Not all wood: ’51 Morgan Drophead
Morgans are pretty well-known yet misunderstood cars. We owned one of the nicest Morgan Plus 4s around and it was remarkable how many people came up to us asking us if this is the car that is made out of wood. Peter Morgan must laugh in his grave every time that happens. The truth is Morgans are built in a traditional way using wood, specifically ash, for the framework of the body only – like an old MG or any old car for that matter. The metal skin is fastened to the frame with nails. Lots of little nails. The body is then attached to a steel chassis like a regular car from the 1930s. Of course, you can still buy a Morgan built in this manner but the newer cars are hand-built using contemporary supercar technology. Today’s featured car is a flat-radiator (flat rad) Drophead (not a roadster). The difference here is in the height of the doors, the top mechanism and the type of windows. The roadsters were bare-bones, low-cut doors, side curtains and basic vinyl top kind of cars. Dropheads are more civilized and very rare. We like this one in yellow with black wings and it appears in pretty good shape. Bill Fink at Isis Imports had a hand in some of the mechanical work and they are an authorized Morgan dealer. The steel wheels might hurt it although many Dropheads came that way. The seller is asking $42,500 and that may be a stretch. Yes it is rare with few made but the number of potential buyers is pretty small too. Finding some Morgan aficionado that doesn’t already have one is not an easy task and converting someone from a Jaguar or Austin-Healey might take some doing. Click here for the eBay listing.