Morgan daily...

[biggbn]

Is a 2015 or so Morgan Plus 4 much lower than a mk1 mx5, a car i owned and lived and could easly get in and out of roof up or down? I saw one the other day for the first time in a long time and the driver, successfully, folded himself into the car hood up. He looked like a big fella too!! Do many people use their Morgans daily or are they just too compromised, particularly from the perspective of actually getting in and out of them? Can a Morgan live outdoors on the street, security issues not wihstanding; any convertible has potential issues after all. Seems like a car that is as safe a place to keep your money as any, almost depreciation proof!!

[sospan]

I have a Morgan. 2002 Plus8. Dimensionally similar to a 2015.
Getting in and out depends on the individual’s style of doing it and flexibility!
Roof down is easier. Roof up more restricted. NEVER grab the windscreen! A big NO.
I have driven an Exige and that, to me, was a bugger to get out of. Getting in was ok due to having Morgan experience. Getting out....basically hands on floor and crawl due to the much wider inner sill.
I am 5’10”, 15 stone and have no problems. Others I know are taller, bigger and also manage ok. A couple of people sold their Morgans as medical issues resulted in problems getting in and out.
Go and try one. Dealers will advise on getting in/out.
I have a removable steering wheel a previous owner fitted to help him get in/out by increasing legroom but I never need to remove it for more leg space.

Edited by sospan on Sunday 27th February 20:19

Edited by sospan on Sunday 27th February 20:20

[GTRene]

sospan said:

I have a Morgan. 2002 Plus 8. Dimensionally similar to a 2015.
Getting in and out depends on the individual’s style of doing it and flexibility!
Roof down is easier. Roof up more restricted. NEVER grab the windscreen! A big NO.

Just looked at such example, looks flimsy indeed, if you use it as a 'lever' I guess something would go/flex/brake? can you tell more?
And would a hardtop hold it more in place? that windscreen surrounding? no idea how a hardtop on a plus 8 is mounted front and or rear.



When you look at say a Aero 8 it looks way stronger, backed up also via those quarter side windows against them I guess?
not that I would even then grab and pull myself out in any cabrio like that, but you see sometimes others or in movies do such in their cabrio's.

[sospan]

The screen is fine. The reason not to put strain on it is that it is not rigid, being bolted to the car and too much can cause a slight twisting force resulting in glass damage. A very rare thing in reality though, if at all.
A hard top....they are available but would only add minimal supprt. Made usually of GRP. They are available but need tweaks to fit individual cars due to production dimension variations, very small but enough to need adjustments. Not many people fit them anyway. Some limited editions have them. The one commemorating TOK do. TOK was the LeMans car and a Morgan legend!
Your best bet is to go for a test drive and actually try a Morgan. That way you learn far more than reading comments in forums.

[sawman]

I ran a 4/4 4 seater as a daily for 4 years and about 40k miles. it was a great experience, I got used to turning up places with damp trousers if it were raining, and on one trip from kent to the midlands (my weekly commute) i was glad it started to snow as that meant it stopped raining in.

no major reliability issues to speak of once i have resolved all the issues due to its previous lack of use

getting in and out was easy enough, although the 4 seater has a slightly more upright stance I think.

I did get a solar charger nicked once when leaving it parked sans roof once, but would often park it up with just the tonneau for weeks on end in the summer

[Davel]

I loved mine with the roof down.

I hated it with the roof up, it was like driving in a tent

[Wacky Racer]

Morgan hoods are a joke. (I know, I've had two)

My NC MX5 can be put up or down in ten seconds, totally leak free.

[GTRene]

Wacky Racer said:

Morgan hoods are a joke. (I know, I've had two)

I read that more often, it seemed also happened with their new plus six, so they had to give it a upgrade with the late 2021-2022 model I believe.

But I'm not such fan of softtops, yes those on some old English cars look terrible even on standstil, those on Marcos look good, but it seems not a good fix at the front window, it overlaps then water creeps up the roof while driving and goes under the seal?

The first time I drove very fast with a Z3 M roadster, which has a good roof, but speeding up to 200+ km/h on the highway, I backed of, was afraid my roof would pop off by the forces.
I thought, I have to be sure it holds (the noise scared me a bit, it was not a double isolated roof) so Asked the dealer and they thought it must hold, otherwise why the 270+ top in such roadster...

So the next week I was there on that autobahn again I went for it, first a lot more noise and roof bolling, then about 220km/h or so it flattened again and went quiet :-) to my surprice and then up to the 270+ km/h no problem...

Ow, thats why I also was scared a bit, I had it the first time when I went faster then 120-140 in my TVR V8S with the 2 split top hard part of the roof... when going to 160 or so I heard a loud pop and 1 part of that split top popped up luckely that side, because that side had a extra clip at the front... my side had not... so i slowed down fastly, went to home and bought an extra clip and made the construction better.

But how about the hardtop on such plus six, are those any good? a bit raindrop free when driving in hard rain?

[biggbn]

Thanks for all of the advice. Looking at prices I will likely be looking at a 2010 ish 4/4 1.6, the baby of the bunch, unless the 2015ish models come down a bit, but I don't think you buy a car like this to go fast, do you? Its a few years off yet if we do take the plunge but thank you all for your advice.

I am going to take some advice also and try to hire one for a weekend to see how difficult it would be to live with

Edited by biggbn on Monday 27th June 17:53