Morgans used Ford Engines
Ford were on the Boycott List in 1970s and 80s and not imported to Dubai
My Morgan was fitted with a Fiat 1600cc Engine to overcome that problem
In 1984, My Morgan returned to UK via Holland courtesy of Malaysian Airlines
Malaysian Airlines Dubai Agent was a Morgan Fan!!
Image by Len Chapman
We moved to Dubai in 1971.
1976 I decided to fulfil a long held wish to own a Morgan 4/4 Sports Car.
I wrote to Morgans in Malvern UK asking to place an export order.
"We don't take orders from individuals" was their response
I explained these was no Morgan Dealer in UAE
They then accepted my order plus 500 UK Pounds deposit.
Five years later Morgans wrote to me saying my Morgan was about to be built!Len Chapman
I had ticked all "optional accessory" boxes on the Order Form-:
Once option box I did tick that I didn't really want to tick was the optional engine box. Normally a Morgan 4/4 came with a Ford engine, but in 1976, there was an Arab Boycott of Manufacturers who traded with Israel. The Ford Motor Car Company was one of those Manufacturers. There was the risk of my Morgan not being allowed into Dubai. To avoid that risk, I ticked the option to have a Fiat 1.6 Twin Cam engine. So my very British Sports Car was driven by Italian machinery. History now shows only 98 Morgans with Fiat engines were built. I had, unknowingly, bought a future rarity!
Once delivery was confirmed, I arranged to collect my Morgan from the factory in Malvern UK during my forthcoming UK annual leave.
This was not Morgans' usual practice.
My family duly drove me to Morgan's factory at Malvern. At the Gatehouse. I asked where I had to go to collect my Morgan. They didn't know!
Eventually someone arrived with a brown envelope containing the car keys plus a piece of paper for me to sign.
This was the formal hand after a six year wait!
I was directed to where all new Morgans are parked before delivery. As an afterthought they asked "Do you want to see round the factory?" Of course we did!
So we were left to wander around Morgan's factory unescorted.
Morgan's factory comprised a series of wooden floored warehouses. Each warehouse was dedicated to a particular task. No automation of course - everything was hand made by men in workcoats, many with a cigarette hanging from their lips. On the other hand it did not seem well organised. Cars in various states of build were everywhere. No doubt there was an order to the way Morgans were built but it wasn't obvious to the onlooker.
We made our way to where my new Morgan 4/4/ was waiting, with the hood down of course. There was no one from Morgan there to "sign us out" so my daughter and I got into the car and drove out of the factory! First impression was the gearbox was so tight I could hardly get it into gear let alone change gear. The Morgan's steering was incredibly stiff and heavy that I needed muscles of steel to turn corners. But it was fun. We encountered a traffic jam in Malvern and came to a halt. The Policeman controlling the traffic came across to have a look at the car and talk to us about our new Morgan - he knew more about my Morgan than I did and provided more information than the Morgan Factory had!! Welcome to Morgan Ownership! Later I shipped the car to Dubai.
My Morgan was shipped to Dubai in a Roll On/Roll Off ship and took a couple of months to arrive. I had no trouble clearing this right hand drive car into Dubai - UAE had yet to ban RHD cars.
I was driving home along the Iranian Hospital Road when I spotted the Traffic Police ahead on the side of the road.>
I checked my speed. I was well below the limit - no worries.
Inevitably a Policeman stepped out onto the road and waived me down, so I stopped.
"You were speeding" said the Policeman. "No I wasn't". "You were speeding," "No I wasn't. I checked my speedometer when I saw you".
Policeman was silent for awhile then said "Where you get this car?" I explained what the car was and where I'd bought it".
Another long silence followed. "How much this car cost?" was the Policeman's next question. I thought of a number and told him.
Policeman then conferred with his Colleague while I sat patiently in the car.
"OK - you can go" the Policeman announced. So I drove quietly home.
Dubai's Traffic Police were always polite - but curious!Len Chapman
A favourite early morning trip was to drive to Masafi - turn left onto the new road through the mountains down to the coast - turn right then follow the coast road to the Hilton Hotel in Fujeirah.
We'd stop to enjoy their buffet breakfast before driving home before the day became too hot - no air-conditioning in the Morgan!
My son was visiting from UK and I'd promised him a trip to Fujeirah in the Morgan
We departed early morning as usual and enjoyed the drive to Masafi where we turned left into the mountains.
It was magical! An open topped car - sunshine - surrounded by mountains and a new smooth road. Smooth, that is, until we encountered an obstacle on the road. A large diameter pipe had been installed across the new road - half was sunk into the ground with the other half standing proud of the road. Presumably someone wanted to stop speeding cars on that new road.
The Pipe stood at least 6 inches about the tarmac. My Morgan only had about 3 inches ground clearance so impossible to drive over the pipe.
Could I drive around the pipe? Whomever installed the pipe had thought of that possibility so had extended the pipe well into the desert on either side of the road. My Morgan would have needed 4WD to get around that obstacle.
There was no option but to turnaround and make our way home.
Encountering the Impossible that morning was unexpected - and disappointingLen Chapman
