Which Trike Do You Like?

Jack Baruth
by Jack Baruth

The perennially shy Alex Roy took delivery of his Morgan Trike last year and has dutifully operated it under all conditions, including during the arrival of Hurricane Sandy. There’s something awfully charming about the “Three Wheeler”, even if the price of it would also put you in a brand-new six-speed Corvette Grand Sport. As far as not-quite-motorcycles go, I much prefer it to the Can-Am Spyder, anyway.

Much of the appeal of the Morgan is its novelty value; we didn’t get very many Morgans of any type in this country, much less three-wheeled ones. The T-Rex is probably the only other non-bike-based trike on the market. In the UK, however, the “Moggie” is just one in a large field of competitors. Some are closer to the original Morgan design than the Morgan itself, while others are futuristic in the creepy Seventies sense of the word. The Telegraph recently put eleven of them together for a short test.

The Three Wheeler Group Test isn’t exactly long-winded but it provides a nice glimpse into a kind of motoring we just don’t get in the New World. About half of them are riffs on the Morgan concept, but some, like the Blackjack, are new ideas. A potential best-of-breed combination of the vintage-trike look and modern-superbike four-cylinder engine doesn’t yet appear to exist; if you want the Morgan look, you have to take somebody’s twin, whether it’s from a 2CV, a Moto Guzzi, or a fake Harley.

Clearly the thing to do would be for TTAC to track-test all these trikes until someone is killed, probably me, but in light of current airfare rates we might try to cover the domestically-available models first. If you build a trike and you’d like to see it disrespected reviewed in these pages, let us know!

Jack Baruth
Jack Baruth

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2 of 17 comments
  • Lynn Ellsworth Lynn Ellsworth on Jan 24, 2013

    Sure they are silly and dangerous but I would love to have one. I wonder how an electric one would handle with motors in all 3 wheels?

  • Niky Niky on Jan 24, 2013

    Hard to imagine the Grinall's been in production for twenty years now, and still looks exactly the same. I absolutely adore the BlackJack Zero. Have for years. Kind of bummed that there's no distributorship out here, but there you go. Even more fascinating if you option up to a Beetle motor... Since it's available Stateside, that's one you should go for, Jack. You've already got a source for a privately-owned Morgan, and it can't be that hard to get a T-Rex for a group test... right?

  • Master Baiter I'm skeptical of any project with government strings attached. I've read that the new CHIPS act which is supposed to bring semiconductor manufacturing back to the U.S. is so loaded with DEI requirements that companies would rather not even bother trying to set up shop here. Cheaper to keep buying from TSMC.
  • CanadaCraig VOTE NO VW!
  • Joe This is called a man in the middle attack and has been around for years. You can fall for this in a Starbucks as easily as when you’re charging your car. Nothing new here…
  • AZFelix Hilux technical, preferably with a swivel mount.
  • ToolGuy This is the kind of thing you get when you give people faster internet.
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