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Re: Aero 8 at Goodwood Festival of Speed

To: "Howie" <hclark@mail.dcwi.com>, <lmg@gomog.com>, <Morgans@autox.team.net>
Subject: Re: Aero 8 at Goodwood Festival of Speed
From: "MICHAEL VIRR" <virrmj@prodigy.net>
Date: Tue, 27 Jun 2000 08:31:05 -0400
I went down to the Goodwood Festival of Speed last weekend and had my first
sight of the Aero 8.

To say the styling is unfortunate is an understatement.  However I would
have thought that putting the works hack in the "Exotic Car" section was
almost an insult ot the organizers and the public.  With a Lambo and other
exotics along side it the fit and finish was a disgrace.  It was obvious the
car had done a lot of miles but:-
* the grill did not fit under the cowl
* the longtitudinal grill did not fit
* the join on the wing was poor and had fibeglass chips out.
* the boot did not fit and had a lip on the back the ends of which were
nearly broken off.
* The lips along the sides of the wings looked cheap and nasty - one was
broken but put that down to wear and tear.

I resist going on. Having said all that the hood and interior were worn but
not bad.  I assume the production cars will be in aluminium because this car
was in fibreglass and all I can say is that the kit cars offerred nearby
were finished better.  The whole impresion was so amateur, I felt it would
be better to show a well finished car or not at all.  There was nobody by
the car to talk to but I saw Tim Packer, a midlands Morgan dealer and he was
shocked they showed the car which he said the sales manager was using on the
road every day.  I took some photos and may show some latter.  I hope they
really work on the production cars to both improve the styling and, of
course, finish.

To those who dont know me I have raced Morgans since 1960 and also known
Peter that long having built some cars for racing from bits bought from
Morgan including some of the first ally body panels in 1963.  Maurice Owen
was Mark Rigg and my mechanic in the early '60s when we raced Loti.  He went
to Morgan in 1966 when we packed in racing and slipped the Rover/Buick V8
engine into the +4.

Mike Virr, Fairfield, CT


----- Original Message -----
From: Howie <hclark@mail.dcwi.com>
To: <lmg@gomog.com>; <Morgans@autox.team.net>
Cc: <John.&.Suzanne.Altholz@autox.team.net>
Sent: Friday, June 16, 2000 10:40 PM
Subject: Re: Cumberford's article


> I mentioned the Cumberford remarks about the Aero 8 to a friend of mine
and
> he said, "No wonder, he designed and manufactured a very similar car that
> failed in the marketplace." My friend, who has a prodigious memory and is
> one of my few non-Morgan owning friends who can actually carry on an
> intelligent discussion about them, looked up the article he remembered and
> gave me the following information:
>
> Magazine: Car & Driver, April 1982
> Car: the "Martinique"
> Manufacturer: Cumberford Corp. (James & Robt. Cumberford), Stamford CT
> Price: $125,000 (1982 dollars!)
> Estimated annual production: 350
> Chassis: Cast aluminum, 21 pieces assembled with aircraft fasteners (1982
> was a little early for chassis adhesives) that also used parts from a
> Citroen CX floor pan including hydraulics
> Drive Train: BMW engine, trans, & rear axle
> Body: Aluminum
>
> My friend said that it had definitely had an Aero-like look. It was a
> 2-seater with pontoon fenders that were described in Car & Driver as
> "voluptuous." The fenders were constructed of Tevlar, carbon fiber, and
> foam and then covered with African mahogany veneer. At the time he was
> impressed with the technology, and still is, and the styling...which he
now
> finds looking like a compendium of classic styling cues, rather like an
> Excaliber.
>
> He goes on the say that one must give the Cumberfords a great deal of
> credit. Not only did they design and build at least a few of them, but
they
> successfully sourced parts from manufacturers like Mercedes, Citroen, and
BMW.
>
> My friend is mailing me the article, as he doesn't have a scanner. When it
> arrives I'll send it out. It sure sounds a lot like the Morgan approach to
> manufacturing (he and his brother actually did try to buy Morgan in 1967)
> and a lot like the Aero. The Cumberfords must have put an enormous amount
> of effort into this project and I imagine that the memories aren't all
that
> pleasant and it may explain a lot about his recent comments.
>
> At 08:32 PM 6/7/2000 -0400, you wrote:
>
> >Though there is undoubtedly truth behind the observation that auto
> >advertising revenues influence auto reviews, it is difficult to dismiss
> >all Morgan reviews as a free kick at the can premitted by the lack of
> >Morgan advertising....there are so many frankly admiring articles on
> >Morgans in spite of that lack.
> >
> >Cumberford himself wrote of his "love" of the marque and his attempt to
> >buy the company just last year, see http://www.gomog.com/cumberford.html
> >
> >For all that, more than a hint of the present article is found in his
> >last one where he speaks of Big Blue being "grotesque". If he didn't
> >like Big Blue he wasn't going jump for joy with the Aero 8.
> >
> >Lorne
> >
> >"
>
> Howard Clark
> c/o Twinrocker Handmade Paper
> 100 East Third Street (P.O. Box 413)
> Brookston, IN 47923
> 765-563-3119 fax:765-563-8946
>


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