Talk Morgan Forums Community The Malvern Arms How did you decide?

When I decided to get a Morgan I was genuinely surprised how many different models there were -- to the uninitiated, every classic-body Morgan looks basically the same so I assumed "a Morgan is a Morgan" and that the only real variables were colour and age, but soon discovered this was not true at all. After a lot of thought I concluded that what I wanted a +4 trad, but it took a while to decide which model was right, and then to actually find the specific car I ended up with. For me, this was a quite methodical, analytical process, involving lots of reading, viewing of YouTube videos, etc. But I'm curious how others came upon their own cars: was it just "love at first sight" for a specific car? Or the result of an extended search? Did you think through what you wanted first and then look for that particular car, or, as is often said on this forum, did "the right car find you"?

I started with a lot of reading and cataloguing cars for sale onto a huge spreadsheet.

That spreadsheet included my must haves, and my red lines. That made me realise that very few cars fitted all I wanted, and didn't want.

After that, it was fate.

I had in my mind exactly what I thought a Morgan should look like and and what features it should have..........
And then Morgan built it for me............🤷🏻‍♂️😁

Then, for very good reasons at the time I sold it........
What followed were a lot other Morgans which were never quite right....... until 'my' car came back up for sale after 17 years......

🇬🇧🇬🇧

Having sold my classic Alfa I was looking for something classic but reliable so I thought late/ish Morgan. Having seen one on Autotrader at a dealer in Wales that was a short diversion on my regular trip to Somerset I phoned for a test drive although it was about 10k more than I wanted to pay. It was a 10 month old Narrow body +4 which meant nothing to me. Once driven I had to have it, the rest is history.

After watching my mother struggle with dementia for 7 years and then die, it made me reflect on my own mortality and ever advancing years.

Posts from Ale72 of his Supersport and from Alistair regarding his Coupe had made me want either a Coupe or a Supersport as I have always liked British V8's. An advert appeared just after my mum died, so I just thought b******* to it and bought it - which I haven't regretted for a minute inspite of the usual quirks of flattening batteries, lying fuel gauges, windscreen wipers that dont wipe etc.

We bought our first +8 from Burrelton when it was a Morgan dealer. David showed us round the farm barn and this car stood out to me. We weren't "good clothes" dressed and David looked at us sideways as if we couldn't afford the car. My wife said to me "I think we can run to that" and his attitude changed dramatically! I'd never had such a huge grin when test driving a car so I knew this was the one.

Our first Morgan came about after a generous bonus from my then employer. The criteria were mostly around budget. We looked at several but only one really tugged at heart strings - (B31 HWP where are you now - believed gone to Eire as last V5C issued soon after we traded it in on current 4/4).

The second (and current) Morgan was a calculated decision when a modest legacy enabled an upgrade to a new car. We started looking at second hand cars with bigger engines but none of them hit the mark and none of them were a colour we could agree on. Then we saw a car (way beyond our budget) at Willians in Garnet Red. That was a colour we could agree on. The fine folks at Allon-White offered a good deal on a 4/4 and a new order was placed in December 2013 and delivery taken in February 2014.

Will this be our forever Morgan? Time will tell.

Having owned a Spitfire Mk1 in the early 70's it was always my hope to return to a traditional British sports car at some point. The opportunity arose in 2008 and, at the time, I was looking at the likes of MG and Triumph. Morgan never crossed my mind, however I remembered passing a dealership in Borough Green so thought i'd have a look. BHM had a three year old Plus 4 for sale, which I was very interested in. I took it for a test drive, and was smitten!
I'd heard about the long waiting list for new builds so, although I had the money, didn't give it a thought until Sarah mentioned they had a build-slot available and I could have a new one within 5 weeks. Well, that was it! I specced out the car over the next couple of days and the order went it. 5 weeks later I was the proud owner of a Monterey blue Duratec Plus 4.
I'm now on my second Morgan having traded in the original in 2016 for another new Plus 4 - this time a metallic red Gdi. This one is a keeper.

I agree wholeheartedly. It's strange, because to an outsider, they all look the same. I've had four Morgans since 2005 before I found the one I've been loyal to since 11 years and which now has 120,000 km on the clock, bought with 6,000 km, the only one of my five Morgans that wasn't new. You grow into a subject. I can say that I am relatively well versed in all kinds of Gibson Les Pauls and their years of manufacture, as well as many variants of the BBC LS3/5a. What appears to be the same from the outside opens up a world of differences, sometimes very clear and sometimes very subtle.
It's part of the great fun.

Heinz, first of all, congratulations on that impressive mileage! I am determined that my car won't be a garage queen, but as for various reasons (mostly not having a place to keep the car near where my flat is in Stockholm) I can only drive it during the summer, which means I will be unlikely to get there any time soon. But as for small differences, a few months ago I asked my wife to join me in admiring a car on the forum (it was Montegue's "Monty", if memory serves), and she, perhaps with her patience finally running a bit thin, said the Swedish equivalent of "for god's sake it looks just like all the other ones you've asked me to look at! What's so special about this one?" And for the life of me I couldn't really say. I think it has those brass hexagonal wheel nuts or something, but it just looked really nice to me even though I certainly concede that Mrs. A had a point. I reckon that as one becomes somewhat about something (whether it be Morgans, Les Pauls, BBC LS3/5as (which I had to Google) or the late abstract expressionists, the richness of nuance starts to emerge in a very interesting way.