Talk Morgan Forums Thread Like Summary - The Ownership Experience

Creating a book is much more than writing a narrative.Before that can begin, there are plenty of hoops to jump through, because Publishers are understandably demanding on content, style, layout and overall look. So all of that is negotiated up front before a contract is signed.

The narrative part is probably the easiest because the words are easy to find to fill a structure which is already agreed. The time consuming part is the images. First of all finding suitable images which are high rezz and free of people and background junk, but also relevant. Last time I had 25 images rejected and they had to be redone.

Right now I'm "inserting" images into each chapter. What this does is to highlight any gaps in images or any imbalance in the narrative.

So here's the punchline. Chapter 2 is "The Ownership Experience". It seems obvious enough and yet my take on this is only my take. Having written the chapter, and assembled the images, they don't balance. So before I do a rewrite, I'm curious as to what some of you consider "The Ownership Experience" really is?

My focus is the steel chassis Trads, but as you know, Morgan delivers an ownership experience whatever model you have.

So.....................

For me the experience centres around the endearing way I improve as I drive it. If I haven't driven it for awhile the first five minutes of it have me thinking that the performance is all wrong...who would want to drive this? But then as I settle so the car improves itself and starts to pat me on the back, congratulating me on being so skilful! And this impression grows the more I drive it. Always more fun and an improvement in skill (which may be an illusion but nevertheless IS the experience).
For me this even outweighs the beauty of the thing, the obvious delight in people's faces when they see it, the young boys yelling "nice car mister", the old men waving or thumbs up, the drivers letting me out at T junctions, the tourists surrounding the car as I return to it even if (especially if) I've parked next to some supercar which the tourists are ignoring, the family feel of other owners, the view over the bonnet, the laughing as the rain drips on my knee....oops, wait a minute, forget that one.....
Nick
Twelve lines of text to describe 33 or so years ownership

You are on shaky ground there ....

I agree with all the above. I hope to be able to hand mine on to the next generation. When we got our Mog, our daughter was 15 and told me in no uncertain terms that I was never to pick her up from school in "that". 20 years later she enjoys driving it almost as much as I do and has taken it round Goodwood quite quickly at BHM's track days. At the last one, we were strolling across the paddock on the way to the drivers' briefing and one of the other drivers turned to her and said how good it was to see a young woman driving a Morgan on track, pointing to our car he asked, "Is this yours then?" She replied "Not yet!"

The common experience seems to be the benefit of a gained community alongside the purchase of a vehicle, all of which I would agree with. I would go on to add, and with an attempt at negating my own bias, it is also the quality of the community which one becomes part of. Many cars have passionate enthusiast clubs and communities; however, most people on TM, and the wider community, will have had experience in other niche car social environments and all I have spoken with relay that the Morgan community is inherently different to all others. For the most part, there is a total lack of snobbery, jealously, negativity and generally the factors that detract from other communities; everyone is welcomed and you do not need to be part of a formal organisation to be accepted.

Which leads me to another part of the ownership experience, and one that was very important to me personally. I purchased my first Morgan because I was tired of owning a vehicle which caused an instant reaction in other road users or the public. Yes, you shouldn't care what people think but most people do to one degree or another and the instant reaction grows tiring, whether you care or not. For instance, people not letting you out at junctions, boy racers driving like maniacs because they want to race you, etc. All things which even if you don't care what the people think about you/your car, still create issues when you are driving it. Driving a Morgan is the antidote to this. At worst you are met with indifference but more often than not you are met with positivity. If the car is stationary, it is common for it to become a pleasant talking point; so much so that we all joke that filling up is often a slow job as people want to talk about the car and tell you their own Morgan related stories. In my years of driving one, I have never had a negative reaction. The car is the celebrity, you are just the chauffeur!

So, if I had to sum up the ownership experience, I would say it is like a Labrador puppy

Loved by almost everyone, can give vast amounts of joy, will provide you with many stories and experiences and every once in awhile may create a small mess for you to clean up (because we all know as much as we love them, Morgans aren't perfect!)

+1 Simon👍

„The car is the celebrity, you are just the chauffeur!“

That is very much to the point. When people approach me (at the gas station, for example) I don't even have time to develop unnecessary narcissism or boastful pride of ownership (both of which are far from my mind anyway, I hope). Sometimes I'm like the chauffeur and sometimes I feel like an ambassador for the brand when I realize that people are so interested in the history of the Morgan, in the specific history of my car, but then quickly also in the history of the brand.

This perhaps again gives an indication that it is not just about the “object” of the “great car”, but always about the people who are involved with it. In addition to the acquaintances and friends I made through the Morgan, it's also about the factory and everyone who made the car happen. They all come alive in these conversations.

Edit.
I can think of another little incident in this context. And this is of some concern to me, otherwise I would never have gotten around to thinking about it in the way that the last few posts suggest. Germany is a big transit country. When I am somewhere on a highway rest area, e.g. for an unhealthy but tasty cigarette (because I never smoke in cars) then I am sometimes approached by very friendly and interested truck drivers with great kindness and real empathy for the Morgan. Many have never seen a car like this up close. People from Poland, Lithuania, Ukraine, Romania and many other Eastern European countries. It's not just the transit traffic of goods. It's people in transit who normally never come into contact with the German population. They are also often somewhat shy and reserved. But when they see my Morgan, they overcome their shyness, they come up to me and even if there are language barriers, they are so happy about this opportunity, and they almost always want a photo with themselves and the Morgan for their families, which I am happy to take for them.
Sometimes I think it's a special emotional energy of the Morgan that can break through the boundaries of interpersonal distance that normally exist.
It's exactly the opposite of what a Porsche or Ferrari would trigger in this situation. And that is an inestimable immaterial value of the Morgan.

I think that's completely exaggerated, Julian. Perhaps the reliability depends somewhat on the model. But I've never needed rose-colored glasses around 120000 km with some wear parts and a new head gasket, otherwise always free driving, always very reliable. We shouldn't go to one extreme or the other.

For me, the ownership experience is about a number of things:
-The people we meet because of the Morgan
-The places we see and experience in the Morgan
-The pleasure of driving the car
-The satisfaction of keeping the car maintained and looking good (even though I get Allon White to service the car, I tend to do upgrades myself)

If you asked me to sum it up in one picture - then:



PS- Have this image in High Res if it strikes a chord with you Dave

I can only agree wholeheartedly with all the posts. Perhaps the vacations we take together with our 4/4, e.g. often to northern Italy or the Alsace, intensify the adventure and the journey. There is something unique about experiencing time together and traveling with the Morgan. My wife and I remember these trips much more intensely, both being on the road and the experiences at our destination. In this sense, Morgan ownership is an enhancement of all senses, experiences and memories. A buddy that makes everything even more emotional.

The Morgan is for me (most experiences with the 4/4, since 2023 also a PlusFour CX)

-joy of driving it, open!
-the Morgan has become part of the family, children have grown up with it
-many holidays over Europe and good memories
-always busy to improve the Morgan (especially 4/4 and in lesser extend the PlusFour)
-the Morgan is the only car of which I accept somethings go wrong, that's part of Morgan ownership
-the Morganworld and friends that are included
-being active in the Morganworld (at present also in the MSCCH board and editor of FataMorgana), not a day without Morganthings to deal with, so socialy important
-it becomes part of you
-spontaneous talks with people who see the Morgan
-if you come, you do come with the Morgan!!!?? That's what friends in Italy ask........
-you pass it through to a new generation

etc, etc





Best of both worlds..........

You are the custodian of a car that makes people smile and introduces you to life long friends and a fabulous social life

+1

I bought my +8 in late 1983 and in the last 41 years have racked up over 250k miles and 46 countries. It's been a pleasure to own and provided fantastic memories. I will never sell it and look forward to more adventures. Heading back to Greece and venturing through Turkey in the Autumn.

For me the ownership experience is best expressed/summed up by what would be missing in your life if you no longer had one in the garage.

One area which is most important it's something that you share with others, from perfect strangers to family. Its always great to let perfect strangers and their children sit in the car, have their photo taken and watch the smile and enjoyment it gives to them. In the late summer we meet a family on the beach who were into Morgans, the father had a serious neck operation a few weeks before and was convalescing. the 2 sons took it in turn to have their picture taken in the driving seat, I could see the father was really envious of their opportunity. I mentioned want to try and like a flash but quite gingerly he in was in the driving seat, photo taken, it made their day. They had done the factory tour be never sat in a Morgan, so more than willing to oblige

Some of the materials and methods used in their construction is below average eg rear springs that sag in no time, PCB's that are very exposed to water damage, plastic radiators that crack, the list is pretty extensive for 4 wheelers , move across ti the 3 wheel variety and the list is enormous. That is not what I would consider a positive attribute of being hand crafted vehicle. Its penny pinching and under development at its worst.

But that's not the sole reserve of Morgan, other manufacturers get it wrong and hence vehicle recalls seem to have increased more in recent times. What is more worrying is the level on ongoing factory support with spares especially as we are seeing more annual changes to the specifications, which will led to more short runs of eg trim, etc. which may effect ownership of certain models more difficult going forward eg Aero, there seem to be quite a few for sale a the moment.

The styling of a Morgan still holds up amazingly well and without question it sets it apart from the main stream of the more prestigious brands. I love the cars just dislike the levels of maintenance required especially as I grow older and find garage floors easier to get down to than get up from..

In Australia as long as the car is old enough and you are a member of an affiliated club you can get Historic registration for about 10% of normal registration but it is limited to using the car 60 days a year, club events don't count so you can attend a club function/trip and not use up one of your 60 days. I feel that is why I find people with about 3 MG's all on club registration. It could also be that there is always a chance of a 50 year old car breaking and they like to have multiple cars so they always have something to drive to a club event rather than turn up in a daily driver type of car.

Dave, I know what you mean about knowing every nut and bolt, I used to be able to crawl under my Honda S600 and remove most bolts needed to remove the engine without looking.