First Drive: Morgan Super 3 2022 Review

When Morgan announced it was killing off the 3 Wheeler, we, and by that I mean everyone at GRR, were unbelievably disappointed. Sure, it had been around since 2012, so a near decade-long production run was a mighty fine innings, but still, why did it have to go? You can imagine the joy at GRR towers then when Morgan revealed a successor, the Super 3. The basic recipe is the same as before: engine and two wheels at the front, manual gearbox and three pedals in the middle, a single driven wheel at the back. But the Super 3 is a very long way away from reheated leftovers.

The overall design ethos has shifted compared to the 3 Wheeler; the Super 3 is a car inspired by the jet age, says Morgan, not propellor-driven World War Two fighters. But in one regard the two are very much alike, as the form follows the requirements laid out by the engine. The 3 Wheeler had a 2.0-litre, air-cooled S&S V-Twin, which is why it sat exposed on the nose, giving the car a supremely distinctive look. The Super 3 uses a more advanced 1.5-litre, water-cooled three-cylinder from Ford, an engine known as the ‘Dragon’. As a result, the engine is enclosed in aluminium bodywork, giving the Super 3 a very different look to its predecessor. Not only is the engine tucked away behind a fine mesh grille and a cast aluminium frame, onto which the suspension, steering system and even the engine itself is bolted, but there are radiators either side of it, too, giving the Super 3 a much wider face than the 3 Wheeler ever had. The Super 3’s profile is less blobby than the 3 Wheeler’s, tucking down and in at the rear giving it much less of an upside-down bathtub appearance, while a single, now enclosed exhaust pokes out at the rear right. The roll hoops remain, for obvious safety reasons (never, ever attempt a J-turn, whatever you do), and those little plastic screens can be finished in with a funky yellow tint if you so desire.

You might think this new Ford-powered tripod doesn’t have the same characterful look as before but to my eyes it still looks ace. A three-wheeler is just cool, isn’t it? There’s a sense of anticipation, a buzz, before you’ve even driven the thing. And there are still little details to fall in love with. For me, it’s the texture to those aluminium castings at the front and rear. If you think they look like the grain of wood, that most Morgan of building materials, then you’d be right, but it isn’t a deliberate feature. They’re a by-product of the casting process that the bods at Morgan decided would be a shame to file away. Now enough about the looks, what about the driving?

If you’re familiar with Ford engine speak you’ll know that the Dragon is the same engine as you’ll find in the Fiesta ST, but here the motor does without the ST’s turbocharger. The result is a modest 118PS (87kW) and 129Nm (95lb ft) of torque, but that’s plenty in a car that weighs 635kg. Even without a turbocharger the engine picks up from relatively low revs, but higher up in the rev range is where the engine is happiest, gnarling away as if it were several times larger than it really is. And if anyone says it doesn’t have character, they’re lying – it has it by the bucket load. From the moment you start the engine that buzzy three-pot puts a smile on your face, in part because you can hear it so clearly, with very little between you and it, and there are delightful, natural pops from the exhaust periodically, particularly when you’re coming down the gears.

The gearbox, the one carry-over from the 3 Wheeler, is a five-speed from the Mazda MX-5, and it’s joyous, with a delightful short throw to fly up and down through the ratios. Change gear quickly and you’ll feel the rear wheel spin going from first to second, and there’s even a chirp going from second to third. Having only driven the car in the day I can imagine all of that power going to the rear wheel would, in the wet, be entertaining and alarming in almost equal measure.

The ride isn’t too firm, although the bumpiest of British roads can give you a bit of a kick at the rear, the brakes stop you but are nothing overly special, while the steering is nicely weighted and communicative enough once you’re up and running. The whole car feels light and nimble, helped by the fact the engine is now tucked behind the front axle rather than bolted on ahead of it as it used to be.

One curious observation is that you’ll almost certainly need to steer differently approaching a left- or right-hand bend. Yes, we’re really entering the anorak level of automotive critique here. In a right-hand-drive car, as mine was, to turn left I could have my right arm tucked inside or outside the Super 3’s bodywork and steer with both hands on the wheel as I normally would. To turn right, though, you’d need to commit early to bringing your right arm inside the car, or just keep your right arm outside, release the wheel from your right hand, steer with your left and keep your right hand poised and ready to grab the wheel again when it returns to the straight ahead. It’s a charming quirk, and something you’d have to bear in mind when driving quickly.

There’s a lot to like about the Super 3’s interior. The metal surrounds to the digital instruments (more on those shortly) are simple but elegant, and there’s a nice, reassuring click to every switch. Firing up the car with a button under an aeroplane’s bomb-release cover literally never gets old, while the cord that forms the door pockets is a really nice, flexible and very Morgan solution to the issue of ‘where can my water bottle go?’ You can pay to have storage space under the seats too. Adjusting the steering wheel and pedals can be a little fiddly but, let’s face it, you’ll only need to do it once, and the seats, while pretty basic, are surprisingly comfortable. The seatbelts are mounted centrally, another fun quirk that adds character, and the Ash dashboard on our car (a £537.50 option) was a delightful touch. Less delightful though are the plastic screens. They look good but distort what you see, particularly near their edges.

There’s a refreshing lack of technology in the Super 3. You’ve got what you need, like a heater and even heated seats, but there are no whopping great screens or haptic feedback controls; it’s basic but in the very best sense. The digital instruments, a first for Morgan, work nicely, even in blazing sunshine. The sideblades, those great, rectangular panels that cover the radiators, can be used to attach all sorts of bags and storage attachments, and you can mount rails over the rear of the car for yet more storage. Every single anchor point for a rail, rack or bag also has a camera mount thread, a very good idea indeed.

If you’re looking for a navigation system, Morgan has teamed up with Beeline, a company that offers up the diddiest navigation systems you have ever seen, normally for use on motorcycles. In the Super 3, the little Beeline screen attaches just behind the steering wheel, pairing up with your phone and then giving you directions – little arrows, distances to turns and so on – as you drive along. At £245.83 it’s money well worth spending.

What’s a tad frustrating, though, is the number of relatively mundane features that cost extra. The aforementioned bungees cost £145.83, the USBs £79.17, the plastic screens £187.50, the rubber floor mats £162.50, the LED headlights £829.17, a light in the footwell £120.83. Extra money for USBs – really?

It would be remiss of us not to mention the Super 3’s chassis, a new superformed aluminium structure, a first not just for Morgan but for any production car. Superforming is most often used for exterior body panels.

Drive one for ten minutes or so and I’d be willing to bet it would be impossible for you to get out and failed to have grinned once. It’s a vehicle that’s been designed purely for fun, which it offers up in spades at any speed.