A Morgan Supporter

Sir,

Although a regular subscriber to Motor Sport for the past thirty years I have made few claims on your correspondence space but I feel bound to reply to the letter from “Despairing Morgan Lover” which appears in your May issue.

I too ordered a Morgan 4/4, but a two-seater, in February 1974. I placed my order with my nearest Distributor, a gentleman with whom I had no previous dealings whatsoever. My offer to pay a deposit was politely declined. Later in the year the Distributor offered me a new car, a four-seater, a last minute cancellation but I turned it down as I particularly wanted a two-seater. I was notified in September 1975 that I was sixth on his waiting list, and I took delivery in April 1976, having waited rather less than two years and two months.

Your correspondent was obviously less fortunate in his choice of Distributor and since presumably he signed the standard Motor Agents Association order form there would appear to be little that he can do to retrieve the situation for the document contains the clause (Para 2a): “The seller shall not be obliged to fulfil orders in the sequence in which they are placed”.

As far as Morgan prices are concerned Peter Morgan in a press interview in 1976 gave the Company’s pre-tax profit for the previous year as £32,000 plus. Assuming an output of 400 cars this represents an average profit of about £80 per car not exactly profiteering by any standard!

It is pointless to compare the prices of a Morgan with that of an MG. The former is a hand-built car produced by a family concern which has to finance its own operations (as it has done for nearly seventy years) whilst the latter is a conveyor line job from an organisation which depends for its very existence on the tax-payers’ money. As for Morgans being able to justify their prices, presumably, they already have to do this to the powers-that-be. It is ironical to recall that time was when £800 was being asked for three-year-old TC Midgets, new price about £527.

I do not wish to appear smug but I consider that, blessed with a wife and family “Despairing Morgan Lover” is a lucky young man even to be able to contemplate a Morgan a little more than three years after starting work. It took me twenty-five years of driving what most people would call rubbish before I was able to invest in one so your correspondent need not despair if he loves a Morgan enough!

Tywardreath, Cornwall J. S. Bacon