First vehicle - 1955 ford pick-up, (I swear I didn't known anything about
the Germans or anything like that) bought from one Ken Follett after demoing
left front end on tree stump. $15. I also seem to remember - don't know
how - spending a night at the same gas station at the bottom of Buffalo St.
hill sleeping on top of Kens Falcon station wagon. Make like luggage. I told
my kids to look for the station wagon to pick them up this morning. Reply -
what's a station wagon? Age of the minivan
-----Original Message-----
From: Bruce Marcham <[log in to unmask]>
To: [log in to unmask]
<[log in to unmask]>
Date: Friday, January 07, 2000 5:28 PM
Subject: Re: Morgans


>"Moggie" (and other) Memories:
>
>One of my earliest automotive memories of growing up in Ithaca, NY was of
>being in the west side of town, left in the car while my mother went in to
>get my brother from nursery school (I seem to recall it was a convent of
>some sort, located in a very drab, maybe stucco building just west of the
>train station, where the flood control channel runs now) so it would've
been
>about '56 or '57.  A car came by that I recall as being a three-wheeler
(two
>wheels in front), a convertible, and the driver was dressed for the cold
>weather in leathers, goggles, and a white scarf.  This probably would've
>been like the Aero project car that Don speaks of, which I understand
>features a tranverse (crankshaft axis longitudinal) V-twin engine (similar
>the classic V-twin in Harley Davidson motorcycles), and has a more or less
>tubular body that tapers in the back and conceals the single rear wheel.  I
>actually saw one (maybe two) again this past Labor Day at the Lime Rock
(CT)
>Vintage Race Car Festival.
>
>My first car was a 1929 Model A sedan which I bought for $1000 with a loan
>from my father when I was a senior in high school (I graduated in 1972).
>The car had electrical problems and I didn't have the skills/tools/smarts
at
>the time to figure out what was going on.  I was, however, fortunate to
live
>on one of the steeper hills (Buffalo Street) in Ithaca so I could push the
>car out onto the hill, hop in, and bump start it using the clutch.  If it
>didn't start by the time I went the 1/4 mile or so to the bottom (which
>happened a few times) there was a gas station there I could roll into and
>get a jump start or battery charge.  My friends and I pushed that car all
>over town for about six months until, in the spring, I was playing around
>with a couple of rusty VW bugs and severed the tendon on the back of my
>right thumb.  That was repaired in an operation after my last test of the
>school year but the recuperation required that I be in a cast that
prevented
>me from being gainfully employed that summer which mean I couldn't pay back
>the loan.  My father, while he had a soft spot for the Model A (he learned
>what little he knew about working on cars by fixing one on a farm one
>summer), called the loan which meant I had to sell the car.  I sold it to
>Mike Turback who used it in front of the No. 9 Firehouse bar in Collegetown
>(adjacent to Cornell University) and at his Victorian restaurant out in the
>country.  In spite of all the abuse I gave it (at one point while trying to
>roll start it out in the country the car ran off the road into a tree,
>bending the front axle, denting a fender, and breaking the headlight
>bracket) I still got what I paid for it.
>
>My next car was a 1960 Ford Falcon which I think I paid about $75 for.  The
>rear end of my new pride and joy announced with a CLUNK! that it had a
>broken tooth as I was leaving the driveway of the home where I bought it
>("as is," of course).  A new used rear end was followed not long after by a
>new used transmission due to an overly-aggressive downshift.  It was a very
>good simple car to learn car repair from but I would still count it as one
>of my favorite cars.  It met its rusty end when I stored it in the moist
>basement of a barn (in what was formerly the pig stalls) while I went away
>to my freshman year of college.
>
>Don't get me started on all the trials and tribulations of being a bottom
>feeder in the world of used cars.  I think I've had about forty "learning
>experiences" and I'm still discovering new ways to get taken (my goal is to
>not repeat them)...
>
>So what does a Bertone MG look like?  Inquiring minds need to know...
>
>P.S.  More useless car facts (or fiction): The V-8 used in the Morgans is,
I
>believe, the same one used in the Rover and the TVR (another British sports
>car) and was developed from the aluminum V-8 that Buick had in the 60's.
>This leads Ken's brother Jim ("The Mayor" as in Besemer, NY) to taunt our
>friend who has a V-8 TVR with "How's the Buick?"
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: Donald B. White [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
>Sent: Friday, January 07, 2000 10:27 AM
>To: [log in to unmask]
>Subject: Re: Morgans
>
>
>Leland,
>
>Is the West River Road the one that goes north from Brattleboro? That was
>one of the best parts of my 1998 trip. It was in Brattleboro that the
>Morgan was correctly identified for the first time since leaving DC, except
>for one guy in Buffalo who was driving an MGB. Two young women crossed the
>street where I was first at the light, waiting to turn left (North) and as
>they passed the car, one looked at it and said to the other, "See, I told
>you that was a Morgan." Civilization at last! I could live in a place where
>even the pretty girls know what a Morgan is. And here is a picture taken
>shortly before that event, when I stopped for lunch at this place west of
>Brattleboro. The day was rainy, so I had all the weather equipment in
>place, which produces an effect like driving a Quonset hut. Also makes it
>impossible to hail pretty girls who recognize my car.
>
>That Bertone MG, if it's what I think it was, is a rare car.
>
>New Morgans are round $60,000 for the Plus Eight. The 4/4 and Plus Four
>would be less, but I don't know how much--most of those sold in the US are
>+8s. Is your question idle curiosity, or serious interest in buying one?
>Older Morgans may be found in good condition for much less than a new one.
>The availability of new ones keeps the lid on the prices of old ones.
>
>Don
>