Talk Morgan Forums Morgan Sports Cars Morgan Three Wheeler & Super 3 M3W - Anyone know this other car?

Another frugal M3W popped up on the radar this morning for just £18.5K

https://www.carandclassic.com/l/C1926396

A little werd as it says its in Crewe but the only contact is a London landline

Following the number plate, this seems like a resale of the one that was brought at Auction back in Feb for £15.5K

https://www.handh.co.uk/auction/lot/lot-84---2012-morgan-3-wheeler/?lot=61104&sd=1

It was owned from new by a MTWC member from the Weymouth area. He had overheating of some sort on his way back home from Herefordshire many years ago. The oil in the oil tank was boiling and t went onto one cylinder I was reliably told. It was then not used as far as I know until it was sold at auction. Whether the engine issue was resolved either by the previous owner or the current one should be explored by any potential purchaser.

On the plus side in its early life it had a new chassis from MMC because the original cracked in the usual place, but it has not had any of the other fixes as far as I know.

Thanks for the info Tony. I wonder if the "boiling oil" was really just "hot oil" as it doesn't have the Urban Cooling Kit fitted and it will probably still have the "skip fire" mode on the ECU? I cannot remember what temperature skip fire activated but probably about 115c, that would certainly give the impression of going onto one cylinder. I only ever had it happen once before my car was modified for the Urban Cooling fan and it was something you wouldn't want to do often. A good bargaining point for a pretty cheap M3W, for those that have an idea what they are looking at. Another 6 to 8 thousand pounds spent on updates and it would be a good car. Probably nothing wrong with the engine and a post 2014 chassis.

Not sure if its such a bargain as if all original (except chassis)it will need a load of money thrown at it and if there is an engine issue - say its picked up on a piston due to the oil issue, then thats game over for a while as no pistons available at current time.
Hence reason why its priced as it is - engine issue?

I knew the owner of this M3W well.
He attended Goggles and Gauntlets, Shobden in 2015, had cam belt failure close to arriving.
We towed him in and Charles Kirby ( remember him ?) fitted a new belt.
On his way back home from the event to Dorset he was forced to stop as the engine was running bad.
He checked oil and it was very low and literally boiling.( as reported by others with him )
He put in some oil at the M4 services by the Severn Bridge.
The engine ran badly all the way back to Dorset.
The owner said it was an oil pump issue at the time and due to personal circumstances he left it parked up. It never ran again.
Prior to auctioning it he offered it to me for £15,000.
I declined, 10 years sitting in a damp shed had taken its toll and in my opinion the engine is not good at all.
I warned the Auction house at Buxton about the engine prior to auction, they said that was the potential buyers problem.
Ian Parkinson.

Wow! That really is some great info there folks, it amazing what you can find out on here!

I stand corrected Ian. His M3W ownership seems to have been a series of disasters! Just wondering how you can lose a good proportion of 6L of oil without noticing. A compression and oil pressure check as a minimum before parting with any money I guess but 10 years in a damp shed is never going to be a good thing.

I have known people spend a lot of time investigating why their car ran so badly, only for it to be skip fire mode on an early car that hasn't been upgraded.

Still here.

I live in the US now.
Just got a job with a long commute. Perhaps going to get one of the +4s that they are selling here now.

I'd buy that thing for 18.5k and thrash it till it blows. Worth every penny.

Wow, what a history.....