Hi There
Jeremy, good to hear from you again, your knowledge in dealing
with the UK registration authorities is of great value, from what you type
it almost seems that there would be no problem with the DVLA (Driver&
Vehicle Licensing Authority) though I have read horror stories, seems the
guys in the US can at times have much the same problem ? In the end it
seems the outcome can be down to luck and the "official" involved ?
Jeremy`s input was originally a response to a posting of mine elsewhere some
time ago when I came across a Morgan advertised for sale as spares, #6K
(ish) seemed rather a lot of cash for spares, I went along to look at it
with a view to purchase and rebuilding the spares into a car, the body was
new and sitting on top of an old chassis the engine was new and the gearbox
had been sourced from an Escort Mexico there was no trim, the wings and cowl
were fibreglass, no dash or instruments and no windscreen the crosshead was
new as were the kingpins etc. That the seller had advertised "parts" as
opposed to car, when what was there could have almost made a complete car
made me wonder ? In the end I came to the conclusion that what I was looking
at was perhaps a mixture of what was left from a Morgan rebuild, perhaps
after an accident, and a lot of new and gathered up bits, the problem as I
saw it was, even if the chassis number was still there it was likely that
the registration number which was associated with it originally, was now
attached to the "original" car that may have been damaged and now rebuilt
with a nice new chassis. Hmm! So no chance of calling this assembly of bits
a Morgan then ? As for a car to be a Morgan it has to be deemed so by the
registration authorities ? I suspect that as this car had no provenance that
the DVLA would have looked on it as a kit car when assembled and thus
allocated a dreaded "Q" to the registration plate, such a car is likely to
have little value when assembled and roadworthy certainly less than #6K I
should think ? Even though the tub wood frame and metal were new.......
However if one were rebuilding a 4/4 4 seater the parts available may well
have been worth #6K to someone.
Bob, I would be pleased if you would send me the file, though I do know the
ending (-: some of the arguments made in this case are indeed logical, there
are many replica`s of this and that which are better engineered than the
original and perhaps even better and safer to drive, though I personally
feel that some lineage has to be proved in the case of protecting heritage
or claiming the use of the Morgan name........ I feel the collection of bits
I looked at was not in my mind a true Morgan, as it could not be registered
as such mainly because the chassis lineage went to the original rebuilt car,
even though the "original" repaired chassis was on offer with the numbers in
the correct place ......What do you think ?
Cheers, George.
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