Modern coachbuilding
Design driven: Morgan Supersport
Deputy editor Freddie Holmes had a chariot of fine fettle for this year’s Goodwood Festival of Speed. It is a reminder that art is fundamental to car design
The ‘will I miss it’ metric was stretched to new levels last month as we solemnly handed back the keys to ‘our’ Morgan Supersport.
Specified in green over tan with delightful aerolite wheels and Morgan’s inimitable sweeping silhouette, this coach-built two-seater is one of the best-looking cars we’ve seen in the metal. It is the work of a small team from a small town in the middle of England, with design led by now long-time Morgan man Jonathan Wells.
Wells has spoken to CDN before of the challenge that presents the brand. Here is an artisanal carmaker that for a century has carved, joined and hammered wood and metal into small-batch open-top sportscars. The format has remained largely unchanged over the decades – and that is part of the appeal – but Wells knows that the brand cannot simply sit still.
Careful evolution is a must, and that can be seen most clearly through the light signature which now carries sharp LED oblongs either side of the main lamp. It could be jarring if not done well, but to us it almost makes the car appear more human with depth to those ‘eyes’ up front. The treatment of the lower mask and grille is also more contemporary than Morgans that have come before it.
Traffic can be an eyesore, but the Supersport undoubtedly added to its environment
But the Supersport still looks conventionally ‘Morgan’ despite its modern facelift and indeed many onlookers assumed it was of classic status – shocked to discover it is a 2026 plate. That is understandable, with those round headlamps and cheeky grille creating an affable front face suggesting a design of years past. The bonnet too feels of a different era, stretching out into the far distance and forever chasing the horizon. Beautiful, but a source of many toe-curling manoeuvres around the tight medieval streets of Arundel, a stone’s throw from Goodwood.
The Supersport’s sculpted bodywork, barebones interior (relatively speaking for a vehicle far north of £100,000) and wood-intense structure mean there is not an ounce of fat on it. Sitting at 1,170kg and with 335bhp on tap it is immensely fast when requested, hitting 0-62mph in 3.8 seconds. All well and good, but what’s more impressive is how the team has retained the character of a brand from 1910 alongside modern amenities and supercar performance.
Frankly, its performance is secondary to everything else around it (although the turbo woosh is addictive). There are moments of delight throughout thanks to a meticulous and tasteful CMF theme, and all the quirks one might expect from a car like this.
The industry’s fascination with ‘green over tan’ has found its new archetype in Oak Green Metallic over “Fawn” soft grain leather accented by thick box weave carpet, with walnut and aluminium adorning the centre console and IP. All of these, by the way, are optional extras; including various other add-ons, our car carries £30,000 in additional equipment.
For those in the market, we can imagine it would be worth the investment. The beautifully knurled switchgear makes even the process of engaging the handbrake memorable. That, all the way through to the visible strip of wood beneath the boot lid which presents itself when removing that tailored door carrier. Those small moments of delight are what a Morgan is all about.
And so to the user experience. For once we will not be discussing the responsiveness of a touchscreen or accuracy of voice commands, but the tactility of switches, levers and dials, legibility of the instrument cluster and – our favourite process – removing the top section of the doors. Physical UX, if you will. Push a lever forward on the base of the door card and a satisfying ‘clunk’ confirms the upper section can be lifted up and out, almost exactly like you might with a headrest.
Those door panels then sit nicely in a tailored bag that can be stowed in the boot (but not a speck of dust more). In doing so, driver and passenger can enjoy most of the theatre of a convertible. (We didn’t remove the hard-top roof during our time with the Supersport given there was nowhere to store it).
Special mention must also go to the wing mirrors, which while sculptural and perfectly in keeping with the overall aesthetic are functionally flawed. Accelerate up to motorway speeds and possibly a little further and the wind resistance forces the mirror arm to flip down 90 degrees – almost as if the car is tucking its ears in. “Ah, that’s the active aero,” joked one Morgan employee upon hearing that story, apparently not for the first time. The mirror cap itself, which screws onto a thread, seemed to undo itself as well, and a leather trimmed panel behind the passenger seat suddenly appeared in the footwell. At least we got to see that beautiful stitchwork.
Our week with the Supersport included a mix of roads and duration, from popping to the local train station to hours of motorway. The main event however was Goodwood, which to us felt like the quintessential journey for a car of this ilk. Flowing country roads, dappled sunlight filtering through centuries-old trees, quaint triple-barrelled villages with duck ponds, all culminating in the historic town of Arundel.
The Morgan looked absolutely at home against the backdrop of cobbled streets and stone castle walls. And while traffic is generally an eyesore in spots like this, the Supersport undoubtedly added to its environment. Comments, waves and smiles from Arundel locals confirmed this. It is a reminder that cars can truly be viewed as works of art – dynamic sculptures – when practicality is of limited concern to the buyer.
