Talk Morgan Forums Community Vehicle Talk (non-Morgan) Hand Crafted Cars, Anyone?

The point I was trying to make is that Morgan seek to be seen in the same light as Porsche, and other such cars.
But in the modern world to offer a modern technologically sophisticated car requires resources that MMC does not have.
(..........)

Peter - I fully agree. I have an 18 year old Boxster S bought S/H and a 3 year old Roadster 3.7 bought new. The Boxster cost 20% of the price I paid for the Roadster and have to say that everything the Morgan does, the Porsche does better apart from the "Morganness" (if i can use such a hideous word) of the Morgan. I have a number of friends who have paid around £90k for new Plus Fours and listening to their tales of woe regarding build quality issues further convinces me that I will never spend £90k on a new Morgan.Today I was in the company of the owner of a Plus Six bought new one year ago which has already had 4 new radiators!!!!!!!!!!!
I'm afraid that to me, Morgan under the current ownership have lost the plot.

I watched this marketing film from another sports car maker.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_0VtYXmLzF0

It made me wonder.... MMC puts a lot of emphasis on the crafted, hand made image, but really they assemble bits they designed but made by others and then hand trim and finish: Bentley does much the same, not forgetting that the W12 is manufactured in the UK as well.

Porsche seems to be more like MMC than many would think, yes they design the cars, but they also assemble the bodies, design and build the engines on the same site, offer the same level of trim and finish options as Morgan, but unlike the Morgan Plus Four the price starts at £53,000 and goes up to £123,000. The Morgan Plus Four starts at £70,104 and goes up to the same sort of figure as the Porsche Boxster.

I understand that a basic PlusFour is available almost ex stock, a Boxster is 12 months delivery.
Used Plus Fours seem to be easily available, used Boxsters are less easy to find.

Porsche has 46 UK Porsche Centres, Morgan has a lot fewer. Both have a large support of aftermarket supporters and independents but it does seem that the Porsche Dealer Network is made up of well financed substantial companies, the local one is part of Inchcape plc.

It seems to me that MMC needs to cut £15,000 from the base price and strengthen the dealer network. Do that and I may return, the PlusFour is a great car, but not at £90k for a well optioned one.

Sorry Italinvest, it just doesn't add up.

In what way doesnt it add up Peter? There is really no meaningfull comparison to be made in my view. The Morgan , even the Plus Four, is a faux classic in style with limited dynamic performance and the poor quality control that comes with a low volume " hand built" ( not really but still) assembly. It sells to people who want something different and who are enthusiastic enough to put up with its foibles. The Porche (or at least the Boxter ) on the other hand is a mass produced rather bland offering often sold to non enthusiasts who buy into the name and dont mind being just one of thousands.Dynamically in a different league to the Morgan. The Lotus is a much better comparator for the Porsche since at least Lotus are trying to make a serious performance car.

A better comparison for Morgan would be with the sort of cars that Suffolk sports cars used to make.

Apologies but I don't see how anyone who knows anything about cars can say the Boxster is bland and for non-enthusiasts. It is dynamically one of the best handling chassis bar a supercar, runs circles around everything in it's class and many above it and considering how many cars Porsche builds, it's quite low in production numbers. Pound for pound you will struggle to find another car that is so capable and shoots well above its weight.

Every OEM with an enthusiast following has people who buy a car with only the intention of wanting to be in the brand.