Talk Morgan Forums Community The Malvern Arms What influenced your car purchase decision making.

Reading through NickCW`s excitement relative to his very fortunate acquisition of a Aero 8 GTN as perhaps being a boyhood dream come true, quite by chance I came across a vid of a similar situation, though in this case unfortunately not a Morgan but a Ferrari.... and by a regular YouTuber who has driven a multitude of impressive machines in his time. Perhaps worth watching as other than the usual presenting "skills" it does seem that he might just be really excited by achieving a particular life goal..?



On a more personal note, when the Mog was perhaps demanding more from my ageing physiology than seemed ideal and now in my 70`s, I thought to return to 911 ownership as a more comfortable option.. It took 2 or more years to eventually dismiss the idea of buying an air cooled 911 as those I had owned in past times, as I wrestled with the likely realities, and of course the cost/benefit analysis relative to the reality of buying into the type of car on which I spent rather a lot of my time repairing corrosion damage on some 30 or so years back..! What might any such machine really be like today, and at a cost far in excess of my evaluation of their worth.. and in a then climbing market...!!!

I baled out and started looking at water cooled 911 derivatives.... Long story short... I bought a 911 derivative in the form of a 991.1 C4S. I suspect this vid (link below) helped me decide that there was history and heritage enough in the 991 to risk buying into this particular version of water cooled Porsches...

I suspect history and heritage is perhaps something that many a Morgan enthusiast contemplates when buying, the foibles disregarded as nothing other than a slight inconvenience, and part of the Morgan experience...?

The Porsche vid is a bit shorter at just under 8 minutes..



The 991 C4S unless driven on challenging roads and in a style similar to that which Henry piloted it in the vid, does not quite match up to my failing memories of my 60`s 70`s and 80`s air cooled 911`s though I suspect the levels of safety, comfort and digital decision making of the 991 may be better suited to the old man I have become....

I find when I reflect on those bedroom wall car pinups of my youth, that not only has more modern car design and driving experience become increasingly removed from my youthful experiences and expectations, that I also have moved on in my needs and wants in driving a car these days, in a very different driving landscape today compared with my youth.

Too often back in the day when we couldn't afford the car of our dreams, we would absorb all the motoring journalists material often waxing lyrical of the driving experience of the said pin up car, creating this image of the driving experience, which many years on we often found to be somewhat economical in roundness and completeness of the total driving experience, often leading to a crestfallen disappointment when eventually achieving that boyhood dream.

When in reality a well maintained classic hasn't really changed in the intervening period, if it was a pig to drive when new, it most likely still is now, and often it is us or our expectations that evolve and change over time and the car basically remains as it was, often over hyped by journalistic hyperbole in its day.


Then again, with the passage of time I tend to wear increasing rose tinted glasses when relating to the driving experiences certain cars gave me often many decades ago, as we in part try to relive our youth.


Some things you shouldn't visit/revisit as the first/ second time around often disappoints. as we build up an expectation that can rarely truly be realised.

Wise words John, it's like going back out with an old girlfriend, to quote BB King if I may " The Thrill has gone" although I still enjoy driving my '55 XK 140 o.t.s. but I have to admit there are times when the train seems a much more sensible option. There are no new cars that I can afford that excite me.

When I had a Ford Anglia, I wanted a sports car.
When I had an MG Midget. I wanted a Lotus Elan/Europa TR5/6 or TVR. I came close but never did.
When I had a Dolomite 1850 I wanted a Sprint. I never did.
And so it went on, because whatever you drive, you will aspire.

In those early days I made lots of bad decisions and changed often. Once after six months.
I drove a lot of cars, because I had a friend in the trade. I was impressed by cars such as a Daimler Double Six, Capri 3000, And surprisingly the Rover 2000, which was such an armchair ride.

At some point new car design lost me. New cars became over complicated and sanitised. And so I started to chose more wisely, and keep much longer, which is how I still operate. 20 years is not unusual.
Nothing new engages me now, it's all too bland and samey. So if I did change, it would be something older, but I see no reason to change anything!

John .... maybe the original testers weren't too untruthful ... the standards have changed ... the 'razor-sharp handling and good brakes' of back in the day that seem poor when revisited as a Classic are now being compared to a landscape where half the cars in Tesco's carpark would kick the butt of firebreathing classic supercars.

Lowebird ... you need more interesting girlfriends! ... if you're not scared they're not the one! 🙂

DaveW ... totally agree ... I might replace the Rover 75 estate (spiritual successor to the 2000 in the express-armchair stakes) with a bland-mobile as the niche it fills is 'everyday hack' ... but I'm not inspired to buy much that's about new for interest.... and those (like the Alpine) that look interesting are all too complicated and costly to tip my hand.

K

Between us SWMBO and I have owned 151 cars, minimum 2 and maximum 7 at any one time. The current crop of 5 were all bought for ‘sensible’ reasons. My Q5 tows our caravan and with 4 wheel drive also acts as our ‘bad weather’ transport. SWMBO has a BMW active tourer hybrid that suits her frequent short journeys rather well. My MX5 is just a magnificent machine that is worth so little it’s not worth parting with yet does everything it was designed to do extremely well. The TR7 was a whim because I haven’t had one and wanted to see if the bad press was deserved - it wasn’t. The Morgan - because it’s a Morgan and I wanted one since I was 11. Not including repairs the lot costs around £2500 per year (tax, mot and insurance), I do all the work on my toys myself, the BMW has a service plan and the Audi service costs £3-400 every 2 years

When we were working we also had a ‘skip car’ that did exactly what its name suggested but SWMBO also used when see needed to visit some less glamorous locations for work.

I once bought an MX5 and MGF at the same time because I wanted to see which I thought was best then sell the other.

Best car I ever owned was a BMW 5 series tourer and worst was a Ford C max, I enjoyed my Boxster but found every fool wanted a race. I built a show standard MGB but didn’t enjoy owning it as I didn’t want it getting scratched or dirty. Converted two MGBs to Rover V8 and they were fun. Had a Volvo 240 for a month, truly awful car but massive load carrying capacity. I’ve done alright financially with my toys but lost thousands on day cars.

Few regrets; selling the 5 series, parting with a TR6 for a stag, buying an early X1 and Mini Countryman all 4, not owning a 911 (yet)

Bit of a ramble, sorry

K, I prefer economical, as journalists still to this day require access to the manufacturers and their cars for their job. I've not lost sight of the improvements over the years eg when I had an ABS equipped car and most others on the road weren't and the difference in braking distances especially when braking sharply at higher speeds on the motorway, I was very aware of not collecting someone up my backside., as I could brake much shorter distance.

I was fortunate to know (thru my father) the owner of the local Jaguar dealer, who collected racing cars and traded in supercars and had many a test drive in some of the great classics of the day from Ford GT40's , Ferrari's and Lamborghinis etc. and the most overriding memories are hot cockpits, poor visibility, fragile and temperamental heavy gearboxes and engines, with the very occasional and exceptional ride, but overriding unsuitability for urban conurbations and their dense traffic even back then, which many of us spend much of our driving life on, Not many of us don't spend our lives doing fast cross continental tours many of these cars were designed for, so an issue of correct in part horses for courses

I don't mind some of the technical advances over the years, I'll take a fully synchromesh gearbox or a modern automatic over some of the earlier gearboxes requiring double declutching or fitted a Borg Warner 3 speed auto. I don't miss the 3000 mile service intervals or possibility of having to decoke an engine, or cross ply tyres.. Where I do agree is the modern electronics built in obsolescence of modern cars, can frustrate extending the economic life cycle of a car, which would be serviceable otherwise..

Nothing changes in the past it was poor body protection from corrosion that saw many a car off.

I have hankered after very few cars. I did really fancy an Elan +2 and loved it. Before that a TR6 came and went when I started to see it rust. I only bought it as two 2cv cars fell victim to head on collisions. The Morgan was a slow burn as I lived in Ealing and every day walked past that famous shop window. I was looking in one day and a chap came out and asked if I would like to come in. The idea just took root and thirty odd years later , I was out today in the Roadster enjoying it just as much as ever. Most disappointing experience has been a new Fiat 500. Years ago I rented one and thought it was brilliant then last week tried another. Chalk and cheese. A shame as an electric one might have been fun.

Morgans.....born into them!

Everyday driver....was performance now running costs. When I bought the daily driver, I checked the cost of a pair of tyres, cambelt and waterpump kit and an annual service. Went for a 5 year old Skoda Octavia 2.0 litre estate with just under 40,000 on it

Our local Facebook market place is littered with premium marques which the owners could not afford to maintain with minimal service history and dubious part worn tyres - maybe a case of champagne lifestyle, lemonade budget?

Arwyn

Slightly different angle from me.
I always benefited from company cars, right upto retirement.
My need for speed was satisfied with me working alongside the motorcycle industry.

However, in my late 40s I bought a (then new) Audi TT 225 coupe.
Lovely car, but I hankered after a roadster of some kind. Also the Audi tempted me to drive too fast.

A Morgan was at the top of my list, for a soft top car; partly because of its simplicity and partly influenced by my parents living in Ledbury, so factory cars were a regular sight.
At the age of 55 I became the proud owner of my Zetec 4/4

The 4/4 suits me perfectly, which is why 19 years later, I still own the same car.
It has taken us to many fantastic places and has been the catalyst for many new friendships.

Bud
4/4 - Stanley