Hey Jerry, Hey Gang,
In a message dated 2/26/98 10:00:38 AM, you wrote:
<<However, they lost a good chunk of their export business in one fell
swoop.>>
According to Morgan this loss was quite deliberate in that they believed that
the US was no longer to be the prime market for their cars. Germany stepped
into the breach. While the Plus 8 was developed in 1967 as the successor to
the Plus 4, it was actually introduced in 1968 (April?) and was the watershed
for the marque.
It was a watershed not only because of the tremendous success of the Plus 8
and the shift from emphasis on the US market but also becuase the Plus 8
marked a number of changes (dare we say improvements?) that most people
thought were long overdue. Steel instead of wood floorboards, decent seats,
etc., etc.
The shame is that the Plus 4 was dropped in 1969 because of the expected loss
of the "only suitable" powerplant (which loss did not materialize) and purists
considered the Fiat powered 1985 reintroduction substandard (I have no
personal knowledge of these cars... does anyone out there have one?). It is
interesting that the workers at The Works consider and speak of the pre-69
Plus 4's as "real Plus 4's."
But let's face it: by 1968 the TR powerplant in use by Morgan was getting
pretty long in the tooth. The introduction of the Plus 8--even though its 3.5
liter powerplant was not a real barnburner--meant a new emphasis on
performance. (0-70 in 7 seconds, stock, was advertised.) Personally, I
consider the 1968 Plus 8 to be the most desireable of the Plus 8's and envy
those of you who have one.
Soooo.... 1968 meant the last of the "pure" Plus 4's, the beginning of the
end for the Plus 4, the introduction of (some) modernizations, a new emphasis
on high performance, and the drastic reduction of the numbers of Morgans sent
to the US.
And, oh yeah! The US was also changing some safety and pollution laws.
--Colin Cobb, Las Cruces, NM, USA
|