[HN Gopher] The Morgan Motor Company designed a modern coupe, th...
       ___________________________________________________________________
        
       The Morgan Motor Company designed a modern coupe, the Aeromax
        
       Author : robin_reala
       Score  : 49 points
       Date   : 2024-02-19 11:36 UTC (2 days ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (arstechnica.com)
 (TXT) w3m dump (arstechnica.com)
        
       | detritus wrote:
       | Perhaps useful to note that the car itself was released 18 years
       | ago. It's just this article about the design process that's
       | contemporary.
        
         | drewzero1 wrote:
         | I really wanted one of these when they came out. Now I'd much
         | rather have one of their classic three-wheelers... The
         | mid-2000s styling still looks okay but hasn't aged gracefully.
         | (Or it might just be the silver paint that seemed so cool on
         | everything in the mid-2000s!)
        
       | tibbydudeza wrote:
       | Bespoke British sportscars built on small scale in an industrial
       | park selling less than 100 a year to British old money who think
       | owning a Porsche, Rolls Royce Maybach,BMW,Mercedes is too mundane
       | or a Ferrari or Lamborghini is too garish.
       | 
       | Lot's of them faded over the years such as Bristol Cars and TVR.
        
         | arethuza wrote:
         | I really don't think "British old money" was the target market
         | for TVR?
        
           | RajT88 wrote:
           | "Oligarch's rotten 20 year old sons" seems more accurate.
        
             | arethuza wrote:
             | I remember a time where I was looking for a sensible family
             | car and almost bought a Cerbera 4.5. I ended up buying a
             | BMW that I hated...
        
               | RajT88 wrote:
               | I would guess you'd hate the Cerbera for different
               | reasons. Much more exciting to drive undoubtedly, but
               | also exciting because you never know if you're going to
               | make it to your destination on time.
               | 
               | That was the joke about TVR's repeated on Top Gear
               | anyways.
        
               | arethuza wrote:
               | But James May said on the Top Gear British Sports car
               | segment that there had been no reported cases of a TVR
               | ever breaking down!
               | 
               | I hated the BMW - in and out of the dealers getting fixed
               | and very uncomfortable.
        
               | RajT88 wrote:
               | I might be thinking of the couple TVR Tuscan segments
               | they did.
               | 
               | All the articles on british motoring sites make specific
               | reference to reliability problems:
               | 
               | https://www.evo.co.uk/tvr/tuscan/22788/tvr-
               | tuscan-1999-2006-...
               | 
               | "TVRs have always been love-or-hate cars and the lack of
               | safety features such as ABS or traction control will
               | immediately deter some, as will stories of endless
               | breakdowns."
               | 
               | https://archive.is/VylZ5
               | 
               | That whole article, lol.
        
             | AeroNotix wrote:
             | Wrong. Just plain wrong.
             | 
             | TVR back in the day was literally for British hooligans.
             | The car was built on a small scale in Blackpool of all
             | places to compete with much higher-end manufacturers.
             | 
             | The fact that the end game for TVR was handled so poorly
             | doesn't and should never retroactively change what the
             | company's mission was, which was to build powerful British-
             | style sports cars for enthusiasts.
             | 
             | Being a Blackpool lad myself - the first day I saw a TVR
             | Tuscan roll out of the Bispham factory will be something I
             | never forget.
             | 
             | They were working class heroes back in the day. They were
             | approaching affordable for a lot of people, raw, powerful
             | and styled in an otherworldly way.
             | 
             | The loss of TVR is a loss for all car enthusiasts. I don't
             | think we'll see another manufacturer like them.
        
       | dwighttk wrote:
       | Looks kinda cool, but I think I would prefer it swing the
       | pendulum farther towards the old school if I were in the
       | market... it's kinda stuck looking like a ultra premium pt
       | cruiser instead of an ultra premium prowler
        
         | Galaxity wrote:
         | Genuine question, did you mean that to be opposite? That is, it
         | looks like a prowler?
         | 
         | I'm looking at photos of the aeromax compared to the PT cruiser
         | and the prowler. It doesn't look anything like a PT cruiser to
         | me, whereas it does have the same body style as a prowler. That
         | being a long front/hood and the cabin towards the rear.
         | 
         | Unless there are some design features not noticing.
        
           | dwighttk wrote:
           | Yeah the general shape is more prowler than pt cruiser, but
           | the body smoothing and covering over everything looks pt
           | cruiser to me... I really like the open wheels of the
           | prowler.
           | 
           | (What I'm really looking for though is take e.g. the car from
           | Downton Abbey and, while changing the look as little as
           | possible, change the materials and safety and efficiency to
           | be as modern as possible.)
        
             | karlshea wrote:
             | The Excalibur was exactly that, they were made in Milwaukee
             | until 1990.
             | https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Excalibur_(automobile)
        
               | dwighttk wrote:
               | Nice
        
         | technothrasher wrote:
         | Their current Plus 4 might be more like what you're after. It's
         | definitely a lot closer to the original styling.
        
           | dwighttk wrote:
           | Oh yeah. That's the ticket
        
       | helsinkiandrew wrote:
       | They've kept their price fairly well:
       | 
       | https://www.carandclassic.com/search?source=search-bar&make=...
        
       | mintone wrote:
       | I knew Matthew's brother years ago and met him a few times, he
       | now does pretty cool (and reasonably priced) watches:
       | https://www.mhdwatches.com/
        
       | tempodox wrote:
       | If something like that had an electric motor, I'd want it.
        
         | JLCarveth wrote:
         | > The finished product went down well--it came with a 4.4 L V8
         | motor packing 333 hp (248 kW) and 332 lb-ft (450 Nm), and it
         | made an incredible noise.
         | 
         | I would _much_ rather a nice big V8
        
         | Topgamer7 wrote:
         | There's a guy on YouTube who is building an electric jag of the
         | same body style.
         | 
         | He points out that ev's need great aero. And you would
         | literally be better off driving the thing in reverse.
         | 
         | Driving it forward is basically like driving a big brick in the
         | wind.
         | 
         | Superfastmatt is the yt'er
        
       | warrenmiller wrote:
       | If you can go visit their factory. Wonderful meeting of old craft
       | with new motors
        
       | sybercecurity wrote:
       | For those in the NoVA/DC area, their is a Morgan repair place
       | that used to sell Morgans: http://morganscustomclassics.com/
       | 
       | Looks like they aren't an official dealer anymore, but I would
       | guess they might broker used car deals on occasion. I had been
       | there a long time ago and test drove a Morgan. Impracticable but
       | fun which is what a sports coupe should be I guess.
        
       ___________________________________________________________________
       (page generated 2024-02-21 23:02 UTC)