At 10:31 AM 2/25/98 -0500, William Zehring wrote:
>At 07:44 AM 2/25/98 -0700, you wrote:
>>Greetings, Ladies and Gentlemen.
>>
>>I've seen mention of "pre-68" and "post-68" in discussions of Morgans.
>>What is the significance of this point in time?
>>
>>Curiously,
>>J.D. Welch
>>(Still Morgan-less but not giving up hope!)
>The 1968 model year was a watershed for all cars sold in the US with the
>imposition of a number of new safety features and emissions requirements.
>I cannot speak for Morgan, but for many other british manufacturers, such
>as MG, Jag, response to these mandates effectively muffled some of the
>'pure' nature of the cars, with ugly rubber dashboards, reduced horse
>power, and multiple side marker lights that spoiled the car's appearance.
>I'll allow that this is partly subjective. For my money, the rubber dashed
>MGs are not at all as desireable as the metal dashed ones, and the series
>II e-type is not as desireable as the series I. Again, I don't know
>details of things wrt the Morgan, but *everyone* had to adapt to these
>mandates and some didn't do such a good job of it. Hence, in the old car
>hobby, 1968 seems to be a significant 'bend in the road' for many marques.
>
>Cheers,
>Will Zehring
There's another factor outside of the US emissions and safety gear
requirements, and that is the end of the engine supply relationship between
Morgan and Triumph that had endured since the earliest plus 4's. Specific
to Morgans, pre-'68 means that a Plus 4 had a TR-4 engine. This was the end
of the supply of this engine because Triumph switched to the 6 cylinder
TR-5 (TR-250 in USA) in 1968, which then became the TR6 in 1969. The six
cylinder engine was not installed in Morgans, probably because the block
was too long. Morgan in 1967 developed the Plus 8, powered by the Rover
aluminum block V8, which engine actually weighed less than the TR4's
straight 4. Morgan thus took the lemons handed them by their supplier and
the US govt. and made some very fine lemonade. However, they lost a good
chunk of their export business in one fell swoop.
Jerry Murphy
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