Talk Morgan Forums Morgan Sports Cars Morgan Three Wheeler & Super 3 New Owner in France With Questions

Hello everyone. Having spent some months researching the subject, devouring every road test and youtube video as well as spending hours reading this forum I have taken the plunge and my 2015 M3W SuperDry is being delivered next week.

I live in the South of France near Cahors (1 hour North of Toulouse) and will be re-registering the car here. It is RHD but so are my other cars.

Initial insurance quotes were a bit high at 550-650 Euros, but this seemed to be because the M3W is regarded as a motorbike here and not as a car. This meant the insurers were looking at me as a car driver wanting to insure a motorbike. Once I told them about my bikes and claim record things got a lot better I ended up with fully comp insurance for 350 Euros, which seems very reasonable.

FIRST QUESTION - IMMOBILISER

The insurer wants details of the immobiliser. I believe the SuperDry spec included the optional TOAD immobiliser but I can't find a model number or spec that I could send to the insurer - can anyone help ? I have asked the supplying dealer (Brands Hatch Morgans) and they have offered to contact the factory to find out - so I will post the solution here.

SECOND QUESTION - HELMET

In the helmet thread on the forum a few people have stated that a helmet is not required in France. I assume this is correct but find it interesting that it is regarded as a motorbike. Can anyone shed any definitive light on this ?

THIRD QUESTION - NUMBER PLATE

Give that it is a motorbike, is it OK to just have a rear number plate, as for a motorcycle ?

FOURTH QUESTION - MOT

In France, cars have to have an MOT (called a CT - controle technique) at four years old and then every two years. Motorcycles have no MOT requirement. Where does the M3W fit ?

Thanks for any help.

Colin.

Managed to add a picture, slightly edited for a more vintage look...

Hi Colin and welcome to the world of M3Ws!

There are already a few of these in France and I'm sure they wil be along to say Hi shortly.

The immobiliser is easy to check - if it has one it won't start without waving the tag past the ignition switch. In the UK it doesn't seem to affect the insurance anyway.

€350 is in the right ballpark, mine is just over £300.

No need for a helmet in France (nor many other EU countries inc UK).

I'll defer to the locsls re numberplste snd MOT.

Chris

I saw your car in the showroom at BHM on Thursday.

It looked nice in its "Superdry" clothing.

I wish you many happy miles (and smiles) with it.

That depend only on how your M3W is register AKA: as a Bike or a as a Car

Bike= no front plate, no MOT, but must wear helmet

Car= Front plate , MOT , no Helmet

unless France have a special registration for 3 Wheeler

Hi Colin, welcome to the thee wheeler world.
I did drive across France from Albertville to Bagnere de Louchon last year without either a front number plate or a helmet which probably only proves that I got away with it. It has to be said that getting away with it does seem to be noticeably easier in the three wheeler generally than in more mainstream cars.

Hi Colin,

Congratulations on your purchase and welcome. I also have a 2015 and haven’t had any significant problems with it.

You guys are paying a good rate for your insurance. I pay $1120.00 yearly from Hagerty. Need to research this again.

Have fun!

Welcome into the madhouse Velociphiphiles - I love the look of the Superdry - they got it absolutely right.

Hopefully we'll see you around.

In reply to question 1, the immobiliser fitted to my car (and probably yours) is a Sterling Excel, made by Scorpion Automotive, www.scorpionauto.com It is a Thatcham Cat 2 alarm. Hope that helps.

Click image for further details on this immobiliser

Strange that the insurance company asks for details of the immobiliser.
Lots of owners who ended up with immobilised M3W‘s were interested too but the dealers or the factory always just blamed timer belts, fuel pumps, bevel boxes, rectifiers, even broken frames or other reasons for the breakdown.
Have never heard of a immobiliser being the reason for immobilising.

p.s.: you will have great fun with your toy and earn millions of smiles!