Bart - I'll go ahead and reply to your note on the list, before you read all
these other notes and get the impression that you somehow took a wrong turn
and landed on the "Oldsmobile" list. GM ruined all these guys when they
sold that 215 V8 design to Rover. "Too Much" is "Just Enough" for some
people!!!!:>)
I'm a first-time Morgan owner myself, and enjoying it muchly. My '66 4/4
has a nicely prepped 1700cc Ford engine in it, which is very streetable but
produces a LOT of horsepower and goes heap fast with the help of racey cams,
Weber, big valves etc. It's very light (1450 pounds on the truck scales)
and has a great power to weight ratio. I'm sure that a +8 properly driven
will go as fast with less fuss and fewer revs, but I'll also bet it won't
run away from this one. Nothing wrong with driving them everywhere;
they're bone simple, easy to work on, and can be replaced a piece at a time
forever as long as you watch out for wet wood and rusty metal. DRIVE ONE
FIRST, though, before you buy. They ride really rough, rougher than any LBC
you've had, and if a lot of your driving is by necessity on potholed
secondary roads, you're going to find yourself getting passed in the turns
by Morris Minors and VW Beetles. You just can't go fast on really bumpy
back roads; the car will be in the air or graunching on the pavement half
the time. On smooth "B" roads, however, you can lay it over in the turns
like nothing else.
If you add up the MCCDC "Rough Rider", Hemmings, and the on-line ads,
you'll find 25-30 Morgans for sale at any given time in the nation. Decent
4-cylinder drivers needing some body, interior, and front-end work soon can
be had for $11K-$12.5K, drivers needing nothing much can be had for
$15K-$17.5K, and really pretty restored cars can be had for $20K and up.
+8s start somewhere in the $25K stratosphere and go up from there. Grandpa
Rockefeller's bequest can help you out with those. Very few cheatin'
weenies own Morgans, so you're usually talking to a good guy when you buy
one.
Cantab Motors in Purcellville VA is a nice place to visit, hang out, or buy
a Morgan. They've been great with me on parts and advice; I live in VA, and
visit there a couple times a year. Hope you decide to get one; especially
if you plan on lots of road miles to fly the flag and spread the word.
Lannis
>I'm a "First Time Listener", "First Time Caller". I just joined the list
>because I've found in the past that this is not the place to find shy and
>retiring people that don't like to share opinions. I'm in the hunt for my
>first Morgan (I'd list previous cars but there is an electron shortage on
the
>web). This is a dangerous question but I'd like to get preferences from
>people that own MOGs about 4's vs 8s and old vs new. I'm almost certain
that
>I'll go with a +8 (non-propane, no offense) but new vs old is still up in
the
>air. This car will get driven although not in the winter or in REAL bad
>weather. I've owned a lot of English sports cars and it's time for a MOG.
>Also any information on either of the dealers in VA or CA would be
>appreciated. I've really just started the hunt and I'm looking for
>information to narrow my selection. I'm sure that most of the people on
the
>list would be bored by much of this (or it could start a very hot thread)
so
>replies off-list are welcome.
>
>Thanks
>
>Bart
>Morganless (for now)
>bartham@aol.com
>
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