Morgan Supersport: Coachbuilt for Real Roads

Morgan calls this approach 21st-century coachbuilding, and for once the slogan fits. The shape is unmistakable, only cleaner and more certain, with sculpted aluminium drawing your eye while the technical pieces are allowed to look technical. Satin-finished sills, a neat splitter and diffuser sit deliberately against the hand-formed body, a small declaration that craft and engineering can share the same sentence.

Practicality arrives without fuss. There is a proper boot again – trimmed to match the cabin and opened from the key – big enough for sidescreens and a weekend’s bags. A slim rack can carry extra luggage yet hinges clear so you can still get at the load bay. Stowage behind the seats finally acknowledges that touring is part of the brief. Even the sidescreens have been re-engineered to fit and seal neatly, released by the interior latch and trimmed to match the roof so they feel like part of the design.

Inside, the brand’s mechanical honesty is given a grown-up finish. Analogue dials made in Wales carry numerals in Morgan’s own HFS typeface, lit in a way that gives real depth, while the electronics behind them are entirely modern and invisible. Door cards borrow cues from mid-century audio kit, their louvred grilles framed by timber you choose and echoed on the console and lower dash rail. Tech is present where it earns its place. Hands-free calling finally works with the roof folded thanks to clever microphones and noise-cancelling. Wireless charging hides in a small tray rather than taking over the cockpit. The Sennheiser audio has been tuned for clarity, so a favourite playlist fills the space without turning the car into a gadget.

The method of making remains the heart of the story. Aluminium panels are still hand-formed over an ash frame at Pickersleigh Road. Open the boot and a strip of lacquered timber is revealed on purpose, a quiet reminder that old skills sit beneath the metal you can see. Materials are sourced with care and used with a light hand, and every car is specified as a one-off with near-limitless colours and finishes – or something more personal, if you want to work directly with the design team.

What Morgan has really built here is permission. Permission to take the long way home on a wet Wednesday, just because the hard top makes rain part of the fun.  Permission to throw two bags in the back and disappear for a night without a second thought. Permission to enjoy a light car on a great road without the fatigue that used to creep in. Supersport moves the marque forward without sanding off the spark that makes a Morgan feel alive, and that is why it deserves to lead the range.