Morgan Supersport review: an analogue oasis in a digital world

There are car companies, and then there is Morgan.

For more than a century, the small British manufacturer has built cars with the cheerful determination of someone who wandered into the modern motor industry, looked around at the computers, touchscreens and increasingly baffling collection of acronyms, decided it was all getting a bit silly, and simply carried on doing things their own way.

That isn't to say Morgan has spent the last hundred years standing still, of course. Far from it - the company has simply evolved at its own pace, occasionally adopting modern technology but only after giving it a thorough once-over and making sure it wouldn't ruin anything important.

The wonderful thing about a Morgan is that it has never been terribly interested in convincing you that it is sensible. It doesn't want to impress you with a list of features or tell you how many different driving modes it has. It wants you to drive it. Properly. To hear it, feel it, grin at it and, ideally, forgive its eccentricities before you've even reached the end of the driveway.

The Supersport's job, then, is a tricky one: it needs to remain unmistakably Morgan while being considerably more than simply a beautiful relic from another age. Fortunately, it appears to have understood the assignment.

The Supersport name isn't entirely new at Morgan - the company has been building cars with considerably more enthusiasm than logic for generations, and “Supersport” has appeared on some of its more entertaining creations before.

Revealed in 2025 as the successor to the much-loved Plus Six, the Supersport takes Morgan's latest aluminium platform and wraps it in one of the company's most dramatic interpretations yet of the classic Morgan shape. Underneath is BMW's 3.0-litre turbocharged straight-six producing 250kW and 500Nm, giving the Supersport considerably more shove than its old-fashioned appearance might initially suggest.

But Morgan has wisely resisted the temptation to turn it into a numbers-obsessed supercar. The point isn't simply how quickly it gets somewhere. The point is that getting there should feel like an occasion.

It is modern, then — but not too modern. Fast, but not frightening. Beautiful, in that slightly ridiculous and gloriously unapologetic way Morgan has made its own.

In other words, it's exactly the sort of car Morgan ought to be building.

On the outside: what are the Morgan Supersport's main design features?

The Supersport is a masterclass in retro-modern theatre. It has classic sports-car proportions: a vast bonnet that appears to stretch almost to the horizon, a cabin set low and improbably far back, and wheels pushed out towards the corners.

People will ask whether it's old or new, and when you tell them it's new, they'll generally look at it again before asking if they can take a photo.

The detailing leans heavily towards the traditional, with louvred panels, exposed fasteners and an upright windscreen, but everything is executed with enough precision to stop it feeling like a particularly expensive restoration project. It's what might happen if a 1930s sports car were given access to modern engineering and told to behave itself. Fortunately, nobody appears to have insisted on the latter.

That mixture is what gives the Supersport such extraordinary presence. People will ask whether it's old or new, and when you tell them it's new, they'll generally look at it again before asking if they can take a photo.

And they will. Constantly.

Personalisation has always been a major part of the Morgan experience, and the Supersport wears that tradition well. The example here combines deep green paint with a tan soft-top and light-coloured interior, which is about as British as tweed and an unnecessarily strong opinion about the weather.

It works brilliantly, but the Supersport also looks surprisingly good in bolder, more contemporary colours, which give its familiar shape a slightly more aggressive edge.

The cabin is minimalist, beautifully finished and refreshingly free of the sort of technology that requires you to spend the first half-hour of ownership creating a username.

A factory hard-top tightens the look further and gives the car a rakish, vaguely endurance-racer feel. It looks rather magnificent, although the soft-top is surprisingly easy to live with and probably suits the car's character better.

OVERVIEW

On the inside: what's the Morgan Supersport's cabin like?

Inside, the Supersport continues the same philosophy. The cabin is minimalist, beautifully finished and refreshingly free of the sort of technology that requires you to spend the first half-hour of ownership creating a username.

There is rich leather, beautifully grained wood and milled aluminium switchgear that feels less like something you operate and more like something you should admire while wearing a smoking jacket.

Analogue dials immediately set the tone, while a small driver display handles the essentials. There are no vast infotainment screens here demanding your attention, interrupting your journey or informing you that a software update is available.

The most obvious reminder that you're sitting in a thoroughly modern car is the BMW gear selector rising from the centre tunnel. It's a small but important reminder that beneath all the leather, wood and old-school charm, the oily bits are very much contemporary.

The Supersport isn't completely without modern conveniences, of course. There is air conditioning, Bluetooth, a stereo and stability and traction control. Admittedly, all of them operate at the minimalist end of what you'd expect in a modern car, but that's rather the point.

Morgan has included the things you actually need and then stopped before someone suggested putting an iPad on the dashboard.

INTERIOR

On the road: what's the Morgan Supersport like to drive?

The Supersport is an intensely analogue experience in the best possible way.

Yes, there is a thoroughly modern BMW 3.0-litre twin-turbo straight-six under that extraordinarily long bonnet, but Morgan has ensured that the car still speaks to you mechanically. It snarls, whirrs and occasionally clunks. Things move. Things make noises. And, crucially, none of it feels artificial.

Around town, it's considerably more civilised than you might expect. Leave the transmission in Drive and it shuffles along smoothly and comfortably, responding eagerly without suffering from the permanently over-caffeinated nature of some modern sports cars.

Sport mode sharpens things up by holding gears longer and making the throttle more responsive, while Sport Plus goes full madness. It's gloriously entertaining and probably a little excessive for popping down to the shops, with its bellowing exhaust, bangs an pops and aggressively rasping engine, but man it is fun. And if you're buying a Morgan Supersport primarily for supermarket duties, you've probably missed the point somewhat, but you still can do it.

The power is abundant, the steering is beautifully weighted and the chassis feels wonderfully connected to the road.

The steering is a particular highlight - it's wonderfully fast and accurate without feeling nervous or twitchy, while the nose turns into corners with remarkable precision. You sit close to the rear axle, which makes the car feel wonderfully alive - it's rear-driven in both the literal and figurative sense - and it constantly communicates what's happening beneath you without bombarding you with information you don't actually need.

When the speed rises, the Supersport's power demands respect, and while it can certainly be enormous fun on a tight, winding road, this isn't really a car about threading a needle down a bumpy back road at increasingly questionable speeds.

No, where it really comes alive is on long, fast and flowing stretches where you can lean on that wonderfully responsive straight-six and allow the chassis to breathe. That's where everything starts to make sense.

The power is abundant, the steering is beautifully weighted and the chassis feels wonderfully connected to the road. There is a delicacy to the controls that makes the Supersport feel more involving than many considerably more powerful cars, and the whole experience has a wonderful sense of mechanical honesty.

It's a car that talks to you. Not constantly, and not in the way some modern cars do when they beep because you've apparently looked at the scenery for too long.

It's flexible enough to deal with traffic without fraying your nerves, yet turns every decent drive into an occasion.

It simply communicates through the steering, the chassis and the noises coming from underneath that beautiful bodywork. It's a conversation rather than an argument. And that's becoming increasingly rare.

SPECIFICATIONS

On ownership: what's the Morgan Supersport's warranty and servicing situation?

The Supersport comes with Morgan's standard warranty of 30 months or 30,000 miles (48,280km), whichever comes first. Servicing is by arrangement with Morgan Cars New Zealand.

On the whole: what do we think of the Morgan Supersport?

The Morgan Supersport wins you over first with its presence and then seals the deal with the way it feels.

The design blends nostalgia with modern crispness, the cabin is a wonderfully distilled celebration of craftsmanship and the drivetrain and steering pairing makes it engaging almost everywhere.

Find the right road, however, and it becomes something genuinely special. It's flexible enough to deal with traffic without fraying your nerves, yet turns every decent drive into an occasion.

The Supersport is also a remarkably social car. People smile. They stop. They chat. They ask questions. They ask for photographs. Sometimes you'll struggle to park it and walk away without someone appearing to ask what it is.

It doesn't particularly care whether it has the biggest touchscreen or the most advanced suite of driver assistance systems. It just wants to make you smile. And it does.

Yes, it's powerful and demands respect, but that's part of its charm. The Supersport is a car that talks to you and expects you to pay attention and talk back.

No, it's not cheap, but concepts like "value for money" become increasingly blurry when you are talking about something as belligerently niche as the Supersport - it costs what it costs to be the way it is, and that is reason enough. It isn't interested in being the fastest, cleverest or most technologically advanced car in the world. It doesn't particularly care whether it has the biggest touchscreen or the most advanced suite of driver assistance systems.

It just wants to make you smile.

And it does.

Morgan Supersport FAQs

What kind of car is the Morgan Supersport?

The best kind: a two-seater convertible roadster.

Does the Morgan Supersport have hybrid or EV technology?

Don't be silly.

What’s the fuel economy of the Morgan Supersport?

Surprisingly, the Supersport has a combined average fuel consumption of just 7.7l/100km because while it is powered by a turbo six, it is also very, very light.

Is the Morgan Supersport safe?

The Supersport hasn't been tested by ANCAP and features a pair of front airbags for driver and passenger.

What safety and assistance features does the Morgan Supersport have?

What are the Morgan Supersport's main rivals?

• Lotus Emira V6 ($251,500): probably the closest mainstream competitor to the Morgan. Not as cool though.
• Chevrolet Corvette E-Ray ($285,000): a classic American take on the topless two-seater. Almost attracts as much attention.
• Porsche 911 Carrera Cabriolet ($319,000): more expensive and less exclusive, but it's a Porsche...
• MG Cyberster AWD ($129,000): Brit roadster with a twist: Chinese built and fully electric.
• Every Mazda MX-5 ($175,970): a standard one, the upspec Takaml and hardtop RF Homura for when the weather turns bad.