Hello Will,
You should be very proud about instigating this stream of "how I acquired my
Moggie" stories. They've all been great. Here's my story.
I was 18 years old reading a 1964 copy of ROAD & TRACK magazine in the common
room of my engineering college. There was a road test of two Morgans, a stock
4/4 and a Super Sports. As a Sunbeam Alpine owner, British cars had a natural
appeal and I thought the Morgan was really "funky" (in the jargon of he day).
I would loved to trade up, but it was out of the question since all the money
from my night job went for tuition and books. Morgans were obviously for rich
folks. Poor people drove $300 Sunbeams.
After the Sunbeam I went through a typical series of oddball cars... Karmann
Ghia, MG 1100 sedan, Corvair Monza, MGA, Bugeye Sprite and so forth. By now I
had normal transportation, but usually had a British car to keep my hands dirty.
It wasn't until the unhappy end of a love affair in 1985 that I decided to
treat myself to a proper antique car. I really wanted a "T" series MG,
preferably a TC or TF, but willing to settle for a more mundane TD to keep the
price within my budget of $12,000 (I was rich now... it was great!).
Sadly, by this time old car prices were skyrocketing. A pathetic basket case
TD was asking $18,000. Morgans seemed like a cheaper alternative. I would
have still preferred an MG, but pawed through HEMMINGS Morgan section looking
for something in my neighborhood and price range.
There was a '62 4/4 "Competition Model" going for $7000 that had promise. I
reckoned I could retrofit it to road use if it was in good shape. When I
called to ask about the "race car" the owner blasted me: "IT'S NOT A RACE
CAR!!!" (apparently he had received a number of disappointed phone calls).
"Competition model is only a name. It has a tach and a Weber carb, that's
all...Geez, do you think Pontiac LEMANS race in bloody FRANCE?!!".
I told him to calm down as "I might be interested in the car anyway". I sure
was. It was in great shape other than a coat of bilious yellow-green paint
that was falling off in chunks. The car had been on blocks in his garage since
1978 when he drove from Chicago to Wayne, NJ. The previous owner was an Army
major who brought it back from England and had his motorpool paint it
(yuuuch!). Before that it had been a London car almost all of it's life and it
showed. It seemed like the old banger was owned by a series of teenage
butchers who had tortured the wiring in a misguided attempt to keep the
electric functioning, and drilled numerous holes for no apparent reason.
The present owners wife was particularly keen to see the Morgan gone. She
wanted to put her Buick in the garage. (these were not car people... they
didn't have so much as an octagonal ashtray in the house). I looked HER in
the eye and offered $4000. "He'll take it!" she said, while envisioning a new
living room suite. His eyes nearly popped out and he demanded $5000. I was
able to drive it home that afternoon.
The following day I registered the car and went for a ride in the country. The
left rear wheel fell off and disappeared into the woods, taking the brake drum
with it and becoming irretrievably lost. What a nuisance! The car had a spare
wheel, but no spare brake drum. I had to limp home using the gears to slow
down.
Ever since then, whenever I buy a used car the first thing I do is re-torque
the lug nuts.
Life with Moggie has been much better since then. The paint was stripped off
down to the bare metal (some steel, some aluminium) and repainted bright
yellow. Some new chrome bits perked it up some more. She's never been
restored, poor thing, only fixed up and driven regularly. As she nears the
100,000 mile mark she has never been laid up for any length of time except once
for an engine rebuild at 90,000 miles. although she has conked out by the
roadside on many an occasion, she's always made it home on her own steam and
has never been towed once in the 13 years I've owned her (oops, I've hexed
myself now!).
I've never regretted giving up the MG's. Looking back now I appreciate that
the Morgan is a heck of a lot more robust and has probably given me a lot more
driving time than a "T" series MG ever would. Re-reading that 1964 ROAD &
TRACK article I also know it was inevitable that Morgan and I would someday
come together. It's just right.
Sorry about the length of this nonsense.
How about some more stories from you folks?
Joe DeLuca
Sparta, NJ
'62 4/4
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