Talk Morgan Forums Community The Malvern Arms 2016 ARP4 on auction

Noooooooooooo........!!😂

The prices are certainly becoming appealing, but it's becoming a race to the bottom I think. There will be plenty of choice for the 'older brigade' in the next year or 2.
It looks like Autos might start to command a premium, but the manual version drives really well...!!

MMC desperately need new blood, new owners and customers otherwise there will be the same problem in a few years when all the 'older brigade' shuffle off.

I like a trad....... I like the vintage-ness of them, the history, I like the fact that they're not digital, sanitized, gentrified..........😂

I'm not saying never to a CX, but I think I've reached a period in my life where I have attained......contentment........🤷🏻‍♂️ I'm not sure how it happened, maybe it's an age thing.... perhaps I have 'everything' I want or need...... I'm not sure it'll last, my wife would definitely say it won't...... but let's see....😂

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What's all this talk about ageism going on with regards Morgan ownership. Lets be clear - I wouldn't touch an automatic with a barge pole. To relinquish total control in favour of a few electronic sensors makes no sense to me, on the open road.
A race circuit perhaps with paddle shift, but that's not automatic is it.
This octogenarian has no difficulty getting in and out of the cab or onto his hands and knees to do the servicing or finding the gear stick.

For me the joy is access to open air motoring which has been the cornerstone of my entire driving life to-date, with a nod to the more basic elements of open air motoring I enjoyed in my youth.......eg manual fold down single skin roof, draughty but initimate and cosy interiors, oceans of wood, the snarl of the engine and exhaust bark just behind your ears. Of course tempered by the wind noise, other exhaust fumes one cannot escape roof down, all still quite raw compared to modern convertibles. The CX for me hasn't dulled the sensation, it's added to it..You still get that ,long bonnet, sitting on the axle driving sensation but just more capable and less tiring They are fast enough, twitchy enough in the wet, to focus and concentrate your mind .

The CX has made me appreciate the Morgan brand far more, and for me it's the journey not the destination, I don't want to be fighting with unassisted parking manoeuvres, heavy clutches in stationary traffic or slow moving traffic, frying in the sun, that's no fun, but more an increasing reality on today's roads.

In my experience once Morgan introduced fuel injection and catalytic convertors with all the necessary associated sensory add ons and much added weight, it ceased to be a pure simple sports car, I first fell in love with.

Well the Plus 8 at 900Kgs and the Sport at 800Kgs compare very favourably (injection cats et al) compared to your Germanic Cabrios John.....

So I disagree with you - the 10 year ago Strange Rovers were 3 Tonnes for context, I told my family don't hit these yuppie children carriers take off into a ditch first choice because hitting one of those is not survivable.

P.S. As your first Morgan was possibly all steel do tell me what weight it was John so we can get some facts here as I am interested now...

Mine was an all alloy 1985 CVH 4/4 the Sunday Times competition prize car.so about 750/760 kilo's


Don't just look at power and weight, but also compare ground clearance and weight distribution, mine had massive ground clearance compared to later trads, which made all the difference, when travelling fast (ish) especially over rough country lanes and back roads. Never had to worry about traffic calming ruts etc. anything at all in my CVH or Kent 4/4. The lever arms were a bit bouncy over fast undulations, but the suspension never crashed like the more modern trads. The more difficult bit to quantify the different it felt to drive the lighter front ends felt compared with later trads.

Couldn't agree more with the over weight, German cabriolets. Great big barges but with sportline suspension, they really handled very well and were rock steady at massive speeds, did !35mph roof down in my Mercedes and 165mph and rising in my Porsche turbo roof down, and not the slightest concern........could never do that in a Morgan. Interesting debate.

Surely Morgans are neither convertibles nor cabriolets, they are roadsters.

A convertible (or cabriolet) is a car with a roof than you can take down if you want to. A roadster is an open car with a roof that you can put up if you have to.

Well with my Sport coming in at 800Kgs and on 65 section tyres I never even think about ground clearance. So depending who is sat in the cockpit (not me 105 Kgs) my Sport could be lighter all up..

The Plus 8 I have on 7" x 16" Lightweight factory alloys and 60 sections so no worries there either and down our grass covered centre lined lanes the grass cleans off the excess sump drips too, nominal 4" clearance so more than the long haired Brigadiers Polo GTI special which is happy at 150mph with suspension , steering and brakes to match it really is a joyful little thing even if it is on 35sections...

Interesting about your Teutonic comparisons, so you really were paying a big premium for the extra 40 mph..

That may be splitting hairs, if the soft top frame is usually detached from the chassis, I would consider that more a Roadster. The Mercedes Pagoda had a version that came with no folding roof, just the detachable hard top, no soft-top, I would consider a roadster

The AI definition of a Roadster is as follows

A roadster is an open-top, two-seat automobile with a primary focus on sporty performance and styling. Traditionally, these vehicles are lightweight, often feature rear-wheel drive, and lack permanent weather protection, typically using a removable or foldable soft top.

The new Supersport if supplied with only a hard top, I would consider a roadster. Be interesting to hear other peoples views

John there is a beautiful Supersport in dark blue with matching mohair roof - featured outside MMC on delivery I think, so another fail for AL incorrect information again..

Everyone commented how much nicer it looks without that hunched hardtop look, so guaranteed to be an option soon I would think.

The Mercedes and Porsche were 4 seater or 2 plus 2,came with a boot of sorts and Sue could drive them all, and they could cross continents with absolute ease, entirely different beasts all together, same as the Midgets and TR7 convertibles I've owned over the years, apples and pears to compare, different horses for different courses. If it came to crash protection especially roll over, the Mercedes and Porsche would out perform the Morgan, I've been in a rolled over Mercedes SL of a friend of mine that went down a ditch because of a famer and his stupidity on a blind corner in the middle of the road.....we were totally unscathed, something in even a modern CX would not be a good.situation. So there are different aspects to the added premium such cars afford you.
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My last trad a '12 Plus 4 Sport weighed about 970kg, it was the lightest feel and best performing of the later trads I had, but still not quite the same feel and drive as my '85.

Modern cars can achieve great speeds these days with more efficient smaller engines, compared with what was necessary to achieve the same 20, 30, 40 years ago, but I'm sure it still wont measure up to doing 165mph roof down,completely open to the elements which accentuates the speed sensation. not tucked away in quasi sterile safety of the tin box,

It's like comparing travelling at speed on a naked motorbike where the wind is trying to pull your helmet off and lift your fingers off the bars at even quite modest speeds compared to a fully faired motor bike,there's just no comparison. to the riding experience. There's nowt wrong with tin boxes, I've had a few which could really move, they all have their place in our hearts..