This forlorn Morgan will find a new home after twenty years thanks to the auction action here on eBay, where it is bid to $2850 with no reserve. It is located in Veedersburg, Indiana, and you’ll need a trailer to pack it home. Unfortunately, the listing is unclear when it comes to the title: the description indicates the seller has “NO paperwork” but the details show the title is “clean” – confusing! Compounding the challenges, this car was imported at one time, and its “VIN” does not correspond to the typical Morgan format – a common circumstance because US registration requirements often called for more digits. Owners added digits to effect registration. Anyone who knows MGBs will further recognize those first digits – “18GB-U-H” as tying to an MGB engine. This car also sits at the intersection of the Series II and Series III 4/4s, both of which were made in 1960. Sooo, let’s investigate further.
Here’s that motor. Looks an awful lot like the five-main sitting in my MGB GT. While Morgan used a wide variety of British motors and even a Fiat four-banger at one time, never did they install an MGB lump at the factory. The Series II would have come with Ford’s 1172 cc side-valve 100E; the Series III arrived with the little 997 cc OHV Ford Anglia 105E – both generally equipped with a single carb. Buried deep behind the dash, we can see the gearshift (makes my back hurt just to look at it) – that’s likely a four-speed ‘box. Right about now, I can guess why this car has remained a project for so long: registration problems. As far as running condition, the listing is silent; the seller’s late father was the car’s owner and the seller simply doesn’t know much about this project.
The instrument panel holds a couple of tell-tale MGB gauges and a few others that were never supplied with a 4/4. The old British plate is still with the car. The austere interior is very Morgan-esque; buyers opting for an upgrade would have gravitated to the more powerful Plus 4. Still, any Morgan handles well, so cabin inhabitants will quickly forget the sparse quarters.
The 4/4 is a true two-seat roadster, with a tiny space behind for your toolbox, the battery, and whatnot. The seller notes there’s “minimal rot” in the wood framing for the body. While I like the idea of a running, driving Morgan with an intelligent engine swap, this car feels more like a parts car to me. What do you think?
Doesn’t look like anything good without paperwork although being his dads car, he probably did something towards making it his but what are you going to have to go through to make it yours? I guess if you live in a state that doesn’t require a title on older vehicles (LUCKY STIFFS) then you could probably make this a driver without to much trouble judging it on the fact it isn;;t the original drivetrain. Unfortunatly Utah requires a title on all vehicles reguardless of age so I’m out. GLWTA and personally I hope it gets put back together.
Some states never had titles for older cars. I once bought a motorcycle from N.Y. and all I got was the #2 part of the registration. That was all I needed for title in Pa. Maybe a notarized bill of sale would work. I have also heard of bonded titles but I’m not sure what that entails. Otherwise it looks like a worthy project, and I don’t think it would be a major project to lengthen that shift lever.
I live in New York; I’ve gotten a couple of pre-1972 bikes re-documented here using bills of sale, and I bought a ’72 Yamaha in Pennsylvania which was titled there but changed to a transferable registration in NY. But a 63 year old Morgan with an incorrect engine, no papers, and likely more wood rot than you can see just yet sounds like heartache to me.
I don’t think I could ever get this car registered in Colorado. Even if there is a way it would never be worth the time and money to do so.
In East Tennessee there would be no problem purchasing and registering this gal. As stated the wood , I think, is the wild card.
Sold for $5600, I always loved Morgans, even have a replica M3W cycle car, as well as a MGTF project, so easy to resist.
Can anybody tell me what that scoop/blister on the left side of the hood is?
I don’t remember seeing one on a Morgan before. It looks kinda crude
so I’m thinking it’s not factory.
I have seen that installed to clear a Weber carb conversion. See here
https://www.winningmakes.com/morgan
I’m in Indiana and getting this Morgan titled and registered here is very simple.
I find a lot of out of state motorcycles and a few cars, buy them at discount due to seller or market title paranoia and title them easily.
All an Indiana resident need do is:
1) Produce a simple bill of sale with whatever VIN is visible on the vehicle. A sale price and name and address of out of state seller.
2) Obtain a vehicle VIN inspection form and inspection by a law enforcement officer to check for a possible stolen status and
3) Pay the BMV a small fee for title processing.
I’ve done this for out of state friends and family members who then buy my newly titled vehicle.
I only had one hiccup that required a judge to give me the ability to title an antique Harley-Davidson that had belonged to a deceased owner and the family couldn’t find the title…
I just titled a 1972 Triumph Trident out of New York and a 1978 BMW R100RS out of Connecticut.. neither of which had a title…
It’s doable and I would wager that this owner or grandpa never had the wherewithal or knowledge of how to title vehicles in Indiana.
This Morgan is a heap that this 69 year old guy would have jumped on 30 years ago but motorcycles take up less room and I’m pretty adept at hiding a few from my wife so I’ll pass but GL.
I’m not so pessimistic. This car looks pretty complete, and if the wood rot isn’t bad, restoration would be pretty straightforward. Why restore another Mustang or even a Corvette when you can drive a distinctive car like this?