4. Morgan Super 3
Like all the most characterful machines, the Morgan Super 3 is something of a contradiction. You look past the quaint pseudo vintage car styling and you’ll discover one of the most technically advanced and intriguing cars the Malvern manufacturer has created.
Crucially, it’s also a riot to drive, and like the best lightweights you don’t have to be driving like you’re fleeing an erupting volcano.
A clean sheet design, the Super 3 features a light and strong bonded aluminium chassis, plus bespoke double wishbone front suspension with springs and dampers actuated by an F1-style pullrod mechanism.
The old car’s V-twin motor has been dropped in favour of a naturally aspirated version of the Ford Fiesta ST’s 1.5-litre three-pot motor which drives the single rear wheel through a Mazda MX-5 transmission.
Driving the Morgan is an experience unlike any other, its open cockpit and small aero screens giving you the feeling you’re piloting a bi-plance rather than a car.
It’s at its best when driven within its limits on typically twisty British back roads, where you quickly get drawn into the sights, sounds and smells of a bygone motor era.
Yet there’s genuine ability here, and provided you bear in mind the front end grip limitations of those skinny 135 section front tyres, the Morgan can be hustled hard and steering on the throttle is deliciously precise and progressive way.
It goes well too, the rev-happy triple singing its way from 0-60mph in 7.2 seconds.
This isn’t a car to use everyday, and at over £40,000 in basic trim it’s not cheap, but the exquisitely finished Super 3 will leave a smile on your face long after the ringing in your ears has stopped and you’ve picked all the flies from your teeth.