Fit for purpose?
Posted by Paul Regan at 5:00PM on Friday 07 March, 2008 6 Comments
Yesterday I think I spotted Jonathan Ross driving past the TG office towards Television Centre in a brand new, 08-reg Morgan Roadster. He was smoking a fat cigar and wearing what looked like a beret.
Compare that to a few moments earlier this week on the Morgan stand at Geneva. As fellow staffer Jamie Hibbard and I stood wondering why these cars are still being made, a number plate spontaneously popped off the front of a show car and bounced with a wobble-board 'poing' on the floor. A metaphor for Morgan's very existence, I thought.
But if that was Ross grinning his way down a sunny Wood Lane - goggles and cloth cap notably absent - that infamous waiting list starts to make sense again. It's not a celebrity endorsement thing, just that when the sun shines and you see someone in a Morgan with a thick enough skin not to give a monkey's, you can imagine why you might buy one.
It doesn't, however, excuse an order for the cross-eyed Aero 8 - or the fabulously odd-looking Aeromax. Even a TV star couldn't get away with that... or could they, Richard Hammond?
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6 Comments for "Fit for purpose?"
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I like Morgans, I think Richard has got away with buying one!
The Aero 8 was some snotty nosed Cambridge art student's idea and it wasn't good enough. Thankfully now it's had corrective eye sugery and looks suitably retro, the Aero Max is perfect for Morgan. It's like in the 1940s, Morgan designed a car for the future, put it in a capsule and now they've made it.
And Morgans are just amazing; yes they're old fashioned, but they're works of art and bearded engineering. In a world of new Minis, Beetles and 500's, the Morgan is the trend-setter, you may not see him as often as you should but when you do he brings a smile to your face.
That is why they keep making them.
If I'm honest with you I don't really see why everyone bags Morgans. They look great... for the Thirties! But hey, you say that the new Mustang looks like the old one and no one bothered to bugger that! Lay off Morgan, guys.
When I have enough money to buy a Morgan - presumably after I've got the BBC in my back pocket and cornered the market as an awards host - I too may be spotted grinning my way down a country lane.
After all, that is what the Morgan is supposed to do, put a smile on your face. I probably won't be wearing a waspberry bewet though.
Hello again. I'd like to add a couple of clarifying points here:
I like Morgans. Part of me thinks it's great that a car company like that still exists today, but I just struggle to understand why anyone would drop that amount of cash on one - let alone wait so long for the privilege - instead of buying a decent classic. Maybe it's just me...
Morgans are old fashioned and should be shown at old-fashioned car shows, not Geneva.
Morgan needs to get out of the 1920s and join everyone else in the 20th century