I going to show my '70 4/4 and need some info. Does anyone have a rough idea as to what a 1970 base 4/4 with the Kent engine might have cost new? Also what are the top speed and 0-60 times? At one time I knew these figures but I never wrote them down and now I can't remember. Too many cars to remember the specs on all of them. Nice problem to have though. Thanks, Mark.

Greetings... I don't know if all the info is here but it might be helpful .


https://www.carfolio.com/specifications/models/?man=4313

Tim(D.Y.M.)

http://www.morganville.org/price-history

gmg

Thank you both. I got a lot of info from the sites mentioned.

Mark

From memory, I think they were about £3500.

Some price-relevant postal correspondence between G.B. Sterne and P.H.G. Morgan.
My car, chassis B1800 referred to as Sterne Motors GBH #123 in the letters. It's shipping
companion # 121, chassis B1809 was identically specified except exterior paint color.
These cars were factory invoiced @ £ 736-8-9 sometime in January 1969 and included
special B.C. specs. and equipment.

Bert, it would seem as if these cars didn't cost a lot even back in the 70's. If I read your note correctly, the cars cost 736 pounds. I think the exchange rate in dollars was about $2.40 which makes the car selling price roughly $1800 US. Can that be correct? Nice to know that info. Please correct me if I'm wrong. Thank you.

Mark

Presumably MMC factory wholesale to distributor/dealer Mark...
In my case I paid $2995.00 Cdn. (full asking price then and equivalent to approx. $20,000 Cdn in 2019) for my 1969 4/4 at a Porsche/Volkswagen dealership, Nov.24, 1970.
My beauty had been traded-in on a new 911. B1800 was in pristine condition, comprehensively-optioned,
barely 20 months old and registered slightly over 13,000 miles.❤️ I fell head-over-heels in love and signed documents
without even having test-driven it. Stormy, dark, cold, windy late fall rain-coast evening prompted me to only return next morning
for the drive to it's new home.
Of course prices rose dramatically after importation ceased due to absurd federal regulations a few years later.



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 2019-01-16 02:57 AM by MoodyManitobaMorgan.

You are right. I have jpg and pdf copies of original dealer-to-buyer price lists and they reflect your figure. Interesting to see the dealer profit margin then. In percentage terms it was huge compared to today...especially in the UK. (ex-UK dealers have traditionally been permitted to set the prices they want..not sure what they do today).


Options were always a big cost, as they are today.


Sounds like me and mine.


I once felt that way. But being nearly killed changed my mind. If my Morgan had been set up (in 1984) as a standard Morgan without the regulatory modifications necessary for Canadian importation...I would certainly have died in the rear-ender we had in 2002. Of course, the car followed the pre-1993 Morgan tradition of bursting into the flames (the handbrake bracket instantly punctures the petrol tank if hit from the rear or rear sides). I have a gallery of different petrol tank images with the identical puncture from different Morgans and accidents. But we were lucky and weren't toasted and mazingly, the 45mph impact at the rear did not incapacitate us, though we and the car flew for 50' from the force. Yet, without the Canadian bumpers on impact-absorbing shocks, reinforced doors and under-scuttle roll bar, the US police and the Canadian insurance experts had no problem in calculating that the impacting vehicle would have violently entered the cabin space occupied by my wife and I and killed us.

It has caused me to see that one of the greatest miracles of the Morgan time line is how long they and their dealers succeeded in keeping these cars regulatory compliant in so many countries up until recently. Governments might be fumbling, but they try (and often succeed) to keep us safe. They also mentioned that the Canadian dealer, CMC, had happily gone over board and the safety protection was even better than the law would have had. What can I say?

So regs became the democratic leveler for me. The starting point for all cars is that they must pass the standards that all cars are subject to on they day they are first imported and sold. If not, they are unworthy of interest. I have no problem with acquired rights, but I cannot see the democracy in some cars getting a pass on safety legislation when new. What is the rationale of increasing the risks to their owners and the public. Votes? Too often these exemption laws happen because some very rich people paid into a lobby and/or a campaign chest. Seems a lousy reason for third parties to be put to greater risk and be an exception to the all-of-us-are-equal principle. I am proud of our country not getting involved in automobile exemptions. We treat everything, all people and all cars, by the same rules.

Yes. a level playing field is a burden, but it makes philosophical and practical sense. It would be much easier treating people differently as a function of how much money they gave at the last election. It's not democracy though. And after all, what heritage is there in a 2019 zero-compliant car, made to indistinguishably copy your own? Does it help the cause of true classics? Why buy a treasured Morgan like your own when someone can get an exact copy with a snappy modern new engine in it and call it a "1970"?

Sorry, had to get that one off my chest. Would a 1970 Morgan have saved its occupants? (BTW, the risk can be inexpensively avoided). http://www.morganownersclub.com.au/Rear%20End%20Collision%20Risk.pdf Saved a few lives in the last 17years with that one! I have plenty of images.

gmg



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2019-01-16 05:50 PM by GoMoG.

"I once felt that way. But being nearly killed changed my mind. If my Morgan had been set up (in 1984) as a standard Morgan without the regulatory modifications necessary for Canadian importation...I would certainly have died in the rear-ender we had in 2002"

Point well-taken Lorne....I and the global Morgan-enamored community will always be truly thankful that you and Audrey were spared
on that fateful day. Thank you for your decades of staunch loyalty to the marque and selfless commitment in fostering it's appreciation and enjoyment.
Without your inspiring and helpful input "Morgan Nation" would assuredly not be what it is today.
I am afforded much delight and receive heart-warming pleasure in noticing that several Emog forum expats have settled-in here, I hope to "see" many more in future.

Bert & B1800

Wow! Those are very kind words. A shall be walking on a cloud for a few days!

ty.

Lorne