Talk Morgan Forums Thread Like Summary - Roadsters

So I've seen Roadsters are not selling very well, a couple of dealers said as much too.

Is there any reason for this, they look like the perfect Morgan, plenty of power, noise but I wonder if heavy and higher running costs?

I consider my Seines 1 Roadster to be the pick of the crop. My wife and I were the very first customers to order a Roadster and I looked into buying one of the last. My wife's presence always had an impact on the way I drive and that style did not fit well with the rev-hang so kept 'old number one'. Sadly she passed away last year so to amuse myself I got a re-map from Williams and sports exhausts. The car now goes and and sounds wonderfully well. Despite the added torque from the mapping the fuel consumption has suffered as I'm now free to drive it like a hooligan. That coupled with hydraulic PAS added a few years ago and a size smaller steering wheel I love it more than ever. The addition of string backed gloves to grip the now wooden wheel seems to make everything sweeter and it's definitely a keeper. At 75 I don't know how may years I have left so I'm doing the NC500 next year in the Morgan but taking nearly three weeks to do it - just hope those feckin' motor homes don't spoil the view.

Roadster 3.7 evolution is not documented too well time wise. I would avoid pre 2015 versions though due to possibility of rev hang which mysteriously disappeared in later production. I say this as it seems MMC never officially recognised it in its worst form, although an alternate ECU was made available for a while at considerable cost to customers.

Around the same time the drivers footwell, on rhd cars at least, had the bulkhead width increased to form a cavity to better accommodate your right foot. See below showing outside of same taking up full width to bonnet catch.



In August 2018 a narrower handed gearbox cover was used with multiple bends in the sides to hug the large gearbox, benefiting driver and passenger footwells.

Perhaps the biggest improvement was the entirely new five link rear coil sprung suspension introduced in April 2018. Brackets welded to the live axle accommodated parallel trailing links above and below axle and each side, with a diagonal panhard rod for lateral location. Coil over dampers provided the actual suspension medium. This was a huge improvement in axle location over the leaf spring setup which in its earliest form employed just one trailing arm as a sop to the massive torque from the Cyclone engine. So much so SSL offer a retro fit version to convert leaf spring models.

A easy fix to the very heavy clutch action on earlier models was to simply remove the pedal mounted return spring. It's simply not needed as eventually recognised by MMC some time before 2018.

Bear in mind that the last of the production run ones with a few options ticked would easily cost the first owner upwards of £65k

I had the pleasure of a very short drive in a for sale very low mileage 2018 Roadster the other day with the 5 link suspension and power steering. Certainly the 5 link and power steering made the car much easier to drive with more compliant ride at the rear.

There was no getting away from the crudeness of the sliding pillar front suspension, but it's always difficult to tell when it had last been greased. On a slightly damp section of road the tyres (which were still original) certainly did not like it and spun even in 3rd. Had the same problem with my 3 litre Roadster on damp roads in the lower gears even with new tyres.

The foot well was tight for my size 10 feet compared to a Plus 4 and I didn't manage to work out what the curved carpet intrusion on the right hand side of the foot well around the upper shin.area was all about, I assumed to do with the power steering The clutch had a nice progressive feel but still quite heavy and I'm sure in traffic the foot well would get very hot very quickly with little room for free movement for the feet.

Great engine but would have been more practical and better suited for me, if an auto was fitted as foot well space was at a premium for operating the pedals and finding some where for your left foot.

Obvious the build quality in general on the later cars is to be admired with far more options and modern conveniences making it a more accomplished conveyance, but still can't get away from that crude front end.

I'm sure its only a matter of time before the price differential with the CX will erode, and then question of annual running costs VED etc may swing more in favour of the CX, with its more accomplished ride and automatic options as they are easily on par performance wise. Then of course it becomes very subjective as to the feel of how the power is delivered, turbo 4 cylinder vs V6, for some it will never equal or be a substitute for a V8's grunt.

It will come to us all at some point, when we have to recognise we cant do everything we used too or more importantly want to do, There is nothing like driving a Morgan, so when one;s trad days are over, you may be able to continue the journey in a CX for a while longer. With power steering, automatic transmission options, less demanding regular maintenance required more modern more compliant and less demanding ride may be part of the solution.

For me Morgans are more than the sum of their parts, they seem to engender and open access to a much wider audience,its the people you meet along the way that make the journey so special. So if a CX allows that journey for a while longer, theres nowt wrong with that.

Well at least I got the luggage carrier, leather suitcase and straps for free Jon

For me......... The whole point of a Trad is that it is essentially an 'old car'.......ok the engines have improved over the years.... and the hood is a bit easier to get up up.....
It's a throw back.....the missing link (Malvern link😂)...... air con, 5 link and puddle lights are all well and good but if I wanted all that I'd buy a Boxster......🤷🏻‍♂️
Surely the 'vintage' experience, the rose tinted view of bygone motoring days is why we drive such unique cars....?????????

I have to agree with Jens, for me the 4/4 sums up what a Morgan is......
Adding more power means bigger wheels and tyres, bigger brakes and 'modern' (5L) suspension...... all of which take it away from the light, skinny, nimbleness of a 4/4......😁

🇬🇧🇬🇧

It was not model specific but was introduced at a specific date, at the time bigged up as superior to galv, which properly done is 'hot dip' and allegedly sometimes distorted the chassis which was actually at Rubery Owens' cost to straighten as they made them anyway.

The real truth is it offered a significant cost saving to drop the zinc galv, what the marketing bullshiters call 'value engineering'

I whole heartedly agree with your post Hertford Mog, my Morgan history mirrors yours, I think the 3.7 Roadster is the pick of the bunch for just having immense fun it certainly shocks other car users when you go flying past in something that looks like it came from the '30's but it is also very civilized for cruising around the lanes using only the top two gears and getting around 30mpg, the power to weight ratio is the same as an Audi R8V10 and it's Ford powered for parts etc.

I am lucky enough to have one of those 2013.