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Morgan Motor Co as we knew it RIP

Robertb

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Joined
1 Sep 2003
Messages
8,406
So, after 109 years of independent ownership, the family have finally sold out, to an Italian VC.

Sad day for an iconic British company.
 
Totally agree, what a sad day for manufacturing.
I guess like many, I really love to see a Mog on the road, really brightens up my day and makes me smile. But the prospect of actually living with one is just too hard to countenance.
A friend of mine bought a new Morgan Plus 4 in 2015 and it was back in Malvern for a service in November.
His father always wanted one but sadly passed away without ever owning his dream car. So, Jim used his share of the inheritance to buy the car his father always wanted in exactly the colour and spec he often talked about.
After 3 years of ownership it had covered 500 miles :dont know: and came back from being serviced (transported there and back, naturally :eh!: ) with a little note from the factory pleading that he drive it a bit more frequently! :worship:
 
Sad day indeed for British design, heritage and manufacturing.:eek:

Will be interesting to see if the Italians can extract a worthwhile return from the business without destroying it Britishness. :?:

Always fancied a 3-wheel Morgan with the V-twin engine. :lol:
 
Sounds like a good move. I doubt the Morgan family have been much use to them for years.
 
End of an era!
Peter and Charles Morgan always made you feel welcome at
their Motor Show stand and factory visits too. Very traditional set up even Sir John Harvey Jones couldn't completely get them to join the 20th Century let alone the 21st. It was great how against the odds they lasted so long before
they had to relinquish family ownership and ultimately control.

The Plus 8 was my favourite and owned one for a while, really flawed dynamically but funny, always put a smile on your face. The Aero 8 was a huge leap forward for them, the expensive stuff and three wheelers followed after that. Looks like time caught up with them, not sure how it's going to work out, bit like Italians making Spitfires? Good luck Morgan Motor Company.
 
I'm Malvern born and bred - used to be in the local angling club which had many members from the Morgan factory. Let's hope that they maintain the company as it is, perhaps with a shadow presence and let it continue without any italian influence.

The new Plus Six looks very nice with the BMW power plant from the Z4 / Supra.

https://youtu.be/RDCu_ScK2_g
 
Sad to see another bit of British industry go into foreign ownership.... I hope it survives in more than just name.

I suspect the MMC have been struggling along for a number of years. At one time kept alive by the American customer base as most Brit sports car buyers were in search of something a bit more modern...? I also suspect the guys who create the construction and use regs turned a blind eye for as long as they could re the "Trad" Morgans..?

Once digital electronics took hold it seems fitting engines designed for modern vehicles into what is essentially a vintage chassis, body and suspension configuration may have created it`s share of complexities given the buyers of Morgans around that time were more likely driving their BMW or Mercedes saloons as daily transport and had similar levels of expectation relative to reliability and build quality when buying into a new Morgan, causing quite a bit of flack to show up on Morgan discussion groups. Fortunately there were enthusiasts a plenty out there on the WWW ready to help, ever suggesting that Morgan "foibles" were all part of the fun of ownership which was very true and appreciated by those old codgers like me who were brought up in the make do and mend mentality, though those born of the throw away society, somewhat less so...? Thank goodness for GOMOG.com and others.

Me..? I own a Morgan, a +8 one of the last carburettor fed engines with no EFI, cats or electronics other than the ign system, alloy body panels all hand formed over an ash frame, none of the later Superform wings stuff, thus a my 86 +8 is one of the last hand crafted and coach built Morgans, as opposed to the hand finished digital electronic cars which followed on.

It took a while but MMC did seem to take on some of JHJ`s thinking and given the evolution in automobile technologies it seemed obvious that time would indeed catch up much as it seems to have done with just about every other industry that once made Britain Great.... hmm.

Hope to attach a pic of my Morgan in company with something more modern... Yup, there is a story behind the pic, which can be found in the members lounge bar if you are interested.
 

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I thought Charles Morgan had some sort of fall out :dont know:

They are just about to release the +6 with BMW running gear and automatic, aluminium chassis with a few wooden bits thrown in and some modern electonics :what:
 
Zingari old chap, I suspect if you really looked into things Morganesque, you would find that much of the technological advances made at Morgan were copies of ideas that were developed by Morgan owners themselves some who were rather smart engineers.... Think a guy called Colin Musgrove was perhaps the first guy to fit a Beemer six cyl into a Trad many years back.. As for the wooden bits in later cars... Yeah well, they have to be thrown in to maintain the all important claim of HERITAGE of hand finished craftsmanship etc.etc.etc.

As to who actually might own Morgan... Well YOU put in quite a bit of money to back them up. though not as much as you did to keep RBS floating... Who is behind what these days is kinda difficult to truly assess... be that Brexit or Morgan... Just hope the guys and gals at Morgan can hold on to their jobs, unlike so many others in the car industry... sigh. :?
 
Cracking photo there!

Where was it taken? Looks a great location
 
Mike, thanks for taking time to comment, pity my camera was only JPEG and the dynamic range of light across the scene was just too much for it to handle.. Thus the blown out Cal Mac ferry... Duh!

The story relating to the scene can be found in the Members Lounge.
Under " Newbie here but with Porsche history"

Go to page two, scroll down past the picture of the Mog and Mac, down to the entry on Wed Dec 6th 3:44 Where hopefully you might find the answer to your question and a bit more.. :?:
 
Lets hope foreign owned Morgan doesn't go the same way as Smolenskis TVR did............. :sad:
 
brownspeed said:
Lets hope foreign owned Morgan doesn't go the same way as Smolenskis TVR did............. :sad:

The Italian VC seems very well financed following the Aston Martin float, so hopefully not...

Morgan did £2m pre tax profit on £36m turnover in the YE Feb 18.. not bad at all.

Luddite- great pic!
 

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