After retirement I was working part-time as a salesman at a used car dealership that specialized in Jaguars and other European cars. One day I saw a Morgan in the service area and it stuck around for a while. I learned that the guy who originally ordered it wanted to sell it and had no idea of its real value. It was a 1991 4/4 with 11K miles on it and the original importer offered the dealership $12,000 for it. I spoke to my wife and drove it home at lunch and took her for a short ride. She loved it and agreed to my odd idea. Just at that time the dealership was having difficulties and had to let me go to save my paltry salary. We went in on my last Friday and sat down with the owner. I told him we would give him $12,000 for it and he would not have to ship it to CA and I had a sales order already filled out and a blank check. He took the offer and we drove it home.
It had been converted to run on propane to get into the US and power and mileage were poor. I got info on the original fuel system parts, had a fuel tank built and converted it back to run on petrol. That was a great improvement, but at about 50,000 miles the engine was failing. I had owned several Hondas and remembered that Honda had a rear wheel drive vehicle with a terrific engine and gear box - the S2000. I found a low mileage engine and gearbox from a car that was totaled after a rear quarter panel severe hit. I bought them and had it converted to the Honda gear. Wow!!! It weighed 800 pounds less than an S2000 and was a beast.
At one point I had it repainted in original color and redid the upholstery. It looked better than when it was new.
At about 85,000 miles I put it on the market and got $45,000 for it. That covered every penny I had spent on it.

 

Good Story and Happy To Hear of a Car Actually Paying For Itself!



KC

 

Very interesting indeed. That's a lot of fun driving at almost no cost. Now that's an investment!!

 

And here is a photo with the bonnet up and the engine revealed.

 

I had a friend who setup a ladder poorly, fell, and broke both legs and one arm. He was recovering in winter and I set off to visit him. It was 18 degrees, so I bundled up and turned on the heater. Crazy!!

 

Now That is Friendship!

KC

 

Thank you for sharing your story and for being a life-long auto enthusiast... Also, thanks for sharing a photo of the "91" Morgan and was pleased that you got the $45k back after putting it on the market...

 

Very nice little project and it worked out very well. Many conversion projects don’t end up like yours. Great story and glad you came out on the winning side. Cool little car, very sweet, and a real eye catcher. Thanks for sharing and glad to see the photos.

 

I love the old classics like this, such a shame they dont make them like this anymore