Talk Morgan Forums Community The Malvern Arms Trad prices ..versus owners dreams..

Thanks Richard, I found it and yes it is extremely nice. I now remember drooling over the pictures of it in the how to clean a car thread. I also really liked Craig's car, it was also stunning, I remember when he did the brake calliper stickers, they looked great.

Taken form Collins:
"Unique is normally taken to describe an absolute state, i.e. one that cannot be qualified. Thus something is either unique or not unique; it cannot be rather unique or very unique. However, unique is sometimes used informally to mean very remarkable or unusual and this makes it possible to use comparatives or intensifiers with it, although many people object to this use."
I take it we are being informal here, although I am one of those many people.

Of course aren't we always informal. I'm glad to see that Collins amongst other sources supports my earlier explanation as to the uses of the word unique and its ability to be less than absolute.............It's amazing how word usage moves away from its original intention and application over time..........I did smile hence the LOL when you pointed it out.

Thread drift warning.

Talking about how word usage moves away from its original intention I am wondering about something that my mum just said. I phoned her to say my son just gave his partner an engagement ring so they are now engaged. Her reply was "They should have just jumped on the old Lady" She then said bedtime and hung up. She has said a lot of odd stuff lately and most people think she is just losing the plot, she certainly is getting confused a lot lately and keeping me very busy taking her to doctors appointments etc. as she needs me to help remind her what the doctor said.

She grew up in London and moved to Australia when I was 14 months old and while everyone else in the family (all who grew up here) thinks she has just gone senile I have a feeling she might be using UK sayings from maybe the 1940's and 1950's. I know that my mum feels my son and partner should have got married seeing they now have two children so I am wondering does "Jump on the old Lady" in old London talk mean get married or has mum just lost the plot?


Now drifting back on topic.

Reading this thread I have been thinking about my MGB, its future value and usage. I have now done 5,500km and the car has only rarely gone to a shopping centre as I don't want it to get door dinged or bumped by trolley etc. I have been taking opportunities to use it as much as I can while I can. After my accident that left me on crutches for 4 months and then my wife's brain tumour (luckily benign) I feel life is too short to not enjoy the car, the resale might drop but that will matter less if I have had a lot of fun while I am able to. As DaveW says - "Get out there and put some mileage on".

I really don't know what to think will happen in the future to its value, the market for a Frontline style MGB in Australia would be tiny, but as labour goes up the cost of building one will go up so if someone wants one they either have to pay even more than I did and wait or hope one comes up for sale which is not that likely. Just like buying a Morgan +4 110 edition in 2019 was expensive but possible the cost of a CX in Australia would be so high the local dealer didn't even bother trying to get it approved for import, not enough buyers to justify the cost and effort. So while I expect demand goes down it does appear work shops doing restorations are still very busy and doing extremely well.

I feel that a lot of younger people are just not interested in driving cars at all and even the ones that like driving are not interested in cars like my MGB or a Classic Morgan that takes effort to drive (although that is the appeal to me). At the moment I often get people waving, or winding down their windows at traffic lights to say what a nice car. It is nice now but I do feel driving petrol cars might become considered too anti-social at some point in the future that even if I still love driving it I might feel uncomfortable doing so.

Its always difficult looking after an aging relative especially parent, where in essence we see a role reversal the child essentially becomes the parent, we have gone thru it recently with my mother and Sue's father., both have passed this year, both the same age at 93. Fortunately, my Mother was frail but had all her marbles till the very end, although she did develop some strange preoccupations. My father in law was losing his memory at a very fast pace but was very active playing bowls until a few weeks before his passing, but increasingly more obstinate, none of it made easy as he lived in Ireland.

Coming back to the topic, I use a very simple barometer of potential demand, it may not be reflective of future market demand, but it does demonstrate the level of interest in Morgans. It's quite simple, who stops to talk to you about the cars and shows any interest in the car. In general I find it's people around my age or the young fascinated by the unusual Noddy car styling of the Morgan. Very little interest from the those in-between and often even then its to enquire what is it and is it a kit car. Not a promising market place going forward.

Indeed. If anyone has still got their Morgan in the 'Assets' column of their domestic finances spreadsheet I would suggest they depreciate it to zero this year. If the market by some chance does recover then excellent, but I wouldn't depend on it.

John, 100% agree with both points.

My mum is 85 and has difficulty breathing, can't walk more than 10 feet and has about 10 medical appointments a month that take up a lot of time, picking her up, going to the appointment, waiting around, taking her back home etc. She appears to have her marbles but refuses to wear her hearing aids and gets confused very easily, I often have to do things on the computer for her like her tax etc. but then out of the blue she will do something like claim a medical expense successfully. Dad on the other hand is 87, still plays table tennis, can still walk up the hill behind the house that is a fairly steep dirt track probably about 2km up and the same back, he certainly has his marbles investing on the stock market etc. I was going to retire last year but we plan to move house to somewhere flat before we get too old and will need a bridging loan, I am paid by the hour and the boss is happy to have me around so puts up with me taking a lot of time off for appointments. My sister does mums washing and said she feels sorry for me knowing that mum prefers me to take her to the doctors and how many appointments she has. My sister commented that mum had a great retirement looking after nobody but it doesn't appear we are going to be that lucky.

I think your simple barometer is a good one, when it comes to people talking about the car you are right it is my age or the very young. I feel due to the modifications people from about 50 onwards are interested in my MGB and impressed by the finish, although there are always some generally much older than are not impressed by a modified MGB stating the original was perfect. The others are the 5 year old kids that love it. Like you I think anyone between 10 and 40 seems not interested at all.

Chris - your son and partner “were living over the brush” . Now that means little to anyone 50 and under .
But of cause the brush, appears to have disappeared !! ? Clearly no longer valid in any sense.

As a born Londoner (though now much further North) I've never heard of the 'old lady' saying .... though well familiar with the 'over the brush' one ... you could ask her about it, as it might be something really local to where she was or only used for a short while.

K

Chris , I think it will be a long time before your car and other ICE cars will be totally frowned upon.
You will not be a pariah. Steam trains were superseded in the 1960s(?) by diesel and then electric; today steam trains are popular for different reasons .
My 70th was on The Flying Scotsman, and allowed in the cab .
Unless this island is covered by Solar (18minutes of sunshine) in 11 days in many places just recently (BBC news today) and wind farms, I think we will struggle with EVs. We have 3 lamppost chargers in our square for 32 houses. Unless tech & infrastructure changes we will have to run cables across the pavements . Got to be some wave tech or as my wife insists hydrogen !
Sorry to hear about family but getting old just prepares you for the inevitable. Every day over 70 I see as a bonus and I enjoy whatever I am doing . It’s now off to Lidl ……MM