LETTER OF THE WEEK
Matt Prior stated that the new Morgan “is engaging and better in every way than one from 30 years ago” (Tester’s Notes, 7 February). I see where he’s coming from, and it is true that we often have rose-tinted glasses about cars, but in the specific case of the Morgan, I disagree.
I have an older Plus 4 with what I somewhat disdainfully call the ‘bedstead’ chassis, which can be quite hateful on the wrong surface. So I took a test drive of the new CX-chassied Plus Four, with its modern BMW engine, hoping that it would be a perfect upgrade, giving a full open-top experience with more civilised behaviour. However, I had a eureka moment during the drive and realised the new upgraded models are just plain wrong.
If you want to drive a car that looks that old, you should really embrace the whole package, warts and all. I will get my modern driving experience in other cars that also look how they drive.
The Morgan remains for that contrasting, totally old-school enjoyment. It drives how it looks.
Robert Crompton
Via email
Hard to Beet
I read Felix Page’s article on his 1972 Volkswagen Beetle (‘The loved bug’, 7 February) with interest, as in 1972 I bought my first car, a 1957 Beetle, paying £325 in cash.
It had a four-speed gearbox with no synchromesh on first gear. It had no flashing indicators, relying on semaphore arms that came out of the door pillars. An interesting feature of these was that at the maximum speed of 60mph both were sucked out at the same time.
As an extra hazard, there was no fuel gauge. The tank had two levels of fuel, and in the event of the main tank being empty, you placed your left foot on a lever beside the clutch pedal, which in theory granted you access to the 1.1-gallon reserve in the bottom. As I tried to access this reserve for the first time, the lever sheared off, due to rust. Obviously the previous owner had never used this essential feature.
This car had the notorious swing-axle rear suspension, so you drove it in wet conditions with great care.
I would like to point out how lucky we modern motorists are.
Stuart Dobson
South Yorkshire
Safe haven
Anything innovative and pitched at luxury car buyers is bound to be of interest when added to the range of a quality mainstream maker, so I enjoyed reading your 7 February roa
