Moss Mogs
MORGANS OWNED BY THE MOSS FAMILY OVER THE YEARS
(ALL 3 OF THEM)
My interest in Morgans was probably inherited from my father whose first car was a Series 1 4/4, 4 seater. Then when I was into bikes I would quite often read about 3 wheelers in the English bike magazines. Then in 1992 we went to England and visited the Morgan Factory and that was it, one day we would own a Morgan. From then on we started buying Morgan books trying to work out which model we would like. Norma's favourite is a new +8 and mine was a Moss Box +8, both of which were totally out of our price range. It was therefore narrowed down to anything we could afford. In 1997 we joined the Morgan Owners Club of Australia with the intention of seriously looking for a Mog in 98. However this all changed in December 97 when a 1953 +4 came up for sale in Adelaide. I rang the owner and told him we couldn't afford it, but we would still like to look at it. So we looked at it one day and was down the Bank the next day raising the money to buy it.
Our new car was a 1953 +4 chassis# P2641, Eng #V584ME.
The car left the factory on 6th June 1953 and was sold through Cavalier Motors in California. It was LHD, painted Ivory and had black trim. According to `Morgan Sports Cars' by Alderson and Chapman this was the first car fitted with the improved Vanguard engine, the main difference being an external breather pipe on the block next to the fuel pump instead of the breather from the rocker cover to the inlet manifold. We drove this car for 18 months before I decided it needed repainting and a general check-over for the 1999 Classic Adelaide Rally. This finished up with the car stripped down to the wooden frame which was still the original wood and still in good cond but requiring new screws and re-glued. It was then painted and a lot of other jobs done as well and was finished only a week before the rally. We completed the Classic Adelaide Rally and had an absolutely marvellous time, however it was decided that a bit more power and a bit more braking was required.
The answer to our dilema was a phone call from a friend telling me that David Rees had decided to sell his 1969 +8. This resulted in some bank loans and the unfortunate sale of our +4 to finance the +8. In February 2000 we flew to Perth, Western Australia to meet David and Buy the Morgan. As it was a very hot summer and the car had been in storage for about 10 years we had it trucked over to South Australia.
This Morgan is chassis #R7106 and was originally sold to Dr Alex Robinson on October 1st 1969 by Bowman & Acock of Malvern.Registration No. ANP352H. Doc Robinson raced the car in England and crashed it a couple of times. After a major crash in 1974 it was sold to David Rees. David was editor of Miscellany, the Morgan Sports Car Club magazine, at this time and used the re-build as a feature for the Magazine. He then moved to Adelaide in South Australia and bought the Morgan with him. The reg no. here was STP-722. David and the car then moved to Alice Springs in the Northern Territory before finally ending up in Perth,Western Australia. Over the years the car has been re-built a couple of times and currently sports Koni shocks all round, Gemmer steering box, Aero screens, Factory fitted roll bar and luggage rack.
When it arrived in Pt Augusta I gave it a major service including all hydraulics and the cooling system and now we just Drive it.
My fathers Series 1 4/4 4 seater. Dates from 46 or 47 and was originally owned and raced by a Doctor in Victoria.
1953 Plus 4 as it was sold by us in Feb 2000
Plus 4 at Collingrove Hillclimb during the 1999 Classic Adelaide Rally with Norma at the wheel
1969 Plus 8 R7106 when it was owned by David Rees in Adelaide circa 78-79
1969 Plus 8 that replaced the +4 in Feb 2000
Plus 8 side view with hood up
Plus 8 rear view with hood up