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can only work a three-day week. Fink too is a philanderer, but he also has the fanaticism and endurance of an oarsman. When the Morgan went under for the second time, Fink began asking what it would take to legalize the car. He even sent off $26 to the U.S. Government Printing Office for a copy of the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards. The book arrived six months later. It was as thick as a Manhattan phone directory; additional supplements were mailed to him each month. Fink stuffed the book into a desk drawer. By now he had heard from Peter Morgan that Rover would soon be returning to the U.S. market with a V-8-engined car and that Morgan would ride in on Rover's coattails. But after a while, it was obvious that that wasn't happening, so Fink got out the book again. When he called the EPA in Washington, the man there said, "You know, if you really want to get this car into the country, use propane." So Fink and Miller acquired a Plus 8 and did the conversion. Then Fink flew to England to get the approval of Rover and Peter Morgan. Morgan was interested, but at Rover's Solihull works, the chief development engineer told Fink that propane power was "a very poor course of action. It will," he said, "do great damage to the engine and jeopardize the fine name of Rover in America." Fink came back to San Francisco and set off in the converted car to try and blow it up. Like Lord Rootes testing the Hillman Wizard in North Africa before him, the intrepid Fink blasted his way all over the Southwest in the spring of 1973. He ran his propane Morgan down into the Mojave Desert and up into the Rockies. He put on 9000 full-throttle miles. When he and Miller tore down the engine afterwards, it wasn't even worn. Clearly the engine problem was solved. Now for the safety standards. Fink called Robert Aubuchon, the safety standards engineer at the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration in Washington. Aubuchon's first words to Fink were not encouraging: "Tell me, just what use is a Morgan anyway?" Fink prepared a detailed summary of the Morgan's illustrious history and flew to Washington. Fink found that Peter Morgan is well-known to Aubuchon and his men: They regard him as a Philistine. Peter Morgan's leisurely approach disturbs Aubuchon as sorely as his coal carts disturb a driver's kidneys. |
But
the silver-tongued Yalie oiled the waters. An attorney for the department
even told him that his Morgans didn't have to meet all the safety standards.
"if you're importing the cars for resale," the attorney told him, "you are
the manufacturer as far as we're concerned, and you can obtain exemptions
if Morgan is reluctant to." This was magnificent news for Fink. The safety
standard hurdle had suddenly evaporated. Now he had only to convince Peter
Morgan to go with propane. He flew to England elated. Peter Morgan was indeed impressed by Fink's findings for propane. He was even more impressed when Fink converted a factory prototype. Rover's reaction, however, was that it would not stand behind its warranty of the V-8 if propane was used. So that was that. Fink came back to San Francisco. But in October that year, the yo-yo of fate played into the hands of the Yalie: Propane looked good,but still Morgan would not absolutely commit himself. Peter Morgan just hates to commit himself. The Arabs turned off the oil. The gas crisis erupted; rationing loomed. Propane looked good, but Morgan would still not absolutely commit himself-Peter Morgan hates to commit himself. In the spring of 1974 then, Fink began the search for a legal gasoline engine. The answer was Ford's 2.3-liter Pinto. It emitted nothing illegal, put out 88 bhp (which was comparable to the Triumph engine Morgan used) and about 20 percent more torque. But getting an engine wasn't easy, because Ford was convinced it could sell every Pinto it could build. Finally, Fink bought one in parts from his local Ford dealer. He assembled it and shipped it to England in December of 1974, following a month later himself to help install it in a 4/4 chassis. The engine had arrived at the docks, but Fink had underestimated the British customs service. It took these doughties another month to complete their paperwork, by which time Fink had to return to California. |
In
the meanwhile, however, he had persuaded Morgan that propane was the answer
to the engine problem and that the safety standards were taken care of.
On the strength of it, Morgan put a Plus 8 and a 4/4 on the water bound
for San Francisco. Fink dropped into the DOT offices on his way back, and
in a casual conversation with the same attorney he had spoken to before,
he was told, "Of course you yourself can't obtain exemptions of safety standards,
because you're not the original manufacturer." "But you told me-" he began. "But nothing,- the attorney said. "Your cars will have to meet every safety standard." And they sat back and smiled at him. "What about the cars I've got already on the water?" "You can have 90 days to make them comply," they said. Back in San Francisco, out came the big book once more. The standards were nightmarish: door guards, bumpers, rollover standards, lights and on and on ad nauseam. It was clearly going to be prohibitively expensive, and Fink's resources had by now shrunk to a hole in his pocket. At this moment the phone rang. It was someone speaking on behalf of Bob Kelly, a wealthy Sacramento banker and TV-station owner. "Mr. Kelly," the man said, "would like you to make his new Morgan comply with all current federal safety standards. And you should understand that cost is no object where Mr. Kelly is concerned." About $8000 and three months later they were done. Maurice Owen, Peter Morgan's jovial development engineer, was of inestimable help. He advised Fink, for instance, that his own Morgan had accidentally run backwards down the driveway of his house and crashed into the garden wall without sustaining any damage. "My car had a towing adapter kit installed," he told Fink, "so there's your answer to the five-mile-an-hour bumper for the back." For the front he said rubber bumper inserts as used on the Austin Marina would be perfectly adequate. The most difficult challenge was fitting steel beams in the Morgan's slightly curved, wooden doors so that they would withstand the required side-impact test. When everything was done, Fink filed papers with the DOT. He hoped that the people at the DOT would be too busy |
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