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Over the last few months I have noticed a lot of delivery mileage Morgans being advertised by dealers - something I don't really recall seeing in the past. I assume that the dealer network has to order a certain amount and presumably the buyers have not been coming forward to take them up before delivery from the factory. Must be a sign of the recession and, while I could not afford a new Morgan, I would be very sad to see the company and its craftsmen slide into history. Has anyone seen an '09 plate on one?
Edited by Harmattan on 04/02/2010 at 12:52
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Can't think when I last saw a Morgan at all. Perhaps it's the weather - I don't think many of the sentences here that began 'I got to work just fine in the snow in my...' ended with the word 'Morgan'.
On the subject of old-fashioned RWD cars, I was waiting to join a big roundabout on my way home the night before last when someone in a mid-80s (D?) Capri just caught a nasty-looking fishtail slide as he left the roundabout. He didn't seem to be travelling recklessly or excessively fast, and the road was dry and not icy, so who knows what happened. Maybe he did it on purpose, but there were other cars around him, so I hope not; maybe he'd just put new tyres on the front wheels. I suppose that sort of thing was fairly common 30 years ago but I don't think I'd ever seen it happen on a public road.
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I'm not sure how the recession would affect a 'high-end', specialist, hand-made car like Morgan - I would suggest, 'not at all'.
I recently puchased an expensive, high-end, hand-made guitar from an English luthier and I asked him how things were during this recession. Admittedly, we are talking about £3,000 as opposed to £30,000 (say), but the reply was that the order book was fuller than ever, waiting times were getting longer and he would have to consider raising prices to regulate things!
Edited by Waino on 04/02/2010 at 13:27
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Morgan had record sales in 2009. No recession for the rich!
www.autoblog.com/2010/01/12/morgan-hits-record-sal.../
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"Morgan had record sales in 2009. No recession for the rich!"
I think that article begins to explain why there are cars further down the range, and including LHD versions, being offered with delivery mileage or pre-registered. It is good to see that more are being built but they don't all seem to have found users beyond the dealers just yet. Could be a winter bargain for someone although I suspect Morgan salesmen are made of strong stuff.
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I don't think many of the sentences here that began 'I got to work just fine in the snow in my...' ended with the word 'Morgan'.
:-)
Not answering the question, I know, but I remember when I was thinking about buying my first new car in 1980, writing to Morgan for their brochure and receiving a letter indicating that their delivery lead-time was 7 years.
Don't see many of them around here, either.
Clk Sec
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So it could be that these are cars ordered in 2002 which are going straight onto the second hand market because the owners can no longer afford them.
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a letter indicating that their delivery lead-time was 7 years
There used to be an urban myth floating around about people putting down a deposit on a Morgan and selling their place in the queue several years later without ever having seen the car. I don't know how much truth there is in it, although I heard it from an experienced motor trader who would quite likely do such a thing if profit were to be made.
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I can confirm that my father-in-law placed a £1000 deposit on a Morgan whilst in his final year as an Engineering student in the mid 1970s. He sold it a year later for £2000! (the deposit and order that is....not the car - which he realised he could never afford!)
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