In the first of a new series, Alex Goy ponders on the merits of the Morgan Three Wheeler for his fantasy fleet.

The Morgan Three Wheeler isn’t lacking in kerb appeal and on-road presence

Engine: 2.0-litre V Twin

Power:  82.5bhp (the 0.5 is important)

0-62mph:  6.5 secs (with a tailwind)

Connectivity:  Some Bluetooth headphones or shouting

Seats:  Two

Roofs:  None

Likelihood of making it onto the fleet?  3/10

Few things have the power to draw attention away from a Ferrari, to make phones appear from nowhere, or to generate as many questions along the lines of ‘what is that?’ quite like the Morgan Three Wheeler.

The Three Wheeler, launched in 2011, is a spiritual successor to the first vehicle the Morgan Motor Company built over a century ago. Morgan’s founder, H.F.S. Morgan, didn’t fancy riding horses around the Malvern Hills, thought motorbikes were too dangerous and cars too expensive. So he made his own three-wheeled runabout that was easy to fix, cheap to run and didn’t poo in the street.

His little creation took off, and Morgan was born. The old motors became family transport, sports cars, and even won races. It fell out of favour in the 1950s, when customers decided they wanted more wheels.

The newer version remains faithful to the original – powered by a motorcycle engine, low weight, low maintenance, small footprint (still no poo). Rather than being a means of serious transport it’s more of a toy – and a hilarious one at that.

This is for two main reasons: 1) It’s easily the worst handling car money can (or could, as it’s just gone off sale) buy and 2) That doesn’t matter because that’s what makes it fun.

See, its 2.0-litre, 82.5bhp (62bhp in later cars) is wonderfully torquey and causes the whole car to shake at idle. It makes a big, silly noise that causes children to point and, because you’re barely above the ground, 30mph feels like a billion. Its steering is unassisted, which makes low-speed driving hard work. And you’ll have to do lots of that because its turning circle is dreadful.

It’ll understeer into corners, unless you dip the clutch, which’ll make it oversteer. Its five-speed manual gearbox is a joy to use and the pedals are decently spaced so you can use its lazy motor for some heel and toe downshifting. There’s nowhere to put anything – and, if it rains, you’ll get wet because there’s no roof. And once the fuel gauge dips below 20%, you’re knackered because the claimed 40-litre fuel tank is a lie, but the upshot of that is you’ll never pay more than £25 to brim it – or maybe you will, based on the direction fuel prices are going!

The bad doesn’t matter though, because the good means you laugh like Zippy all the time, even in the wet. As it’s such a bizarre-looking thing, people want to know about it, or tell you about your missing wheel, which makes them (and you) happy.

Morgan’s just replaced the Three Wheeler with the Super 3 – a slicker, less biplane-ish three-wheeled silly thing. It’s cool – and will turn heads – and, if it’s anything like its predecessor, it’ll be the best thing ever.