Reading through NickCW`s excitement relative to his very fortunate acquisition of a Aero 8 GTN as perhaps being a boyhood dream come true, quite by chance I came across a vid of a similar situation, though in this case unfortunately not a Morgan but a Ferrari.... and by a regular YouTuber who has driven a multitude of impressive machines in his time. Perhaps worth watching as other than the usual presenting "skills" it does seem that he might just be really excited by achieving a particular life goal..?
On a more personal note, when the Mog was perhaps demanding more from my ageing physiology than seemed ideal and now in my 70`s, I thought to return to 911 ownership as a more comfortable option.. It took 2 or more years to eventually dismiss the idea of buying an air cooled 911 as those I had owned in past times, as I wrestled with the likely realities, and of course the cost/benefit analysis relative to the reality of buying into the type of car on which I spent rather a lot of my time repairing corrosion damage on some 30 or so years back..! What might any such machine really be like today, and at a cost far in excess of my evaluation of their worth.. and in a then climbing market...!!!
I baled out and started looking at water cooled 911 derivatives.... Long story short... I bought a 911 derivative in the form of a 991.1 C4S. I suspect this vid (link below) helped me decide that there was history and heritage enough in the 991 to risk buying into this particular version of water cooled Porsches...
I suspect history and heritage is perhaps something that many a Morgan enthusiast contemplates when buying, the foibles disregarded as nothing other than a slight inconvenience, and part of the Morgan experience...?
The Porsche vid is a bit shorter at just under 8 minutes..
The 991 C4S unless driven on challenging roads and in a style similar to that which Henry piloted it in the vid, does not quite match up to my failing memories of my 60`s 70`s and 80`s air cooled 911`s though I suspect the levels of safety, comfort and digital decision making of the 991 may be better suited to the old man I have become....
Slightly different angle from me. I always benefited from company cars, right upto retirement. My need for speed was satisfied with me working alongside the motorcycle industry.
However, in my late 40s I bought a (then new) Audi TT 225 coupe. Lovely car, but I hankered after a roadster of some kind. Also the Audi tempted me to drive too fast.
A Morgan was at the top of my list, for a soft top car; partly because of its simplicity and partly influenced by my parents living in Ledbury, so factory cars were a regular sight. At the age of 55 I became the proud owner of my Zetec 4/4
The 4/4 suits me perfectly, which is why 19 years later, I still own the same car. It has taken us to many fantastic places and has been the catalyst for many new friendships.
Everyday driver....was performance now running costs. When I bought the daily driver, I checked the cost of a pair of tyres, cambelt and waterpump kit and an annual service. Went for a 5 year old Skoda Octavia 2.0 litre estate with just under 40,000 on it
Our local Facebook market place is littered with premium marques which the owners could not afford to maintain with minimal service history and dubious part worn tyres - maybe a case of champagne lifestyle, lemonade budget?
I never knew what a Morgan was, until a fortuitous business meeting took me on a tour of the factory in 2010. I surely had seen them in movies or television, but nobody said "Oh look! He's driving a Morgan". That visit to Malvern was when the seed was planted in my mind. I must get a Morgan! Eight years later, and after one more factory visit, I found my '65 Plus 4 for sale from the original owner. Out of all my boys toys, I tell everyone that she gets more smiles per gallon!
