We take the spirited Morgan Super 3 out for a spin of its mighty rear wheel

Morgan has a long history with three-wheeled models, dating back to the early 1900s when cyclecars were all the rage. The affectionately named Runabout was a tiller-operated tax-dodging pioneer, thanks to a motorbike engine at the front and the absence of a fourth wheel at the rear. In the late 1920s and early 1930s, the company’s three-wheeled creations took on more of the recognisable look we know today, with sculpted rear ends and partly enclosed bodywork.

In modern times, Morgan is heralded for its commitment to building classics with contemporary engineering and the Super 3 is no different. After the company first revived its three-wheeled streak in 2011 with the Morgan 3 Wheeler, which harked back to the 1930s with its exposed engine, the Super 3 arrived as a sexier, aeronautical reimagining. It even formed the basis of the Morgan XP-1 Prototype EV in 2023.

The Super 3 is defiantly petrol powered. When I was trying it out, on no fewer than seven occasions did passers-by comment on its sleek, cigarette boat-like styling. It’s no easy task to create an attractive three-wheeler that looks timeless rather than tacky. Put one wheel at the front and you risk comparisons to mobility scooters or Trotters Independent Trading, but one at the back and two at the front, then all of a sudden, this is no Robin but a Roman chariot with 118 horses at the reins.

A single front wheel puts the tipping axis closer to the centre of gravity, so a delta layout has little margin for error. Reverse it, with the pair up front where the weight is, and the tadpole layout is far more stable going forward. This makes the Super 3 much harder to unsettle, though no three-wheeler is immune once it starts sliding sideways.

Kitted out with a helmet, armoured gloves and bike jacket, I wasn’t dressed up because of a high-profile accident that purportedly put paid to a popular television franchise, but because the Super 3 is essentially a very, very powerful trike and should be treated as such. Like a motorbike, it’s not a practical machine, but it’s not meant to be. It’s for recreation. You’re not doing the weekly shop in it, bungee cords on the sides for luggage notwithstanding.

There’s very little between you and the road; it’s essentially an aluminium tub with Perspex fly screens bolted to the body. It also comes with a honking great big 1497cc engine under the bonnet – the first time a Morgan three-wheeler has featured an enclosed engine. Admittedly, I had some trepidation about jumping into the Super 3, but having spent a week with it, I now see it more like a dog breed that has a reputation for biting people but If you treat it with respect, it’ll be the bestest boy.

It’s geared like a motorbike and will quite happily do 60mph and beyond in third. Weighing in at just 635kg and producing a respectable 186bhp per tonne, it matches the 440kg Caterham Seven 170, which produces 191bhp per tonne, from 0-60mph and bests it on top speed all with one less wheel. Thanks in no small part to its naturally aspirated, fire breathing, 1.5-litre Ford Dragon.

People love to extol the virtues of manual over automatic for the best driving experience, but few contemporary vehicles, aside from race cars, embrace the same commitment to analogue. The only ‘modern’ technology in the cockpit is two surreptitiously sunken circular displays that could be mistaken for air ducts.

Turn the key, which looks like a replacement blank, and the ignition lights them up. Even then, they more closely resemble dials you’d find in a light aircraft, above four flick switches and a missile launcher-style starter button in the centre. The only information shown is the rev counter, speedo and odometer. There’s not even a clock.

The 13-inch Moto-Lita steering wheel takes me back to driving Formula Ford single seaters at Silverstone. Minimal input gets the wheels turning where you need them to go and the novelty of watching the open wheels move never wears off. The sense of speed is similar too, the wind lashes every inch of your body above the bodywork and everything below absorbs the resonance of the high RPMs.

Straight-line acceleration is absurd. Only in corners, watching the double wishbone front suspension work, do you notice the lightness at the rear end. Since British roads are more akin to those of the Soviet Union these days, local car shows and weekend blasts are the sensible option to avoid sciatica and a sphincter-puckering bill from your mechanic, but that’s part of the stripped-back allure of the Super 3.

So, the million-dollar question: is it dangerous? It’s important to remember the Super 3 is not a car. In the UK, it’s registered as a motorised tricycle, so it doesn't have airbags, ABS, wipers or structural roll hoops, and there is a potential, however remote, to roll it, even at low speeds.

That said, the answer is much the same as it would be for a shotgun: in the wrong hands, of course it’s a danger. But if you’re responsible and diligent, and afford it the requisite reverence it demands, then bang for your buck, it is without doubt the most fun I’ve had driving all year. Once you know the risks, you make smarter decisions, in the same way you don’t look down the barrel of an empty gun, just in case.

Morgan Super 3, from £39,995, Morgan-Motor.com, @MorganMotor