Is the Supersport a Morgan you could choose over a 911?

From anyone else, a car like the new Morgan Supersport would look like a throwback, but the Malvern-based manufacturer looks down the other end of the telescope. The result? Despite heavy references to the past, it looks futuristic. Well, by Morgan standards at least. And beneath those long wings and running boards, it is a thoroughly modern offering. Don’t believe us? Get this: it has a bootlid.

It’s not the first time we’ve seen Morgan deviate from its usual lane. The ill-fated Plus 4 Plus of 1963 attempted to attract different buyers by bringing Morgan up to date, but traditionalists were put off and only 26 found homes. The Aero 8, hailing from the turn of the millennium, was met with rather more success by blending tradition with modernity. Morgan will be hoping to repeat the feat with its new ‘re-imagined’ flagship.

But before we get into the new styling and the changes to the platform, more significant is Morgan’s ambition to create a car for regular use. A simpler hood arrangement and a hands-free set-up that, we’re told, is audible at motorway speeds with the roof down, all conspire to make the Supersport a car that can do more than high days and holidays. There’s even a new quick-release mechanism for the sidescreens. You weren’t expecting anything as new-fangled as wind-up windows, were you?

Morgan wants you to consider its hand-built offering as an alternative to a Porsche 911. Ambitious. Equally bold is the place the Supersport takes in the Morgan range. Where the aforementioned Plus 4 Plus and Aero 8s were additional model lines, the Supersport replaces the Plus Six (introduced in 2019) which, for all its aluminium CX platform, retained styling that would keep pipe-smokers on side. 

The Supersport’s new look is certain to divide opinion. Styling is subjective, of course, but what can be measured is the aero benefits of the new shape. The long tail reduces drag, while the revised underside avoids the lift associated with old-school Morgans. The splitter and sills aren’t just for appearance. 

An optional carbon composite hardtop can be used interchangeably with the soft-top. Along with the simplified hood and sidescreens, the bonnet catches have also been replaced with items that are easier to use. Inside the car, Morgan has eliminated all off-the-shelf components barring the BMW gear shifter. While that’s a visual clue to the car’s 21^st century origins, the hand-made analogue instruments are a wonderful antidote to the screens that plague modern cars. 

Morgan buyers have been used to the 8-speed automatic gearbox from the Plus Six. That’s carried over with the 3.0-litre turbocharged six-cylinder that produces 344PS (253kW) and 500Nm (369lb ft) of torque. It will be kept in check with more wieldy dynamics thanks to the revised CX plaform, the new version dubbed ‘CXV’. It’s stiffer by ten per cent than its predecessor, and has longer suspension travel and anti-roll bars front and rear. 

Add in an optional limited-slip differential and Nitron dampers and it’s clear that it’s not just in user-friendliness that Morgan wants to make progress; it promises to be more dynamically accomplished than what came before, too. The aluminium construction of the CVX contributes to the Supersport’s flighty 1,170kg kerb weight (actually 95kg heavier than the outgoing Plus Six), but there is still some ash in the construction – and it’s proudly displayed when you open the boot. 

The Supersport starts at £102,000 with a soft-top and rises to £105,000 with the hardtop (or £107,000 with both). And for that you get a truly coachbuilt car. For all its progression, this is still a truly hand-crafted car assembled at Morgan’s home in Malvern. 

Improved handling and greater user-friendliness might broaden the Supersport’s appeal beyond Morgan’s usual customer base, but it’s that continuation of tradition that counts for everything. One way in which the Supersport could never be compared to a 911 is in its unmatched abundance of charm.