Australian rules could ban Morgan 3-Wheeler

Morgan is back in production.

The brand's Australian importer from Melbourne is keen to add the new Morgan 3-Wheeler sports car to its stable when it launches in early 2012, but Australia is the only country in the world that requires it to be crash tested.

"The iconic 3-Wheeler is classified as a motorcycle worldwide," said Chris van Wyck, head of Morgan Cars Australia. The Morgan Motor Company, located in Malvern Link, is the world's oldest privately owned car manufacturer and the only British family car company in the UK.

Founded by Henry Morgan in 1909, its first product was the 3-Wheeler, an amazing machine that developed and lasted until 1946 and is now back in production, eagerly awaited by bug-in-the-mouth and wind-in-hair enthusiasts.

“The classification of ADR is that the three-wheeled vehicle with a steering wheel is derived from a car, so it is a car. In contrast, a tricycle or a motorcycle with a sidecar is a motorcycle and does not need such testing,” said Mr. Van Wyck.

In a head-on collision, the cyclist ejects over the handlebars. But the driver of the Morgan 3-Wheeler has a steering wheel, a dashboard, a strong roll cage and is wearing a seatbelt. Go find out. 

However, Mr. Van Wyck is not embarrassed. Its business ground to a halt for four years following a similar ADR decision on Morgan's conventional four-wheeled sports cars. But this has been overcome and three versions of the classic handmade models are available again in Australia.

So far, Morgan loyalists have bought 24 cars, almost equally for the 82-liter 142/1.6 engine with 4kW/4Nm, the 106-liter Plus 187 with 2.0kW/4Nm and the 195-liter V3.0 roadster with 6kW . 

Prices range from $68,000 to $137,000 to $3.7. Also scheduled to arrive in Oz next year is a facelifted 8-liter version of the roadster, the return of the Plus 328 nameplate, and the new EvaGT four-seat coupe, a Frazer Nash-BMW-inspired beauty coming in 2013.

And if a 90-kilowatt, twin-piston, 2.0-liter engine gets to 100 km/h in 4.5 seconds in a (yes!) five-speed (Mazda MX5) 3-Wheeler, it should cost around $55,000. Change the rules, Mr ADR. Life is too short not to have a Morgan 3-Wheeler here.