Talk Morgan Forums Morgan Sports Cars Classic Morgans (pre-CX) What do classic 4/4s actually sell for currently?

I tend to agree with your 2nd theory:

Using my son and Susie’s son as examples:
I offered my 4/4 to my son (albeit he lives in NZ).
“No thanks Dad” he had a number of reasons. He loves travelling in the 4/4 when he’s in the UK, but has no wish to own one.
His ideal fun vehicle would be his converted Japanese camper van.

Susie’s son (based in the UK) drives a Mazda MX5 alongside his Nissan Qashqui.
Air con/ easy to drive/ leak free and easy to erect hood.
Again, he admires the 4/4 but has no desire to own one.

So, as Derek Mathewson says so often “we’re a dying breed”?


No point worrying about it, in my opinion.
We’re lucky to have the pleasure of owning our Morgans. Just enjoy them, the friends you have made and the adventures they’ve taken you



Bud
4/4 - Stanley

Well having just purchased a late 2012 Plus 4 Euro 5a with less than 5k miles, that had been in storage for 4 + years following a bereavement, but prior to that a good service history, purchased from a independent SE car dealership for only £24k with 3 months RTB warranty, the market without question is not what it was.

Whilst it has been serviced before sale etc. it off to Matty at Life's on Monday for a full inspection and service. It will need a new set of tyres, but other than that it goes really well, the ride is amazingly compliant better than any other recent Morgan I've had. Even allowing for the service and tyres I've paid well under prices being asked at Morgan dealerships for a similar low mileage car.

It's rumoured to have been owned by a member of the Kurdish Royal family, although not documented, it was stored in their London garage facility and I found some discarded papers in the very bottom of the rear section that appear to be in Kurdish.

Having bought the 70th and Roadster 4 seater from mainstream Morgan dealers, I wasn't that impressed by the level of preparation/presentation, age/condition of the tyres so replaced them. Within a short time, had to get rear suspension replaced and had a radiator go just outside of the short warranty period. The 70th had one spark plug break off in the cylinder head, they were so rusted in and I paid good money for both cars with full service history.

So in my recent experience it can sometimes be a bit of a lottery out there, full service history stamped book without accompanying invoices to see what was actually done, can be very misleading, spark plugs have to be replaced at 60k miles, many are not even removed and inspected at the annual service, hence they may rust into the head snapping off on removal, .

Coming back to earlier Morgans bear in mind that earlier short door cars can be more challenging to get in and out as you get older and what Euro spec the car is can be very important if you live in or regularly travel in eg Greater London, Birmingham, Glasgow, Bath etc with the emission charging systems in place. This is IMHO impacting on and depressing prices in the wider modern classic and many mainstream pre Euro4 cars are just not moving like they used too. When you test drive the cars, most dealers have a preferred route that's usually nice and smooth, go drive down a less smooth road to test the compliance of the suspension and the resultant ride quality.

Though an even older one (historic 40+years) somehow feels more vintage and a lot of the pesky paperwork (and ULEZ type restrictions ) don't apply 😀

K

Sounds like you've found yourself an excellent car (or ئۆتۆمبیلێکی نایاب as they say in Kurdish)

Re servicing, my car has had a mix of main dealer and independent services, all stamped in the book (which has too few pages -- I made additional ones, and can still supply the template
-- see some of my very early posts).

Just curious as to what TM'ers understand by an "Inspection Service" which crops up from time to time, just kinda walk around the car and poke things, and issue an expensive invoice ? Or are there specific items it must cover ?

That's very true at the moment, but things may well change and all cars may start to fall within emissions charging regime, for example EV previously exempt are becoming chargeable in London. Lets see what happens on the road charges etc.

L, I suspect that in general the corrosion issues that can occur even in garage stored vehicles, may be down to the rate of change in temperatures on this small landmass surrounded by sea. I suspect condensation plays it`s part, even on tools left in garages....

I also remember well that despite your very high miles covered compared to most, that your Morgan ever gleamed better than new.... I on the other hand admire a degree of patina, a machine that wears a measure of it`s history even the occasional battle scar, as ever, each to their own...(-:

Jon, I suspect you have the right idea, when you typed now or never, and sad to say my Mog has spent most of my ownership sitting in my garage, due to other priorities in life, however just knowing it was there, and every time I went to the garage for this that or the other there is sat looking wonderful despite being surrounded with building materials, cement mixer, lawnmowers et al.... I suspect when I drop off the perch, it could be worth next to nothing to anyone, but then I am unlikely to care..(-:

I think the 4/4 is an excellent choice for a trad, had I not gone for the +8, it would have been a 4/4 for me..Good point that the wide door cars provide simpler access/egress, though I do like the simplicity of earlier cars, and never had trust in the MMC`s use or even understanding of digital electronics, given the times they often created foul ups on basic wiring on pre digital morgans...But then I am more at home with a hammer than a programmer... (-;

Be wary of the value of any guarantee, hard enough to get satisfaction with a new and very expensive car at times let alone one 25 years old or more... By on condition, condition, and lastly CONDITION... and if you do not have the skill to manage that... find a Morgan type who does..

L. is the only guy I know who does loads of miles and maintains his Mog as he does. So many folk can not enjoy their Classics once they restore them to perfection, thus live in fear of driving them, lest a stone might chip the paint... Seeking perfection and the desire to maintain it, can lead one up a blind alley..? I know plenty of enthusiasts who ended up there..!!!

The search can be great fun and very educational, it took circa 5 years of saving and research before I bought my Mog in 2002....

As before, I hope you find a good un, there will be plenty out there, and even a good un may still need a degree of cash spent on it to re-comission it.

Research..? That you turned up here was a good move, I suspect if you have not already visited that should you care to beam up gomog.com, you will find answers to questions you never thought to ask...(-:

So after a lot of thought I think where I'm heading is that it would be better to save and spend more, and buy a newer mog, probably half the age, and Euro emissions compliant. It might be next year instead of this as a result, but in the long term I think it might be a more sensible route to head down.....

I do worry the mogs I can currently afford, which are not Euro 4 or old enough for it not to matter, may be in difficult territory on this front and I'd prefer not to buy a car that I know is already not welcomed in some towns both here and on the continent (where I also intend to take it).

I'm bitten by the bug though having driven a few (they're all different!), and actually not new to Morgans anyway because as as child in the 70s my pocket money was partly dependent upon how well I cleaned my dad's 4/4 4 seater... Including the wretched wire wheels! On that front if anyone here knows the whereabouts of WWM 864 M do let me know! I put a lot of effort into that car.....

Cheers,

Jon

Same thing happened with Propane years ago, people were encouraged to go gas no tax so was cheaper than petrol once it got popular tax applied death of propane. Can see taxing electric severely affecting sales.

Jon, only you will know when the time is right..at least you can make use of the time to bring your Morgan education right up to date given all that is available on the www.. Good luck in your choices..

TAX...I guess there may be a lot more tax to come, if there might be any chance of ever balancing the books..? I think I watched a vid that suggested the average across the UK/US population seems to be that we may have arrived at lifestyle expectations, that exceed household income by a factor of seven times....all be it that it perhaps took quite a few decades of off-shoring and acceptance of easy money to build expectations to that extent...?

As for EV`s, I suspect those with home charging, and or workplace charging who may run a full EV as opposed to a hybrid, and find it works for them, may be unlikely to change back to ICE regardless of expected tax changes....?

Seems to me political parties are ever balancing their desire to stay in power against their other personal and political ideals..? Tough decisions at the outset of their term in power followed up by easing to be pleasing, the nearer to election time..?

Jon,


All Morgan's do have some form of potential issue, with the earlier cars pre cuprinol treatment of the frame . chassis not galvanised, steel bulk heads and inner wings, have a propensity to rust and frames deteriorate often requiring rebuilding at some point. Later cars with better corrosion resistance still have potential problems eg PCB, EGR even the last GDI engines have gumming up issues , sagging rear springs, you still get rust bubbling on some of the latest trad and CX cars . Some trads have lower ground clearance than on earlier cars and so on But taking your time and working out what is the best for you, what model year and car to go for taking both potential for issues and the cost of ownership and daily running cost eg exposure to emissions charges and so on, especially if you want to tour are all things to consider,

I've had 3 4/4's and enjoyed them all, I've gone for a 2012 Plus 4 for the Duratec engine, Mazda gearbox and still galvanised chassis and must admit even though I had a more powerful Roadster, I'm finding the balance of the Plus 4 extra power over the 4/4 very enjoyable and more usable than I did in the Roadster, although ultimately the Roadsters are a flying machine limited by the chassis.

I know in the next few years, I'll be moving to a CX auto, just for the time being I'm enjoying stirring the gearbox, but if I want to continental tour again then a CX will fit my needs more and Sue can drive it more easily than a trad. Best of luck with your search.