Morgan debuts new Ford-powered Super 3

MORGAN has signalled its intention to continue its 113-year legacy of producing three-wheel automobiles by unveiling its new Super 3 model this week. 

The model, which is Morgan’s first clean-sheet design in 22 years and the first to feature a monocoque body, will be powered by a 1.5-litre Ford-sourced three-cylinder petrol engine that “significantly exceeds the power and performance figures” of previous three-wheeled Morgans. 

The company said the look of the Super 3 – the successor to the 3 Wheeler, built from 2011 to 2021 – was inspired by the jet age and that the model would provide a “unique motoring experience within which drive engagement and the pursuit of adventure is encouraged”.

As well as being more technically advanced than any of the marque’s prior three-wheeled offerings, the Super 3 is the Malvern-based firm’s most configurable model. A “virtually limitless” combination of options and accessories are available for the vehicle, whose starting price commences from £41,995 ($A78,500), with initial customer deliveries scheduled for June.

“Following on from the success of the 3 Wheeler has been no easy task. When we first decided to reintroduce it back in 2011, the company couldn't have imagined just how popular and successful the V-twin model would be,” Morgan Motor Company chairman and CEO Steve Morris said.

“The 3 Wheeler represented something different, something unique and something to be celebrated. As we launch the Super 3, I am confident that our latest three-wheeled offering is as relevant as ever.

“We have developed this vehicle at a time when the industry, and the world itself, has been challenged beyond comprehension. Yet our engineering and design teams, along with our project partners, have been able to deliver a fitting new chapter to Morgan’s three-wheeled story.

“The all-new Super 3 introduces new levels of engineering integrity to Morgan, a new sense of adventure to the brand and a new design language that indicates our future direction,” he added.

Instead of an S&S V-twin engine, the 635kg Super 3 is powered by a naturally aspirated three-pot tuned to provide what Morgan claims is a “distinctive three-cylinder character”. 

The 87kW/149Nm engine is mated to a five-speed Mazda MX-5-sourced gearbox (as in the 3 Wheeler), which drives a bevel box that turns the rear wheel via a carbon-fibre reinforced belt. Acceleration from zero to 100km/h is “around seven seconds” and the top speed is “209km/h”.

There is now power steering, but no ABS. Braking comess courtesy of discs at the front and a drum at the rear. Wheel sizes offered include 13- and 14-inch designs shod with Avon tyres and, yes, wire wheels are available.

With its super-formed aluminium monocoque body, the Super 3 is the first Morgan three-wheeler to do away with the traditional wooden substructure. Of course, there are no doors and no roof, though Morgan’s optional pack rails will allow Super 3 owners a modicum of practicality.

The diminutive model measures 3581mm in length, 1850mm in width and 1132mm in height.

Morgan says the Super 3’s body design was influenced by aerodynamics and mechanical requirements (i.e., bringing the engine inboard). The cast aluminium structures – finished in black or silver – that give the Super 3 its distinctive face also brace the engine and some suspension components, while directing air over the Fiesta-sourced engine’s side-mounted cooling packs.

The “face” of the Super 3 portrays the familiar two headlights and horseshoe grille with machined aluminium turrets housing the indicators and positioning (park) lights. Morgan says that all of the elements of the Super 3’s wishbones, pull-rod suspension and headlight structure have been honed to assist airflow to the radiators behind them. 

At the rear, the Super 3’s body tapers to a streamlined finish corrupted only by an exposed rib, which forms a beltline around the midpoint of the vehicle. Morgan said this design cue was a nod to seam joining techniques deployed on mid-century aircraft fuselages and the belly tanks of early jets. It sits atop an exposed cut-off tailpipe and cast tail-light and number plate brackets.

“Morgan 3 Wheeler owners are individualists, relish doing things in their own way, and actively seek adventure. With Super 3, we aimed to exaggerate these qualities through design,” Morgan Motor Company head of design Jonathan Wells said.

“Super 3 stands out as something different. It looks towards our past, is relevant in the present, and reinstates a firm vision of Morgan’s design future,” he added.

Inside, the Super 3 is both minimalist and entirely waterproof. The instrument panel features a pair of round digital gauges that are rated against dust and moisture ingress. As in the outgoing 3 Wheeler, the ignition switch was inspired by a “missile release” button on military aircraft.

The Super 3’s seats are fixed, but the pedal box can slide fore and aft and the steering wheel can be adjusted for reach and rake to suit a driver’s preferred driving position. Vinyl, water-resistant leather, saddle leather and fabric trim are available – as is, for the first time, a footwell heater.

Morgan says the Super 3 is available to order from Morgan dealerships in Europe, the UK and the USA, with Japan, Australia and selected other markets to follow thereafter.