Morgan

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I delivered the Morgan to its new owner yesterday morning. Barry, I hope the car treats you well, and vice versa! I’m gonna miss it…

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Change in plans. Seeing as how I have the DRSCCA Solo School, the Time Trials at Gingerman, the Pittsburgh March Tour, and the New Jersey Pro Solo taking up all my weekends this month, I decided the time to deliver the Morgan was now. Spare parts and wheels in the bed, Morgan on a rented U-Haul trailer. Champaign, I’ll be by in six hours…

Money and a bill of sale have changed hands, so the Morgan is officially sold. The original plan was for me to road trip the Morgan 6 hours down to Champaign, Illinois this weekend, instruct at the CCSCC solo school, maybe play around with the car during the test and tune, leave it with its new owner, and go back to Michigan. As it’s currently still winter down in Illinois, the solo school was postponed, and the Morgan sits safe and snug in my garage. Arrangements will be made for delivery later.

With that said, it should be pretty obvious now who the new owner of the Morgan is. It’s none other than Barry, one of the old timers who welcomed me to CCSCC when I first started autocrossing, one of the folks who encouraged me to get involved with the Board and with running autocross events, and who served as my safety steward for all the autocross events I chaired. Most importantly, he was a British car guy with a specific penchant for TVRs, bringing out his TVR 2500M out to autocrosses (when it ran) and imbuing me with a love for really obscure British cars. It is only fitting then that my Morgan goes to him.

The Morgan is tentatively sold and off the market. Should the deal go through, I will be delivering the car personally this weekend. I am incredibly sad that I will no longer have such a fun little roadster to blast around town in, incredibly excited for its new owner, and already thinking about what is going to replace the Morgan’s spot in the garage.

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Out on Hines Drive shooting the ad pictures for the Morgan. Boy, the car cleans up nice. And despite her extreme rattiness, she’s still very, very pretty. (And you can own her! Contact me for details!)

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Well, would you look at that. It’s a clean Morgan Plus 4. I even reinstalled the headlight bezel and polished the shiny trim pieces and the bumpers. That can only mean one thing — I’m readying the car for sale. I’m still drafting my for sale ad, and still debating as to whether or not I want to list the car myself or click the easy button and list the car on Bring a Trailer, risking a low, final bid for a car that I’m sure the nit pickers would tear apart in the comments. Hmm…

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Mustang on the QuickJack, Miata and Morgan on ramps and jack stands, and the Fiesta ST on a jack for a tire change. I am, as it is said, “going full Tipple.” Half a day is gone and I’m barely scratching the list of what I hope to do this weekend…

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The roads are clear, but the forecast calls for snow. Unfortunately for me, when the temps drop close to freezing, it’s hard to throw the top up in the Miata, so it’s a winter time “top down even when parked” car. Fortunately, the radiator cap for the Morgan arrived, and the tonneau cover is something I can erect even in cold temperatures. Therefore, Morgans are… better winter cars than Miatas? Now warming up the car for 15 minutes before driving to work, which means the car will spend twice as long warming up as it will transporting me to the office.

The arrival of spring is bittersweet for me, though. It’s almost time for me to put this car up for sale and kick it out of the fleet…

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Well, I’m an idiot. Added coolant this morning and forgot to replace the cap. On the drive to work, I heard something fall off the car but didn’t think anything of it. Warmed up the car for 15 minutes after work, then went to the grocery store, and finally filled up the gas tank when I spotted this under the bonnet when I went to check my oil. Well, crap. If anyone spots a metal radiator cap on the side of Rotunda, let me know…

Okay, the evening’s drive with the Morgan wasn’t entirely relaxing. I didn’t realize just how many humongous potholes had opened up on 696 and 75 until I was driving on them. I counted nearly a dozen cars tonight stranded on the side of the road with busted tires. I dodged most but not all of the potholes — I nailed a few and by the end of the evening, the passenger left parking lamp on the fender and the speedometer in the dashboard had come loose. If potholes are scary and jarring in a regular car with modern steel or alloy wheels, I found them infinitely more scary and jarring in a flexible flyer of a car with WIRE WHEELS. #JohnLiproblems