Talk Morgan Forums Community The Malvern Arms Is The Seven Year Itch At Play?

Yup.
You got it in one.

Still get as much pleasure driving as I always have done. I tend to avoid motorways, not due to fear or vulnerability (I ride bikes after all) but I find them very boring and get annoyed at idiot middle lane hoggers.

I remember as a youth, really enjoying driving from Worcester to Cambridge in my old Mk3 Spitfire on the old A roads. Interestingly the route took me through Higham Ferrers - little did I think I'd be living very close some 30 years later. I still take the same route when I go back to Worcester and have the same enjoyment - Daventry, Southam, Stratford etc. and the same the other direction to Cambridge - KImbolton, St Neots etc. Great little A roads, with some lovely twisties to keep you on your toes. Mind you, I don't treat the roads like a race track, and I'm usually sticking pretty close to the speed limit. I'm sure if I wanted to hoon around at top speed I might get frustrated at other drivers, and be unable to avoid the odd pothole but I don't. In fact the only frustration is when I come across a bunch of old duffers, stuffed into lycra, cycling two abreast with a 3 mile queue of snail pace traffic behind them as everyone is far too scared to ovetake them.

Due to obvious reasons I'll never sell my Morgan, but I'm really glad I got rid of the old Corsa and replaced it with the GT. Sometimes I wish I didn't have to keep fettling (the GT heater matrix has just started leaking), but having experienced the detached and sanitised version of motoring provided by modern cars such as the Golf Hybrid, I'm very glad I have something older and a bit more visceral. As I said in another thread, bar the 356, you can keep your Porsches - again, all a bit too sanitised and safe for me (although I will admit the GT3RS was a bit of a hooligan at times).

Couldn't agree more with regards to many of the modern Porsches, go back to earlier models like my '88 930 Turbo Cabriolet with only ABS (safety system), mine was the last of the 4 speed gearboxes and you couldn't get a more visceral car, that would try to spin you around and have you going backwards into a hedgerow at every opportunity, A very easy car to drive fast in a straight line, but a real handful thru bends, especially when the turbo spooled up and could catch the unwary out very quickly. Despite all its mod cons like air conditioning, being an air cooled engine the heater was so crude (thru the heat exchanger) never worked well from new and on occasion if the heater was left on , would send a fire ball of heat into the footwell, enough to almost melt your shoes every time the turbo spooled up .I've had some quick cars in my time but the 930 was undoubtedly the one most likely to require a change of underwear, yet most rewarding when driven well at the close to the limit.

I remember when the Boxster first came out in '96 (from memory) I went for a test drive in one and it was a good car, a bit small for my 6'2'' frame as my head was well above the top of the screen frame (not good if you rolled it over).

Having spent some months travelling the US on a Harley, it is a great place to tour with some fantastic scenery, but also some very flat boring straight roads necessary to cover the great distances to get anywhere, the sheer vast emptiness can sometimes become overwhelming..........

I've found over time my motoring needs have changed as I've gotten older, I'm physically less able to savour covering vast distances eg as I did on say my Harleys riding 8 to 10 hours a day. day in day out, in all sorts of weather. I'm also less tolerant of traffic and speed as my reflexes lose some of their edge, Add in the changes in the density of traffic over the years and the long delays, holdups and tailbacks one regularly experiences these days ( or maybe I'm growing less patient when I experience them), has removed some of the enjoyment of driving I used to experience.

Or maybe its just a case of very little has really changed ,and I've conveniently forgotten about the saddle soreness you experience after a day on the bike or the heat from the Harley engine that burnt your thighs and so on. Or the hours you would spend in holiday traffic heading down for the south west, with my rose tinted glasses on.

Peter, John.....
Covid first. The psychological influence slowed down lifestyles and recovery time to pre-Covid varied from person to person. The changes it introduced are still there with working from home that is still there for some, back of the mind thoughts on where/when/how we travel. Personally I have regained near full pre-Covid confidence with a few “shall I?” thoughts if considering some out of the ordinary trips.
Now the Plus Four. Last year I did the same trip as this year but in the two different cars. Yes, DIFFERENT. Still Morgans but subtle ( more some than others) differences. Comfort and ride quality better. Seats better with more adjustments for length, back rake, pump up bladder. Performance better ( yes due to more bhp and turbo with kick down giving great punch). Economy significantly better. Tank capacity a minor issue as using the 250 mile guide to plan refuelling, doing +/- 200 miles a day meant basically filling up when near the hotel at the end of the run. No big deal. Back home, used for everyday including going to golf etc.. The Plus8 sound is gone but that is no real loss ( heresy I hear you say). The auto option gives easy driving but the manual shift options are there if wanted. I have only done a few short Sport/Sport+/paddle sessions so still learning that aspect. Kickdown gives a punch. I can visualise why some Plus6 test drives ended in disaster for over enthusiastic inexperience might have led to loss of control. Taking your time to build up a feel for the car is the way to go. I intend doing some tests on local known roads for learning Sport/Sport+/paddle driving.
So, John, I think the car in auto is an easy drive with comfort. Well worth looking at for both of you to drive.
The cost! I don’t regret it. It has meant I can stay in Morgan ownership in a modern version.
sospan

All very interesting, thought provoking and comments that resonated a lot.

I think for me it is down to changing what I find enjoyable for the limited time I have for a drive plus also a desire to make new memories in a different way if that makes sense. I had the privilege of going through the spec process, watching the build etc. At the moment I think others around me get more joy out of seeing it than I do for what little use it gets. If funds could allow I would get the vehicle I am keen to get into but I can not justify having a third car when it's just me.

I've placed an ad on here earlier today and hope it gets approved soon. I know I will 100% have sellers remorse but I can look forward to new adventures.

For those wondering, it's a Defender 90 that I am eyeing up. I had a Puma a few years back which I sold for the 718 Porsche. Won't bore you with the reasoning behind that! However, while I totally enjoyed my stint with Porsche, I never stopped looking back at the Defender I sold and to this day an Aintree Green Defender 90 has me whipping my head to get a look! In a way, it ticks a few boxes that drove me to Morgan. Quintessentially British, hand made, questionable build quality from time to time and flawed in many ways. But the love there is strong!

I recently sold my Morgan after 6 years plus of ownership. On two occasions I removed the advert from sale worrying about sellers remorse etc. In the end I let it go which was horrible to see it being driven off down the road.

I sold it because the wife would no longer join me in the car, she says it’s too uncomfortable. All was good in 2017 when I first bought it, we went out quite a lot together. Over the last few years I was using it less and less, and I couldn’t justify the value of the car sat in the garage not being used as it should. I know some on here would say it’s ok to go out on your own, but it didn’t feel right for me.

The plan was to buy something else for both to enjoy, but there’s nothing jumping out at me to buy and my garage is still empty.

So far I’m ok with no Mog, ask me in a few months time and I might feel different.

I know exactly where you are coming from! Every time I have sold off one of my Land Rovers I have ended up looking for another within a year. The present one stays until I can no longer drive. Have thought of selling the 4/4 several times as I hardly use it, but it's now the wrong time of year, so it will get a few runs out before next spring, then we'll see. It mostly boils down to the struggle to exit (no problem entering, hood down) and the necessity of wearing a different set of (narrow) footwear so I won't use it for short trips,

100% agree with all. I am not in a rush to sell and as you say, it's not the best time of the year to do so. Plus I have seen Defender prices starting to creep down a tad. It's amazing some delivery miles examples are still making their way into the market. Let's see. I have two retailers looking to buy it but I am not holding my breath in regards to being offered a decent amount.

I also played with the idea of buying a slightly older Defender and keep the 4/4 but I'll be in the same situation, a car sat in the garage which gets washed and looked at more than driven...hehe.

I must admit I've never understood the lure of a Land Rover, but there again I don't move in motoring circles that do enjoy them. Best of luck with your sale, hopefully there is a Defender out there with your name on it.

My Morgan’s future with me is safe, despite the reduced frequency of use, it seems I still use it enough to justify keeping it. It still provides some priceless one to one experiences with the other three members of my family, we all enjoy it and after owning it for so long, any further depreciation won’t matter.

A Morgan owning friend and business colleague died this week. It’s a sad tale, he started in his youth as a salesman for a company for whom he is now the UK director, only a few weeks from retirement, a whole lifetime dedicated to this career. A lesson to all, make the best of your time,

On a lighter note and with regards to car related itching, just to cheer you all up and sweep away this doom and gloom, I bought another Ferrari yesterday.

To recap, the first one was great, owned it for twelve years, thrashed it to 55k miles, suddenly decided I’d prefer a convertible version. The next one, not so great, owned it for two weeks did 75 miles, sold it back and enjoyed 6%APR on the money. Half thought my time of fast cars had passed, but no, still fancied one. Phoned round a couple of suitable cars which to be honest, aren’t exactly flying off the shelf, made a few low offers and hey presto, one dealer took the deal. Compared to Ferrari 2, Ferrari 3 is another year newer, 6k mikes instead of 9k and £10k cheaper. I might live to regret it but even that’s preferable to not living at all.