Talk Morgan Forums Morgan Sports Cars Classic Morgans (pre-CX) Trad prices

As we grow older we become more selective and our rose tinted glasses deepen, of what we want to take away from those fond memories of our youth. The grass was always greener back then, the world appeared much simpler and beer really tasted like beer. The reality was often very different from our treasured recollections.

Back in the day,, one could make simpler choices based on often a less informed environment., With the social media of today, with sometimes too much information and input sow's seeds of doubt and often clouds one's judgement and creates more uncertainty in a more informed environment. Sometimes ignorance is bliss.

Decision theory basically states.......one cannot make a decision in perfect knowledge because as soon as you make the decision you change the environment. Therefore you have to make a decision on the available information and refine over time........

Whilst I see the shortcomings of the trad compared to the CX models, I'm allowing a greater passage of time to pass to see how they pan out especially in their operational reliability. The CX has the benefit of having an automatic option which would suit me more in my dotage and allow to Sue to drive it, while she struggles with a heavy controls of a trad.. The CX is a very positive step change, and like the trad. is also suffering from Morgan quality/engineering weaknesses eg radiators. It may never reach anywhere near the level of reliability one would expect at the price point, having said that most manufacturers have well known weaknesses and failures, its not just the preserve of Morgan.

I have always believed you should never go back especially to a place/situation you loved and have cherished fond memories of, as invariably it never lives up to those heightened expectations and often disappoints. I could be wrong. But often life is too short to worry about the 'what ifs' and often it usually comes down to only money at risk. There are no guarantees in life other than death and taxes and we'll be b*ggered if Sue and I are going to fund our relatives life styles or the government with our hard earned cash when we do eventually depart this mortal coil,.

The values always generate debate, but quite honestly, we all use a different lens.

That's hardly surprising when there are 115 years, and the only constant was the titled "Morgan" .

Do the three wheeler cohort from per 1950 care about values? I doubt it. Do the current customer cliente worry about spending £120k of the latest model, or how much is the depreciation in three years....I doubt that too.

There are a lot of other cohorts in between. All have a lens. If you agonise over value over time, that is outside anyones control. Baling out only adds another car for sale, and maybe reduces values more.

I wouldn't change a thing over the last 17 years. Its only money and the joy that Morgan gives is way beyond that.

I would love to see if there are any changes in the means of acquiring CX and Supersport models, has there been a change in the balance between outright purchase and rental fixed term methods of acquisition compared with the past. As there does seem to be a lot of 3 year old CX models coming to the market of late, is it a reflection of the ending of the hire contract period or Morgan warranty period or both.

The thing is, running a Trad, even an old one without a warranty is a breeze.

But running a CX without a backdrop, means that the complexity, along with Morgan build quality, has the a potential to make proper bills.

That will play out over the next few years.

I agree, Dave.

The old Trads, especially the ones before the electronic age, will still be running when the CXs are in museums or collections as functionless showpieces. Because spare parts are no longer available, or nobody wants to pay for the costly repair of the complex technology.

If the MMC were even half awake to the aspirations of the New Hipster customers they would already have been selling an E V version of both 3 and 4 wheeled cars.

This will be where the current CX etc will continue their lives as fast silent milk floats. Part of my reason for hanging on to my Plus 8, they can tax it like crazy and put the fuel price up but we will still be there annoying them all.

+8Rich if you consider the cost of a modern internal combustion engined Morgan, an ev would need to be priced in excess of that. When youngsters are struggling to achieve home ownership, I would be perplexed to find that a discretionary purchase such as a Morgan would even be a consideration. Most of the thirty-somethings I work with a glad to have basic transportation. Most are well paid and would be consider hip but after the high cost of living reduces their disposable income to the minimum, they seem to spend what is left over on life experiences. I commend them for doing so.

It's interesting, in that whilst the CX offers many of the options eg automatic and power steering that would solve some of my issues driving a trad, I'm still dragging my feet over changing to a CX.. Certainly depressing the clutch problem ,(since I injured by back a couple of years ago) which lead to me having to sell my Roadster has returned. Sue has suggested we convert the Plus 4 to an auto and have power steering fitted, irrespective of the cost and the from time to time bone shaking ride of the trad. It will be interesting to see where it all leads us to, I may leave it as it is and just use it increasingly for more local trips, as I cant quite reconcile myself to the conversion as it may fundamentally change the positive characteristics that attracted me to the car in the first place. Time will tell.

I've always had access to open topped cars, and as a result don't get quite so caught up in so called the 'Morgan magic' which I feel is just an expression of the open air motor experience often enjoyed roof down in any car. Yes a Morgan drives differently, and certainly not to be savoured roof up, but the experience is not the unique IMHO, but that's just me. The real difference is that a trad makes you work harder especially in traffic, and you can feel the car more underneath you, but the same is true of Sue's SLK with its AMG wheels and hard suspension, but Its just much easier and quicker n traffic to drive and doesn't have a clutch. Increasingly for longer trips I take the SLK and shorter trips the Morgan.

Very true, after chasing more and more power for years, I suddenly decided I wanted to go back to a simpler time, namely the Triumph TR3s I worked on and enjoyed driving in the early 90's. However, knowing I'd only be disappointed with the antiquated ergonomics, brakes and performance, I bought the closest thing I could find to a TR3 with a modern twin cam engine and five speed box.

A Duratec Plus 4 with a Mazda 5 speed transmission is a superb option for those like me who want the classic car experience, but with modern performance, usability and reliability. Yes, inevitably there are still compromises, but I think Morgan did a superb job of retaining the carachter and old school connected driving experience of a 1950's classic spots car, but combining it with modern performance, fuel economy and dependability.

Of course it could be better, but improving on Morgan's efforts is all part of the pleasure I take from the ownership experience, the modern Trad is the perfect platform for a bit of engine tuning and suspension development, this is because Morgan mostly got it right in the first place.

Right, I'm off to Prescott for the Historique, I know the 180 horsepower Monty will start first time and wisk me down at a steady 80 leptons plus, it's currently raining but I'll be dry and as the clouds clear the roof will come down and I'll be right back to 22 years old scaring the horses with Monty's very immature pops and bangs exhaust

I hope you are right , but I get a feeling we are in for a rude awakening, unless the likes of Reform get into power. A recent article expressed concerns over Labour's approach to North Sea Oil extraction, pointing out that their ongoing taxation regime and new exploration licence restrictions, despite the massive tax revenues generated to the Treasury, are designed to keep the remaining estimated 1.5 bn barrels of oil trapped under the North Sea. No concerns for fossil fuel energy security, even though they will have to import instead, it means they can also control and therefore effectively restrict or ration imported supply.

There is also a growing campaign of disinformation about over 70's drivers, of which there are currently 6m (1.6m are over 80), 1 in 7 of the UK licenced drivers. I can see a time in the not too distant future when either reportable health restrictions, mandatory eye testing, increasing permanent banning offences or having to resit the driving test on each licence renewal, with an already massive backlog of applicants awaiting tests, will drive the over 70's off the road, and with them potential 6 million plus motor vehicles and their resultant pollution.

There are lots of ways of skinning the cat with the aim of reducing current level of car pollution and one is to restrict new drivers (lengthy delays in test dates) and secondly reduce level of existing licenced drivers.