Can you guess where I went today?
- Thread starter Jcloughie
- Start date
Mel
Moderator
Good attempts, but no.
Too close to home for you Ian.
Sorry, no prize.
A great visit, highly recomended.
John
We went with Virgin Experience, £48.80 for 2. I see the price has gone up over the last 3 weeks.
You get an informative two hours.
John
You get an informative two hours.
John
You have reminded me that we still have a Virgin Experience day gifted to us last Christmas. It’s from the Couples collection but apart from the Bath Soft Cheese Company with ploughman’s lunch not much fires us up. Cannot take another afternoon tea in the foreseeable future. Must see what the wider experiences offer and exchange the voucher.
We saw their first EV prototype from about 5 years ago. Developed with Frazer Nash, but abandoned when Frazer Nash folded.
We also saw their new working prototype 3 wheeler. (No picture 😡). They are not taking it forward but are putting what they have learnt into a 4 wheeler.
Evidently, they do not have to comply with the law as they produce less than 1000 units per year. But as they very much doubt that BMW and Ford will build engines just for them in the future. They are forced to develop an EV.
John
That’s the one where you had to Cuprinol 5 star the chassis as opposed to Waxoyl.
Was it really a wooden chassis - most Morgans use a steel chassis with wood only used in the body frame - Marcos famously used a plywood monocoque chassis for some of their cars.
Well, here is the news!. Morgan’s don’t have a chassis. They used to have a steel ladder frame chassis, but many, (not sure how many), years ago they moved to an aluminium PLATFORM. (Pedantic use of words).
The platforms are made elsewhere and bonded plus pop rivets. They say the rivets are redundant once the glue is set.
In the factory, Ash frames are formed over dummy platforms and when complete, dipped in something. The frame then fits perfectly to a platform.
I don’t know where the strength and stiffness comes from, the platform or the frame, I imagine it is a combination of the two.
Pic shows the frame being assembled on the dummy platform.
I learned quite a bit.
John
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But if it keeps the design, manufacturing and support jobs in Britain then it could be worse unlike some other individual sports brands that have disappeared, such as Marcos, TVR, Ginetta or even the original MG etc.
Ginetta is still going - it's been bought/sold a couple of times and now based in Leeds - TVR still exists but isn't building cars at present.
The Ginetta models look brilliant. Can’t recall seeing one for years but see Marcos and TVR regularly.
I am fairly sure that a friend of ours in SA bought an old Marcos to restore. It was a bit of a wreck, but still driveable. If I recall correctly the mileage was low and engine okay, but bodywork etc needed serious attention. Sadly they emigrated and I lost touch with him.
We have two Marcos specialists within twenty miles of us, and Jem Marsh, one of the co-founders lived just around the corner from us in Bradford on Avon, where some of the cars were built right in the center of the town. Not far from the Moulton cycle factory..
I'm reminded of when I was driving my Triumph GT6 with my friend following in his Ginetta. The traffic lights were green, but I stopped because there was a police car with blue lights crossing through on red. My friend crashed into the back of me, not a great deal of damage to the cars, fortunately.
But, his girlfriend did hit her head on his windscreen. The police car did a U turn and came back to us, then told us to follow him to the hospital, whilst he led us on blue nights. Not going to lie, I thought the whole thing was pretty cool.
But, his girlfriend did hit her head on his windscreen. The police car did a U turn and came back to us, then told us to follow him to the hospital, whilst he led us on blue nights. Not going to lie, I thought the whole thing was pretty cool.
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