Talk Morgan Forums Thread Like Summary - The one car that influenced me more than another

In my case it may well be because I was in my early teens and perhaps more open to being influenced and it did have a certain look to it and it was one of the lesser known variants of a family car, but quite successful in it's day in any racing events it was entered for. It was before the days of the small hatchback GTIs with their front wheel drive, it was a traditional rear wheel beast of a machine ( well seemed so at the time). I had lusted after it when my neighbour bought it new from the local Vauxhall dealer in 1970.it was also in blue my favourite colour and had a mean look to it with the painted black bonnet with scoops and an instrument panel to die for back then.

Imagine my surprise when a couple of years later my neighbour lost his job and had to sell it, he came round to our house and offered it to me, I bite his hand off. I had to sell my Honda S800 another great little traditional sportscar and a few of my bikes to get it, so it wasn't cheap, So what was the apple of my eye and I still to this day think back fondly on the fun I had with it. It was the Vauxhall Viva GT.

Typical of the lack of rustproofing back then , I had to get the inner front wings around the bonnet hinges plated to pass its first MOT at just 3 years old. I kept it for over 10 years, not used so much in the later years as I was more into my open top motoring with Midgets and TR7's and eventually sold it to chap who owned a Vitesse 6, (which was a quick car in its day). I had modified the GT a bit and after blowing the original 2L engine, I had a 2.5L engine transplanted in it , it was quite quick for the time with 0-50mph in 8.9 seconds , with only 112BHP and excellent handling and at under tonne laden. And so after a quick drive round the block, the chap couldn't get the money out of his pocket fast enough to buy it and it was gone,.

They only made them from 1968 to1970 of the 4606 produced only about 60 are known to still exist and only 25 are on the road, so quite a rare car from the outset. I certainly would like to own one again, it was great fun, handled amazingly well for a rear wheel drive car but suffered terribly from the lack of effective rust protection back then and living in the Midlands with salt laden roads, didn't help its cause. It was always loaded with paving slabs in the boot in winter to keep the very light back end in contact with the road, after I spun it a few times on the icy roads, the front of the closed Wednesbury Train Station had a massive curvet/bend in the road in front of it plus a wide unloading area to the front, that was always a challenge to navigate (fun) when icy. The things we look back on as to what we did in our youth, and then cuss today's youngsters when they get upto mischief for doing very much what we did back then





https://motor-car.net/vauxhall/item/27375-vauxhall-viva-hb-gt

My first car was a 1978 VW Polo S, basic but with the Golf 1100 cc motor. My mother passed it to me and my then girlfriend (now Mrs B!) and we loved it! It was freedom, we went on holidays in France and were happy. In my childhood (and still!) I loved various cars, as Lamborgine Miura's, Aston Martin DBS.s, Jaguar e-types, but more affordable BMW's 1600, 2002, first 3-series etc. And many, many more. Already very early I was caught by an article about the Morgan. A Dutch journalist described his experiences having his Morgan delivered at the factory and at the next village they had already an issue...! But it was a positive story and Morgan always did stay in my mind, but also as something I thought I could never afford. Coming from a family consisting of solely biologists (my father was the first professor in genetics in the Netherlands in 1964!), I knew one thing: I don't want to become a biologist too! I love the nature, the birds and the flowers, but I was always addicted with cars. So my dad, afraid that I would go for a job in the world of cars, recommended me to have a job which provided enough money to buy a nice car. So, not that far from biology, I became a doctor, an internist-endocrinologist. In the course of the time we bought modest cars, new Polo, new Golf. Nissan!! Primera estate (gave a lot of joy with 2 young children), later VW Passat Variants and a Volvo V70. When I was 50 years old I gave myself my first BMW X5! After that, 2 more BMW's and a Tesla did follow.
My addiction with Morgan made me to buy a second hand 1990 4/4-4 seater in 1996, and I felt guilty spending this money while we had young children and enough expenses. I was in my late thirties. Later it appeared one of the best things I ever did. Recently we bought a new PlusFour. But what were my most special cars? The Polo for sure, the BMW X5 which even my wife loved very much, and of course the Morgans!
In conclusion I am very happy how things went!


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Between 1966 and 1969 I was a student at Manchester College of Art situated in All Saints Square on Oxford Road. One day I set off to walk into town. Across the road I spotted an amazing blue car parked outside Junky Clark's shop (yes, a junk shop). It was a Marcos coupe and looked just stunning and so different for that period. Some evenings when returning on the bus to my shared flat in Fallowfield I would see another one - yellow this time. As it passed the bus I got a great view from the upstairs window of the long bonnet, sloping back and cam tail - I just loved it but never dreamt I could own one.
A few years later my then wife and I were on our way to a wedding but had to make a stop in Buxton to get confetti. As I stepped on to a Zebra crossing a red Marcos made a hasty stop to allow me to cross. After the ceremony and at the reception venue we were seated at a table with a young GP and his girlfriend - turned out he owned the Marcos AND he was selling it. He said it was not very good for his back when doing his rounds and getting in and out from such a low car was a bit too much. Of course, after selling our Escort and somehow managing to find the extra money, we bought it. It had a broken rear window (an up and over garage door had fallen on it) and one of the brake pad retaining pins was missing - and a few other things including an interior full of different coloured pills dropped and not retrieved.
It stayed with me for over 30 years and when a house move was planned, it was sold to Rory MacMath of Marcos Heritage. He did a restoration and sold it to a chap who came over from Lithuania and drove it back there. The picture is Rory taking it away on the last day of my ownership.

Peter H. I lived in South Manchester - Northenden through the 50 & 60s. My two friends migrated from Minis to Marcos 1800s in 1969, one yellow, one green - Jonty and Richard (Oli) , both based in Northenden. There were two guys we knew at Manchester Uni, Persian, at least one had a Marcos, he used to bolt a spare wheel onto the roof and drive back to Tehran. Oli still has one, a Mantula.

And I learnt to drive in a Viva in 1968, but not the GT. Reversing it around a corner was a doddle you looked over your shoulder and line up the kerb with the bottom corner of the rear window.

I remember walking to school when a bright yellow TR6 flashed past, and pulled up at the school to pick up one of the 6th form girls. I can always recall that car, but never the girl.

That same year I went on a school trip to Switzerland. A group of us school boys were walking through Interlaken when we heard the sound of a racing car approaching. It too was bright yellow, low and sporty. When it had stopped we took a look at it. Above the rear wheels were a number of badges; F1 Constructors Champion 1963; F1 Constructors Champion 1965; F1 Constructors Champion 1968. It was of course a Lotus Europa.