Vern Dale-Johnson, Morgan biography What spurred the my interest in Morgan Sports Cars (and British Sports Cars in general was the arrival at our high school (I was 15) of one of our students in a Morgan. I loved it immediately and when I was in University (University of British Columbia) I used to drive past the Morgan distributor - Sterne Motors in Vancouver - daily. Finally I determined enough was enough, took out a student loan, and bought my first Morgan in 1967 out of the want ads - an early 60's 4/4. ownership only lasted a few months as practicality prevailed. For the next few years I needed to commute from Kamloops to Vancouver… not an easy task in the winter with frozen roads and -20C temp in Kamloops, so I opted for a 55 Ford sedan instead! When I graduated in 1968 and married my wife said "no" to another Mog and we bought a more conservative Datsun 510, recently introduced to Canada... However, the early Mog ownership meant I continued to lust for a Morgan while a member of the Royal City Sports Car Club but those early married days meant I had to appease myself and SWMBO with a Triumph TR3A and later a Mini 998. In 1970 we moved to Toronto with my job, bringing the Mini and a Volvo 145 with us.
Our neighbour turned out to be Neil Young (pharmacist by trade not singer) and over
the next 5 years the Mini was upgraded to Cooper specs, then replaced with a Datsun
240Z but the Morgan bug was still there. Another corporate move offered me a position
in Tokyo Japan, living just down the street from the Japanese Morgan dealer, but
after 5 years we were back in Toronto but without anything British. Over the years we’ve been very active in Morgan clubs both in North America (MSCCC, MOG NW, GoMoG, and MCC DC) and in Australia (MOCA, VicMog, MOQ) as well as the MSCC in the UK. With friends around the Morgan world, Morgan passion is what binds us together. MSCCC – 1990 to 2004. Positions of Vice President, President, Editor, and Regalia Secretary. MOCA – 1995 to present. President from 2011-2014 . |
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66 +4 SN 6252, photo taken after a rally with #3 daughter, Marissa who is pictured with the car north of Toronto. |
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78 +8 SN 8435 shown at a British car show in Toronto. The Mountie did not suggest the Hoosier’s on race rims or the lack of a front plate were issues on the street! |
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“The Beast” with hardtop and ready for shipment to Australia in 2006. Colour was Rolls Royce Balmoral Green |
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2010 Roadster SN 4117, “Sage Lady” on one of our Australia fall tours |