Morgan calls last orders on 3 Wheeler

IF YOU have been mulling the possibility of putting a Morgan 3 Wheeler (M3W) on your driveway, then now is the time to act with just two months left before the model is no longer available to Australian fans.

After circumnavigating Australian Design Rules (ADR) to gain a foothold in this market in 2014, the 3 Wheeler has again run afoul of the ADRs under changes that come into effect on November 1, 2017.

Australian customers are being advised that they have fewer than eight weeks to order an example in time to catch the next Australian-spec manufacturing run in June and July, ahead of delivery before the November cut-off next year.

The British car-maker fought an expensive four-year battle for ADR homologation to recognise the M3W as a luxury car and not a motorcycle, allowing its sale in Australia early last year, but the most recent changes have undone all the hard work, sending the unique model back to square one.

Similar ADR revisions for four-wheeled vehicles are also impacting the company’s Classic range, with all 4/4, Plus 4 and Roadster orders suspended until further local testing and negotiation with the ADR office in Canberra allows the modern classics to go on sale again.

Plus 8 models are unaffected by the four-wheeled ADR changes that came into effect on November 1 this year, but Morgan says it is confident the rest of the Classic range will be available again at a point in 2017.

The British car-maker has at least some good news to report: the Aero 8 will arrive in Australia early next year.

Customers are now being invited to place orders for the 270kW rear-drive convertible that is on offer for $270,000 before on-road costs and can crack zero-to-100km/h in 4.5 seconds and a top speed of 273km/h.

Power is courtesy of a BMW 4.8-litre naturally aspirated V8 via a limited-slip differential and six-speed manual gearbox or optional ZF auto for $7150.

Morgan has never pitched itself as a volume seller for Australia and has instead offered an exclusive range of classic-inspired cars that typically sell about one a month, but that figure will dip even further until the recent rule changes can be renegotiated in its favour.