Welcome to the future of Morgan: this is the new 335bhp Supersport

This is the brand-new Morgan Supersport; a BMW-engined sportscar soaked in Malvern’s long, storied history and garnished with real, actual usability Morgan hopes you’d want to sample every day.

“We’ve really focused on making this a car that you can jump in and grab by the scruff of the neck, and just really, really drive,” Morgan boss Matthew Hole told TopGear.com.

“And we’ve hopefully put as many features into the car that mean you want to do that all the time rather than some of the time.” It’s a genuine long-ball attempt at transforming the range-topping Morgan from a weekend-when-the-weather’s-just-right-and-the-moon-is-in-retrograde car, to something that’d make you pause before going into a Porsche dealership.

Which means it needs firepower. And it’s got some, courtesy of long-time engine partner BMW. BMW’s quite handy at making engines, as it turns out, especially straight-six ones, and the new Morgan Supersport comes fitted with a handy straight-six.

It’s the turbocharged 3.0-litre ‘B58’ unit that powers everything from a Z4, Supra, various M-Sport (but not full-fat M) cars and probably even your toaster.

Here, it makes a healthy 335bhp. Well, at least 335bhp. “That’s a very conservative power figure from BMW, because they always seem to do a bit more for some reason,” said Hole. “They’re always very healthy engines. It doesn’t need much more power.”

There’s 369lb ft on offer too, mated to an eight-speed BMW gearbox, allowing for a 0-62mph time of just 3.9s and a top speed of 166mph. The former’s a few tenths faster than the old Plus Six, the latter’s the same, because really that’s enough.

This proven drivetrain is strapped onto a thoroughly re-engineered version of Morgan’s ‘CX’ aluminium platform. It’s now called ‘CXV’, and as you’d expect from a revamped foundation, offers more of everything.

There’s 10 per cent more torsional rigidity versus the CX – and the option of improving that by a further 10 per cent if you spec the carbon fibre roof – while some suspension mounting points are a full 100 per cent stiffer than before.

Morgan’s made the steering quicker by 13 per cent over the old Plus Six for additional point-and-squirtiness, while the weight of the entire platform itself has crept up, but not by much. Where the old CX skeleton weighed 97kg on its own, this new CXV weighs 102kg. About as much as a full English breakfast.

Which you’ll be able to keep down for longer. Yes, ‘keeping down your breakfast in a sportscar’ isn’t a recognisable Morgan metric, but CXV promises to be softer, more refined and ‘compliant’ in its standard setup. It also promises ‘handling sophistication’ and you can increase the pointiness via the optional Dynamic Handling Pack that adds Nitron dampers offering 24 clicks of adjustment and a limited slip diff.

Wheels? There are some, and they are new, and the lightest ever built by Morgan. 18in Superlight items weigh 10.8kg per corner, while the optional 19in Aerolite wheels come in at just 9.7kg each. All in, the Morgan weighs 1,170kg – again, slightly swollen over the old Six, which clocked in at 1,075kg.

Despite the additional bulk, it’s of course less draggy and less… lifty than what came before, because Morgan’s thrown some computers at the design – as well as expert human hands of course. The drag’s been reduced by five per cent and lift by 20 per cent. That’s thanks to a cleaner underbody and the fancy new design.

And boy, is it fancy. And… familiar? That was by coincidence, not design. “Amazingly, we’ve opted for pink and blue [for the launch cars] with no insight into what Jaguar were doing,” said Morgan design boss Jonathan Wells. “We couldn’t believe it when that [the Jag Type 00] dropped.”

Pink colourway aside, it’s… a Morgan, clearly, but similar to when you haven’t seen someone in a while and they look the same, but fitter. “There is obviously some clearly Morgan DNA – the round headlights, the horseshoe mouth – but everything has been touched and readdressed,” said Wells.

Wells noted that in the past, Morgan used off-the-shelf componentry for bits of the exterior like the headlamps and mirrors, whereas for the new Supersport, literally everything – bar the BMW gearlever – has been designed and handcrafted in-house.

“We’ve created a sort of real simplistic honesty to everything, and as a result, we get this very clean, coach-built aluminium body sitting on a very technical underpinning,” he said.

Don’t worry, there’s still ye olde’ Morgan deep inside. Yep, ash wood is present and correct, here acting as the frame for the hand-formed aluminium bodywork. “It gets really beaten up throughout the process,” said Hole, “and it's hard to show it off in the final aesthetic.” It’s on display – protected – in the boot.

So it’s technical, mixed with a bit of history, and comfortable. The quality of the materials has been upped, as has the actual structure, too. Take the door, for example. It’s now hinged through the body and is bolted directly onto the chassis.

“You might think that's not novel,” said Hole, “but on previous generations of cars the hinge was attached to a wooden frame on the door and a wooden frame on the body.” Which of course means over time, the door wouldn't close perfectly. And doing it this way means a better seal can be applied, which in turn creates a cabin that’s, “you know, well sealed”.

Apart from the BMW steering wheel and that gearlever – a thing they had to keep – it’s all posh dials in the middle, actual buttons and a central digital display, all outfitted using a font Morgan designed itself. It all feels at once very Classic Morgan and also… modern.

Amazing stereo, too, via Sennheiser, that features drivers mounted in the chassis, turning the entire car into a sort of amplifier. There’s an actual boot, a small but usable space behind the seats and a parcel shelf, too.

“Companies have these sort of ‘bolt-on’ special operations divisions,” Wells told TG. “Morgan is just special operations. That generates huge sorts of brand volumes, huge community enjoyment.”

Speaking of volumes, Morgan’s aiming for around 650 cars this year, with an ambition to get back up to around 800 a year. Consider it an exclusive daily, then.