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Most Online1,046 Aug 24th, 2023
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Joined: Sep 2008
Posts: 952 Likes: 89
formerly known as Hugh Jorgan Talk Morgan Regular
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formerly known as Hugh Jorgan Talk Morgan Regular
Joined: Sep 2008
Posts: 952 Likes: 89 |
I agree, the quality is massively increased, it is night and day different to a trad car......is it better........🤷🏻♂️??? To be honest though they had a pretty low target to beat.....
It is, in itself, for a morgan, a really good car..... However.... compared to the competition it's very average at best.
The Morgan trad's quirky, leaky, rattly, low tech, impractical, outdated, vintage look, vintage feel, variable quality, readily personalizable nature is what make/made them such a special motoring experience. Unique in this day and age. A USP that kept the factory busy and sales brisk for decades.
I accept that the factory/Italians felt they needed to 'move on' and update but I still feel very strongly that they lost the 'special-ness'. MMC carried on stubbornly building a car that was decades out of date, bucking the trend of the rest of the world's motor manufacturers who rushed to modernise and embrace progress.
MMC.... stick to what you're good at, building relatively cheap, lightweight, low tech, fun cars. Leave all the rest to the big boys. I reckon you have it 180 degrees out. The history book of british motoring is absolutely full of names where the maker didnt modernise and embrace progress. Just go to any classic car meet to see what I mean. I hope Morgan will be the exception but I fear not when a new Plus 6 costs more than a 911. Premium pricing for a non premium product is a route to failure - Rover tried it as the last gasp. Not to mention Alvis, Jenson etc. In my youth in the 60s I was a petrol head and I would look at Morgans as the equivalent to the MGB, Healey 3000, TR etc. Similar price, similar performance and even similar engineering. You cannot realistically say that the old Trad was similar to the MX5 as the MGB' current replacement. This of course is all from a business perspective - there is no rational accounting for some of the owner emotions seen on TM Morgans only hope of survival was to NOT modernise, Not to embrace progress. One of the reasons that they did survive the 40's, 50's, 60's, 70's, when almost every other British car manufacturer failed, was their dogged determination to make exactly the same car they'd been making since the 30's. Other than engines they hardly changed anything for over 80 years.....! Steady increase in output, selling everything they made, loyal customer base, giving the customer what they wanted at a price they could afford.......surely that's a business model to stick with...? I know that the modern business mentality is for growth, expansion, progress, profit etc etc, the Italians are demonstrating that, they won't be doing it 80 years time though....!
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Joined: Aug 2020
Posts: 2,791 Likes: 160
Talk Morgan Expert
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Talk Morgan Expert
Joined: Aug 2020
Posts: 2,791 Likes: 160 |
Whilst there appears to be an improvement in quality, and the finished cars look great in the showrooms, we are still seeing issues of water ingress through the seals etc., which even the most basic inexpensive late 70's BL sports car when new eg MG Midget could achieve water tightness in the heaviest of showers.
Maybe its time to move on from the very simple windscreen frame and hood attachment setup and also take the opportunity provide greater roll over protection from the front screen arrangement. Even my 80's and 90's ( over 40 years ago) Mercedes cabriolets provided considerable roll over protection, in the unlikely event that happened.
Last edited by JohnHarris; 06/04/24 08:34 AM.
Prev '12 Plus 4 Sport OZZY '08 Roadster FELIX '06 4/4 70th LOKI '77 4/4 SEAMUS '85 4/4 MOLLY
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Joined: Jul 2019
Posts: 4,607 Likes: 192
Part of the Furniture
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Part of the Furniture
Joined: Jul 2019
Posts: 4,607 Likes: 192 |
I came from years of air cooled Porsche ownership then via a return to m/cycling to then have the good fortune to become the owner of a Trad Morgan when in search of a pseudo vintage driving experience without the cost of buying a true vintage sports car more than capable of keeping up with the then modern traffic ( mid 90`s) . Having spent a few decades of restoring repairing and maintaining my own machinery, I was quite well acquainted with the occasional spanner and hammer etc.
I knew little about Morgans other than they ever caught my eye.. (-: . Fortunately the MSCC had at the time created a discussion group which I joined in the hope of being educated by Morgan owners/enthusiasts as to the highs and possible lows in the variations available in the Morgan model range as might be available on my limited means..Very fortunately there were Mog bods a plenty who were more than happy to assist me to become acquainted with the reality of Morgan ownership, the mix of fun and foibles came as no real surprise, given my experience of Brit sports cars gained over many hands-on years, having in the past gone off in search of engineering improvement and finding that in my years as a Porsche fan.
I guess much of the frustration I have read over the years on the forums is down to the evolution in expectations, and to expect the MMC to get close to or even match the output of the car industry as it rapidly modernised it`s assembly lines... well..err.. seems a tad misguided..?
I was most fortunate to be put on to an Morgan enthusiast who was selling a +8 he had taken apart and rebuilt to his own ideal specification, which was gained from his years in the motor trade as a Morgan enthusiast, thus he ironed out the usual foibles creating a fine Morgan using stainless fixings while maintaining the original concept of design. My good lady and I enjoyed a few years touring and covering quite a few thousand miles in Southern Europe, in high temperatures without overheating or much in the way of the usual foibles and none that I could not handle, replacement fan belt, and a cracked rubber elbow that had hardened after a few years ( My bad), all of which were sorted out in jig time and we were then on our way., such was the simplicity of the Trad which greatly appealed to my usual self reliant personality. That my mid 80`s +8 proved to be reliable, watertight enough, other than one little drip, and comfortable in the vintage sense for a couple in their fifties seeking a bit of adventure while touring, seems to suggest that the MMC knew what they were about in filling a niche in the market for a "special" type of customer with a different set of priorities from those with mass market expectations..?
Apparently time and tide wait for no man, no matter how Luddite the tendencies..(-: Modern Morgans have evolved as indeed they had to, with ever more of their vintage simplicity being sacrificed to better match modern-day expectations, even Trads evolved in time to loose some aspects of their hand crafted metalwork, engine emissions evolved to be cleaned up using EFI in place of carburettors, bling enough to suit even those who had been died in the wool Morgan buyers for decades, and who`s priorities too had also evolved in the passage of time.
As ever each to their own, and it seems even robotic production of mundanemobiles and supercars can get it wrong given the examples of manufacturers recalls... And my relatively modern 991 Porsche is not without occasional maintenance issues and at a cost far in excess of anything ever spent on my air cooled 911`s over the years... The old Mog...? Still as reliable as ever though seldom used due to my aging frame, while it`s frame seems as good as it was when I bought it...Last time I had it out the experience of being back in it, exceed the level of enjoyment/involvement in the short drive found in my also seldom used 991 on the same day....! Perhaps from that recent experience, it seems that I may not have been far off the mark when in the mid 90`s I thought a Morgan might provide more of a degree of driver involvement at road legal speeds, than the then new Porsche which had evolved to become far more comfortable and performant to be enjoyed at anything near it`s max performance on the then Queens highway..?
Each to their own works for me, choosing to go Morgan is perhaps best done with just a bit of investigation beforehand, from other than those gifted sales types who have a totally different set of priorities...?
Fortunately there exists TM and GoMoG .com to assist those in search of real world education on matters Morgan...And to help refresh and correct old codgers such as I who tend to forget that which we once thought we knew... (-:
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Joined: Oct 2016
Posts: 84
Just Getting Started
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OP
Just Getting Started
Joined: Oct 2016
Posts: 84 |
Appears reserve price not met
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Joined: Aug 2006
Posts: 1,032 Likes: 10
Has a lot to Say!
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Has a lot to Say!
Joined: Aug 2006
Posts: 1,032 Likes: 10 |
Well new Plus Four Model announcement coming 10am BST 10th April….according to Morgan’s instagram page..
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Joined: Jul 2007
Posts: 26,747 Likes: 419
Member of the Inner Circle
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Member of the Inner Circle
Joined: Jul 2007
Posts: 26,747 Likes: 419 |
Big lights with squared off mudguards and 10% more I guess
JohnV6 2022 CX Plus Four 2025 MG ZS EV aka Trigger
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Joined: May 2017
Posts: 1,526 Likes: 37
Talk Morgan Enthusiast
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Talk Morgan Enthusiast
Joined: May 2017
Posts: 1,526 Likes: 37 |
Perhaps that date was an error -meant to read 1-4-24 for new model ......
99 plus 8 indigo
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Joined: Jan 2010
Posts: 1,793 Likes: 47
Talk Morgan Enthusiast
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Talk Morgan Enthusiast
Joined: Jan 2010
Posts: 1,793 Likes: 47 |
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Joined: Jan 2010
Posts: 1,793 Likes: 47
Talk Morgan Enthusiast
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Talk Morgan Enthusiast
Joined: Jan 2010
Posts: 1,793 Likes: 47 |
Last edited by Jon G4LJW; 10/04/24 09:32 AM.
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