Pedal Pusher

The Age

Saturday January 17, 2009

Barry Park

MORGAN Motor Company is celebrating its centenary this year with a special model - a single-seater pedal car.

The 2510 ($5100) toy is a faithful two-thirds scale replica designed to celebrate the centenary of the 1909 Morgan Runabout, the first car penned by company founder Henry Morgan.

"In our centenary year no celebration from a car manufacturer as special as Morgan would be complete without the introduction of a new model," a spokesperson for the company says.

Under the hood is ... well, nothing. Instead, the six-to-13-year-old driver is connected via the pedals to a three-speed crank. Beneath its aluminium skin, Morgan describes the Supersport Junior Pedal Car as much like a recumbent bicycle.

The new model also features an imitation cast V-twin engine, a tubular chassis and hand-formed louvres.

The pedal car is planned to be built alongside Morgan's normal range of cars, including the top-of-the-range, $250,000-plus Aero 8.

The more grown-up transport features a BMW-sourced 4.8-litre V8 punching out 270kW of power and 500Nm that will complete the 0-100kmh sprint in approximately 4.5 seconds (unlike the pedal car, which will complete the sprint to 100metres in a time that is roughly proportionate to the sum of the young driver's leg power and the gradient of theroad).

"True to our core Morgan values it retains our legendary high power to weight ratio," the company says.

But first, Morgan needs to gauge interest in a limited run of 500 of the pedal cars, which are sure to become highly collectable.

Morgan will only progress to production if it receives numerous "expressions of interest", which includes the payment of a deposit of 500 ($1090).

-- BARRY PARK

© 2009 The Age

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