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I bought it and it came to just over £18k including Derek's commission
The car is a very early one at chassis No.54 and was registered in early 2012, so it has all the signs of being rushed out to meet that initial pre-order list. It's only done 3,000 miles and has been stood in a heated garage since 2015, since it seems that the first (retired) owner couldn't use it in his latter years. It seems to have dodged every one of the recalls and upgrades!
I've not had a Morgan before as frankly the four wheel ones are just not for me. Classic Lotus is where my experience mainly lies and I'm pretty useful with a spanner, so tackling this M3W is right up my street. I was expecting the inevitable knacked fuel and brake systems, but frankly the derisory build quality came as something of a surprise and makes classic Lotus build quality look really rather good in comparison! The car is still in my workshop and I have failed miserably with the anticipated quick turnaround, but the project is coming along and there is now more car than the pile of parts I have removed, so It will be up and running in a couple more months.
My take so far..........
The good points........
Fantastic anarchic concept
A fine silhouette design by Mark Humphries and I applaud him.
That engine looks great and has lots of cc's, which is what appealed to me.
Great gearbox; I know the MX5 well.
Really good use of Ash in the framing, and the aluminium bodywork on top of it has clearly been constructed by craftsmen The painting of it is also good.
Well executed leatherwork
The bad points.......
I have just too many to list and have been slowly sorting them over the last few months. I'll not list them all here in detail, but the loom has been entirely reworked at the front end and re-routed to stop chafe. The fuel lines were also nearly chafed through, as was one of the brake hoses and the oil hoses have all been changed for the same reason. The bodyshell is now properly bolted to the chassis and a lot of the rivets along the bodyshell side replaced, as the chassis flex has sheared them. Oh the chassis, we all know about flex and cracks and frightening bump steer (on unimproved early cars), but whoever designed it clearly had very little experience and oversight from above. The front end geometry is woeful and the rear end unsprung weight is considerable.
However I love a challenge and I know that the car will eventually put as big a grin on my face as it does for passers by (yes I was one), so I'm hanging in there. And I've also decided to do what I can to make sure that the M3W survives to become the classic that it ought to, so we've started making stuff for the car.
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