Get hyped for the next 3 Wheeler by flying through Morgan’s factory
If you crave proof that the weird and wonderful in the automotive world has not gone extinct, look no further than Morgan Motor Company. This British outfit specializes in building cars the old-school way, and that’s not PR fluff. One hundred and thirteen years after its founding, Morgan is still bending frames for its roadsters out of ash wood. It still has a finger on the pulse of current trends too: Just look at the absurdly wonderful CX-T off-roader.
Morgan fanatics are currently awaiting the arrival of the marque’s next-generation trike, due for its official unveiling tomorrow. A few factoids have trickled out: The new 3 Wheeler will forgo an S&S motorcycle V-twin engine for a three-cylinder Ford mill, wear all-new sheetmetal, and be highly customizable.
What better way to whet the appetite than with a drone fly-through of the company’s factory on Malvern’s Pickersleigh Road? Morgan’s even let slip that a few “special projects” are present … so hit the full-screen button and let’s play a bit of “I spy.”
We start off in a brick-walled office occupied by an old-style 3 Wheeler—the one that looks like a steampunk lobster. (That’s a compliment.) A quick zoom down the street and we’re watching partially assembled Plus Four and Plus Six models get their interiors and engines. (Four-cylinders for the Fours, six-cylinders for the other. All quite straightforward.) Next up is a room with shelves full of fender panels, and a row of vehicles wearing their aluminum skins but still without engines and interiors. A quick spin around the hood corner and through a squadron of drill presses and we’ve arrived at the jigs used to make the hoods.
Then, the most Morgan of rooms: A sawdusted workshop filled with pale ash wood, a material integrated into each car’s aluminum platform and to which Morgan mounts the metal bodywork. Following a jaunt to the next building, we behold mostly complete cars getting fitted with interiors—and spot the first of our “special project” quarry.
Is that an ash pillar we see curving above the rear wheels? A pair of roof-mounted panels that hinge outward from the car’s “spine”? We’re not so sure about those wing-like things, but clearly there’s something unusual happening here. Some kind of semi-enclosed Morgan with folding wings?
Convertible roof assembly happens at the far end of this building—both the stitching of the fabric tops and the joining to the hinges. And what’s that tapered shape lurking under a blue wrap? It can only be the soon-to-be-revealed 3 Wheeler.
An LM62 Plus Four, a special edition celebrating the marque’s class win at Le Mans and distinguished by its #29 decals, sits beside a convertible finished in a beachy sort of teal. (We’ll take the LM62, thanks.)
Next up is the paint shop, an area in which Morgan’s adaption to modern techniques is clear—including the LED-fitted archway for quality inspection. After buzzing over a fleet of adventure-ready CX-Ts, complete with two spare tires and jerrycan, we linger over a room of finished cars—and the tour is done.
We’ve only got hours to wait for the new 3 Wheeler. Are you waiting for the trike, or would you choose from between the CX-T, Plus Four, and Plus Six? Share your thoughts below.
