Review: Morgan 3-Wheeler

Malvern, the U.K. city that's been the home of the Morgan Motor Company since 1910, is a place I've dreamed of coming to since I was a kid. I've had my 1930's Morgan 3-Wheeler since about 1986 but I've never actually gotten here before.

Now there is a new version of the Morgan 3-Wheeler. It's the perfect mix of British and American technology. It's got a 2000cc motor from Milwaukee.

If you've been to my website you know I have one of the very first S&S X-wedge motors. We built a bike called the Mobil 1 Special. It's a fantastic motor and now those guys that work with Morgan have put it in the trike.

This is what Charles Morgan, whose family business this is told me about the new 3-Wheeler. "We've sort of reinvented the original because you can't really imitate the past. So everything's new actually, we've got a brand new S&S engine, well known in America. I call it the Ferrari of the Harley world. Each cylinder is a liter; that's one hell of a powerful engine. It's got more torque than brake horsepower. Managing that is quite a problem, but we put it to a Mazda 5-speed gearbox so what we're hoping is you can just jump into this car, you've passed your test and, so long as you can use the stick shift, it's really easy to drive."

I went to Malvern just before the Goodwood Festival of Speed so a lot of the new 3-Wheelers were allocated. So I got to try out a version that is sort of in development here. As you can see from the pictures and video, it's a little rough and not finished at all but it gives you the basic essence of what the car will be like.

Malvern, about 140 miles northwest of London, is quintessentially English. As I left town there was a Mini Cooper behind me and it looked like a huge truck! Right out of town are some fabulous twisty roads. That's where I took it for a blast.

First impressions are great. It's everything my Morgan should be, because it's got brakes and actually handles pretty good. There's nothing like driving a 3-wheeler to give you a real sense of speed!

You know, when you drive cars like the Bugatti SuperSport or the McLaren, 100 miles per hour feels like 40. When you drive a car like this, 40 miles per hour feels like 200. And that's the fun of it really. You get that wonderful sensation of speed, you're close to the ground – you can scrape your knuckles as you go along. It's sort of... the ultimate motorcycle. It just makes you smile.

Driving round here is amazing. As I was driving, or is that riding, I could see another Morgan in my rear-view mirror. I've never been in my Morgan and had another Morgan behind me. But this is where these cars were developed. The roads are in the cars DNA.

Unlike the original Morgan, the new one doesn't have a hand throttle, it's got a proper sort of foot throttle. That's OK. Time has moved on. But the visceral link to the past is very tangible. The big change from the 1930's is that the new one is certainly a lot more stable than my pre-war Morgan.

This thing has got so much torque that initially I didn't realize I pulled away in third gear! The engine is superb. S&S motors are bulletproof. I've had one on my motorcycle now for about 5 years and it doesn't leak oil, doesn't need anything. Just loads and loads of torque. In this application, it's about 115 horsepower but something like 150 foot pounds of torque so it makes a lot more torque than it makes horsepower.

It should be in the States very very soon so I'm really excited about it, and I've got my order in. I can't wait to have it round L.A.

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