Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, July 29, 1990 TAG: 9007290055
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: D-4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: MORGANTOWN, W.VA. LENGTH: Medium
More than 50 Morgans from the United States, Canada and Europe are expected in this northern West Virginia town Monday when drivers who left San Francisco July 11 join other Morgan enthusiasts for a two-week tour of the Northeast.
"This whole thing came about from a fantasy I've had since I was 6 years old," said 45-year-old Jeremy Harrison, a podiatrist from Liverpool, England, who organized the event. "I've wanted to drive through a hole cut in a redwood tree since I saw a photograph of a car doing it. Now I've done it."
He calls the rally "Morgans Over America."
Harrison's Morgan convoy rolled into Chicago on Friday. The itinerary calls for the cars, including two three-wheeled models built in 1933, to pass through Detroit and Ohio before arriving at Morgantown, about 75 miles south of Pittsburgh, Monday afternoon.
Meanwhile, rally drivers from the East are gathering, with many planning to meet in Luray, Va., travel to North Carolina to link up with Atlanta area Morgan owners, and then head to Morgantown, according to Mark Braunstein, who arranged the rally's eastern leg.
"Morgantown just happened to be the right spot on the map for us to meet," said Braunstein. "It's on the route, and its name clinched it."
Twenty-one Morgans, including cars from Germany, Sweden, Denmark and Scotland, were shipped to the United States for the rally, Harrison said.
"I had a terrible time with insurance," said Harrison, whose 1990 lilac Morgan Plus Eight is worth about $50,000. "We had more than 200 refusals until an agent in Pennsylvania agreed to insure us for five weeks on the road and shipping for $13,000."
Founded in 1909 in Malvern Link, England, the Morgan Motor Co. is the world's oldest privately owned automobile manufacturer. The company began fashioning handcrafted, wood-framed, open sports cars in 1936 after building its reputation on sports cycles and three-wheelers.
The Morgan's long-louvered hood, leather interior, wooden dash and wind-grabbing shape have seen only minor alterations during the last 50 years. Mechanical changes, except for engine swaps, have also been slow in coming.
"There's still a button to push to lubricate the front suspension," Harrison said. "That's been around since 1911."
List prices for Morgans range between $23,000 and $38,000, depending on the model. An extensive list of options - including a Rover V-8 engine - can push the price much higher, Harrison said.
Added to that cost is the wait: Only nine cars a week are built by the Morgan factory's 120 employees, so the waiting list for the cars is eight years, company officials said earlier this year.
"Customers are encouraged to observe their car being built," Harrison said. "I asked to have mine painted on a Saturday so I could watch it being done."
Mechanical problems, speeding tickets and rain have plagued the drivers on the trip's western leg, Harrison said during a rest stop in La Crosse, Wis.
"We've already had three speeding tickets and three breakdowns," Harrison said during a telephone interview. "Two people have paid $90 speeding tickets and another driver was fined $120 in California.
"Morgans are light and have powerful engines," he said. "They really go."
by CNB