Stu,
I've been waiting to comment until I could get my hands on both articles.
This I managed yesterday. After reading them, I then felt that I needed to
speak to Charles Morgan about what I might be able to reveal about the
Company plans and the "new" car. This I was also able to do, but we
were only able to speak for twenty minutes or so before it was necessary
for me to leave for my office.
Charles Morgan has seen neither article. He is accustomed to being
misunderstood by the press and having his hospitality betrayed, so was
not unduly alarmed or upset by the characterizations I described of
various persons and MMC in both articles. He asked whether I believed
that the articles would be useful, to which I replied that ANY publicity
about MMC over here would alert potential qualified buyers to act
swiftly since only forty or so 4.0 engines remain to fill any future
U.S. orders.
As far as the new car is concerned, the project is still largely secret.
It is well enough along for a prototype to have been viewed by one
German and one U.K. Agent. As Charles puts it, the German was
quite taken by the fact that it really was a new car, and not a re-work
of the existing "long door" with different lights, wings, etc., and that
he was extremely excited and enthusiastic about the prospects of
selling it. Charles has asked me to convey to the American Morgan
owners I know and to the "List" that this new car is not a replacement
of the existing car for now, but is designed to attract a wider audience
of new prospects, and to explore some technologies which may be
able to be incorporated into the existing range later should that
become necessary and/ or desirable. We both agree that some
current Plus 8 owners may also be attracted, but that this new car
is no threat to the marketing of the current range of Morgans.
A little background is in order for the following: in March of 1997 both
U.S. Morgan Agents were summoned to Malvern Link to meet with
Charles Morgan and Mark Aston, the Works Director and THE man
responsible for regulatory issues, paperwork, Type Approval and the
like. The purpose of this meeting was to establish a uniform spec.
for the NAS 4.0 Plus 8. Win Sharples of Cantab took a lengthy and
reasoned letter from me, (and one from another client in the automobile
industry with a car on order), dealing with interpretations of various
current U.S. D.O.T. and EPA Regulations. Sadly, the MIRA air-bag
crash tests had been conducted using cars with Fink/ Isis bumper
mounting structures,and for reasons of liability it was mandated by
MMC that both U.S. Agents use this arrangement. Both Sharples
and Fink were handed an agreement to sign confirming that this
mounting system be used on all the SRS-equipped cars. The only
tiny victory won at this meeting was the adoption of a 17 1/2" mid-
point height for the bumpers which I had suggested in my letter as
being the current standard for European marques here as opposed
to Fink's totally absurd 21" mid-point height mounting. (It should be
noted that Sharples/ Cantab had successfully certified cars during
the previous ten years using a 16 1/2" mid-point height and heavy
cast metal half U-shaped mounting brackets which retained the
stock wing flashers with minor modification.) In both articles there
are photos of Isis cars using some kind of bumper sweep brackets
to mount both bumpers in spite of the fact that structures were
incorporated on the chassis of the NAS cars at MMC to mount
BMW bumper shocks through the wings and rear deck at 17 1/2".
Charles Morgan confirmed to me today that it is still the intention
of MMC that these mounts be used as agreed in the prior document.
As this bumper mounting has been a real source of annoyance to
me from the start, I have requested that MMC bring Mr. Fink into
compliance, especially in view of the fact that Mr. Fink caused
the issue to be created in the first place. I expect that Charles
Morgan, Mark Aston, and the new Sales Director, Matthew Parkin
will need to see the evidence of the articles themselves, but I
remain adamant about seeing some redress, given the painstaking
amount of extra work required by both myself and Cantab to
soften the visual impact of this bumper shock mounting. These
included painting of the shock gaiters in body colour, mounting
fog lamps on brackets in the approximate standard location and
just inboard of the mounts, positioning the rear fog and reversing
lamps on special brackets below the rear bumper in such a way
as to hide the exposed lowline rack mounting bracket and give
the bumper a lower appearance, etc. etc. NONE of this would
have been necessary had it been possible to use the former
Cantab mounts.
On another issue raised by you and others on this "List", the cost of
a new Morgan today is largely the cost of paying and training a highly
skilled work force. In the NAS cars, the next greatest expense is for
R & D and ECU's, harnesses, and the like for OBD II & SRS. The
added cost for dipped body frame and chassis, aluminium panels,
SPF wings, etc. is at most a few thousand, and these are things
which I cannot imagine the owner of a new car would not want. It is
Charles Morgan's desire that the cars LAST INDEFINITELY, hence the
stainless bulkhead and inner wing valances, tool box, etc. He would
fabricate the scuttle out of stainless too if a way could be found to do
it, (the cowl and scuttle are the only remaining steel panels in the car.)
So... at 65 - 70K in the U.S., including 7 - 8K of that for additional
DOT conversion work, I fail to see how anyone could perceive that a
new NAS Plus 8 did not represent good value for money. To compare
it to a 55K Porsche Boxster is curious to me too because my agency
sells them (some for as much as 70K with extras!!!), the ones I've
driven with sports suspension chatter and have less grip in bumpy
turns than MY car, don't give the impression of riding much better,
rattle and squeak nearly as much with the hood (top) up, and it's
frightening to even think what the car might be worth in five years
and 35,000 miles as compared to one of the last NAS "real" Plus 8's.
Would you really prefer to pay 55K to sit in a steel bath tub surrounded
by a lot of what appears to be cheap plastic?!
My car, like all new Morgans, is PRECISELY the car I wanted, right
down to the most minute detail, (and the details at MMC are either
no charge or absurdly inexpensive). As my car was the first NAS
Production Plus 8 and was used somewhat for testing, Charles
made a present of the special gussetted door pockets in hide that
I had requested, and the bin we had fabricated in the Tin Shop
over the passenger knee bolster to replace the glove box (which
houses the right side air bag), has, according to the "Road & Track"
article, become standard for all the NAS cars.
As to owning a 10 - 20 year old, well-sorted Plus 8 for 40K, there
is not much real comparison in size of cockpit, control function,
raw power, handling, etc. This new car is a lot easier to live with.
It was interesting to read that the "Road & Track" road tester only
managed 0 - 60 in 6.7 because he had to shift at 58 MPH. "Autocar"
last year managed 6.0 with a 3.9 and 5.9 with a 4.6. Either those lads
know where to short-shift a Rover V-8, launch in second gear (which
is easy), etc. Both "Autocar" and "R & T" observed that these figures
were misleading on the road due to the enormous torque available in
any gear. "Autocar" flatly stated that the car is quicker in top gear
from 30 - 80 than a Ferrari Maranello. You get the idea, right?
As to the bizarre characterization of Charles Morgan as a playboy,
I can only imagine that the writer did not spend much time with
Charles. He can be exceptionally friendly and polite at times. On the
occasion of my first visit to MMC, Charles gave my son and me
a very thorough and personal tour of the Works. My son's first
impression was that Charles was a bit "light". Last summer when
we returned on his birthday, Charles had us in his office for quite
a long time and we discussed the mechanical specifications of
engine management systems, British car industry politics, process
improvements in the Works, NAS & EEC Regulations, etc. My
son came away from that meeting with the strong impression that
Charles "really has his act together" and "knows exactly where
he's going", in other words, a different side of the man. I really
like Charles very much, find him entirely warm and genuine,
possibly even too forthcoming with his ideas and opinions for
his own good, just the kind of Morgan you would want pushing
for quality in the marque and survival of the breed.
I am reminded of a story told to me a couple of years ago by
a friend at Rover Group who has owned three Plus 8's in his
time. He told me that, at first, when Charles joined the Family
Business, he didn't quite know what to make of him. Then
my friend learned that Charles had been an ITV cameraman
in the thick of it in Afghanistan for quite a while. "He has
my respect for THAT", was my friend's comment!
Lastly, (aren't you all glad?!), please consider the source when
attempting to comprehend Peter Morgan's comment about the
American market. Sentiment aside, Peter has reportedly not been
quite himself since his collie died last year, and probably should
not be giving any interviews to anyone. I can believe that the quote
is entirely accurate. Consider that MMC has over 500,000 BRP
invested in SRS R&D and equipment principally for the U.S. Market.
While the power plant for the next NAS cars may well be V-6 in
(let's hope) not the TOO distant future, the current Plus 8 chassis
traditional Morgan with possibly minimal alterations to the panels,
lighting, etc. The new Sales Director, Matthew Parkin, appears to
be very able, and probably should be the only one giving interviews
at MMC so long as he can be relatively forthcoming, however I can
imagine this is nigh impossible in a firm where the Morgan Family
IS the Company. In my view, Charles can do without his father as
an anchor at this time. The function of checks and balances can be
more than adequately handled by the very over-worked Mark Aston,
who is the Works Director. For those of you who are not aware,
Mark runs the Works, sees to all the changes in production process
which Charles wants, keeps the work force together and manages
all THAT paperwork as well as employee training, handles Type
Approval and all THAT paperwork, etc., etc. It is for Charles to
provide the vision, the push, and the inspiration. Mark has figure
out rational and practical ways to make it happen.
It is still mystifying to me why the writer at "Car & Driver" seemed
to think that Chris Lawrence was the main story when the Company
and the cars would seem to provide far more interesting subjects
for his readers as witnessed by the "Road & Track" article. The only
real problem with that writer was his failure to mention the East
Coast Morgan Agent, Cantab Motors, from which the bulk of the NAS
cars are being delivered, (around 20 at last count)!!!
Regards,
Willie
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