2184 for a Spitfire, £2300 for a Morgan and £2843 for a MGB the Morgan would be the obvious choice if you could handle the waiting list. Especially seeing the mid 1970's Spitfire and MGB were not as nice as the 1960's versions.

K, I suspect there will be quite a few of a certain generation who were ticking off on your preferences as they read them..(-:

I suspect I have typed too often about being initially attracted to Morgan relative to the driver involvement required to keep it out of the hedgerows while providing a pseudo vintage driving experience.. I was at the time of acquisition mildly disappointed that my +8 had Strombergs as opposed to SU`s, that it had an electrically operated choke and electronic ignition as opposed to a good old set of points..... I was twenty years younger and still happy to roll around the garage floor spanners in hand back then and chuckled at the idea of those desirous of power steering, air con and the likes, thinking such kit to be about as useful as an ashtray on a m/cycle.... BUT

I`m 20 years older now and might just forget to put a choke in as soon as the engine is warm, having resolved many a points related ign fault, struggled to start on cold damp mornings, and these days can take all the warmth my old Mog`s heater can generate even on a warm day....Sigh.. I also find an auto box attracts somewhat less destain from me these days than the thought of one such in a "sports car" might have done some time back...! It seems the passage of time alters much.

Yup, I`m up for saving the planet in general, though wonder if some old Morgans might be a bit like cockroaches and still be able to enjoy motoring around when EV`s might be proven to be less than environmentally efficient after all...?

More than happy to be able to enjoy crunching a few gears on my old Morgan when it ever roars into life first time every time without fuss or bother, all be it in a relatively basic fashion, and on the fashion front, it has style that warms my heart greatly a style and presence that seems to create interest and generate smiles for others too.. What`s more to want..? (-:

George ... long may you enjoy your gear-crunching, roaring 4 wheeled companion!

The list was just one I dragged off the web .... I'll try to find period prices for other models when I get a moment.

It was just intended to illustrate my thoughts that when my car was built a Morgan occupied a different place both in the market and in target purchasers ... the shift to 'Bespoke Gentleman's Conveyance' seems a smart one in retrospect as the hot-hatch drove the 'everyday sportscar' into the wilderness for decades taking their factories with them.

K

Back them Morgan was hard core. Remember the untreated wooden frame? Remember wings being fitted before spraying and so the beading was sprayed over?

When the Trad Morgan had those rivals listed above, most were built to a similar poor standard, but most were more, (coughs), sophisticated. Even wind-up windows.

I would not have chosen a Morgan in a new car market when the MGBV8, TVR, Lotus Elan and TR6 were rivals. I think that Morgans slow evolution made it what it became. The treated wood frame, alloy body panels, long doors, stainless bulkhead. Each one upped the game. Eventually of course, the Trad didn't have any rivals, and the vintage design, once spurned by the modernists (sound familiar?) became desirable because there was nothing else. Then the options list grew and you could pretty much have what you wanted.

Building a low volume niche car with no rivals must be a sound business plan, providing costs can be managed. But now, the CX cars are in a market with serious, competent sports cars (whatever your definition of this may be). With rivals and a recalibration of prices, AND the loss of predictable Trad sales, it becomes a different environment.

Remember it all too well, my 85 4/4 was the last year of the wings fitted and beading sprayed over, beading used to crack every time I went out in the car, least favourite job after a run out was touching up the bead paint cracks in a vain hope it would keep corrosion away from the wings and tub sheet work. Having to take the horsehair padding out of the side frame woodwork below the doors, so the wood could dry out after a run in the wet as it was untreated. My Kent 4/4 was on its second pair of inner wings at 12 years old when I acquired it and at 15 years old they too were on the way out.

It didn't cost that much more to improve the protection of structural components, but we do start see a step change in price as the legislative and regulatory burden grew. In reality with the increase in no, of cars produced we should have seen greater economies of scale come into play.


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