Expensive Toy #2,350 – Auto Division

Drive Time

Reader Mike S. sends me something about a car which lists the pros and cons of ownership thus:

Well, with all those, can the name “Morgan” be far behind?

So far, all good.  But wait!  What is this foul wart on a pretty girl’s face?

According to the article though, they will be available with a stick shift, as the Lord intended.

And yes:  $100,000 is a lot of moolah for something that’s at best a once-a-month drive (weather permitting).  But then again, I know men for whom marriage is similar (costly, with only an occasional ride), and we don’t look down on them now, do we?

The big question is:  is this new Morgan a lottery car, or could one get a better toy for a hundred grand?  Thoughts in Comments, with the usual caveats (i.e. I don’t want to hear from the Toyota HiLux Brigade;  we’re talking playthings).

13 comments

  1. I had a +8 back in 1979 for two years, I had more trouble out of that one car than all my other cars added together BUT: I ALSO had more FUN out of that one car than all my other cars added together!

  2. Morgans left me when they swapped out their traditional wood frame rails for Aluminum, and the example shown is left hand drive (sacrilege) instead of proper right-hand drive.

    But I’ll see your quirky British roadster and raise you a wildly impractical German closed 2 seater coupe. Yes. it’s a little more than double the price, but since it’s a closed coupe, it’s much better in the inclement weather AND it even comes as a right-hand drive version. No fusing with the convertible top and those ridiculous side curtains. It has flow through ventilation and the seats get warm. Like the Morgan it is missing a sound system, but that’s replaced in this car by the fantastic sound of air being sucked into the six individual intake trumpets that feed the Slide-valve Mechanically fuel injected flat six engine,

    It has a lightweight body covering the tube frame chassis and unpainted fiberglass body work is still in the Mold Release matte white Finnish that is so popular now, although the interior is finished in matte gray due to the complains by the development drivers that the translucent fiberglass was distracting at speed. You should also be aware that the passenger side is a lacking some of the same footwell space and headroom as the driver’s side. But on the plus side the passengers’ feet are not in front of the front axle line, unlike the pedal box on the driver’s side.

    The minimal instrumentation can easily be supplemented by attaching an IPad to the expose tube frame and it come complete with a FIA mandated Storage tray for your luggage. Although the compartment does get quite warm so it’s probably best not to pack anything temperature sensitive.

    This Marvelous Road car can be found on Hemmings marketplace here

    https://www.hemmings.com/listing/1966-replica-other-denver-co-965221

  3. “…. we’re talking playthings).”

    Since you put it that way, you’re probably right.
    I find the overall look rather fetching and it does have a top in case it rains.

    And, it’s small enough that if it does rain, when I pull it back up into the center of my living room I can dry it off thoroughly, top and bottom, with some microfiber towels.

    Yes, it would be center stage in my living room, which, would be the first living room in recorded history with a full glass overhead garage door on the front.

    I’m an arky so it would all be designed very nicely and unassumingly.

  5. On the flip side, traffic in most of the areas I’d be driving in is so horrible the thought of dropping 100 grand on a driving “toy” seems ridiculous. Lotto money rules apply, however, and we’ll assume that a) it must be something new and b) you have plenty of garage space. I’d drop less than a third of that 100G on something like the Polaris Slingshot and get most of the same open cockpit driving experience as the Morgan provides. Sure, you’ll see a few more Slingshots than Morgans, but they still stand out. Plus you’ll have enough money left over for a very nicely optioned Mustang, or Bronco, or whatever else you might like. Like a fishing boat.

    Honestly, traffic and driving is so bad that I’m thinking of selling off the few toys I do own. I never use them anymore and they just take up room in the garage. The first thing I’d have to do with lotto money is move the fuck away, out to the middle of nowhere. Then my toys would consist of the 4WD variety instead.

  6. The roads around here are getting so bad that this nice roadster would get swallowed up by a pot hole withing ten minutes of driving it on its maiden voyage.

    now if I had a Toyota HiLux……..

  8. I dont know if I could even fit in said Morgan. I’m past the point of hot-blonde-passenger-run-around-fun stage, and firmly in the everything is stiff but the one thing I want to be stiff phase.

    But as an automotive plaything probably the 1969 Dodge Charger (always loved the look of that car). Plus the fact that it has room for my now stiff bones to fit into.

    But overall 100K would buy a different set of playthings in my life right now.

  9. In Washington State, Simpson Design makes a variety of cars based on the Mazda Miata. They are both hardtop and convertible. They no longer look like Miatas, and they do not look like any other Italian cars except in a sort of familial resemblance. I’d like one of those. I think I can have fun with it, and I want more reliability than British cars have been able to deliver, or so it seems. https://www.simpsondesign.net/

  11. It is a British car, I swore them off. Too many electrical problems. I had a buddy that built a Lotus 7 with a turbo VW engine out of a Audi TT. It is street legal and a blast to drive.

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