As someone approaching 40, I remember a time when a light car weighed less than 2,500 pounds. I mean, lotus emirate — from a company known for making light sports cars — weighs in at about 3,000 pounds. Almost the lightest thing you can buy with four wheels is Mazda Miataand not much else comes close.
Why do I harping on heavy vehicles? Because unless you’re speed racing on the ground, the weight will make nearly every aspect of a car worse. A light car without stiff springs and a brutal ride; It doesn’t need a power source or giant tires. The lighter it is, the more alive it feels.
that’s why Pembleton T24 is totally blowing my mind right now. I never heard of it until Jonny Smith from the Late Brake Show released a video about it. Now I’m having a hard time thinking of anything but T24. So tl; dr, what is it?
It’s a hand-made four-wheeler very similar to Morgan’s tricycle. Like the Morgan, it has an air-cooled V-twin engine mounted in the nose (although from Moto Guzzi instead of S&S, and 850cc instead of nearly two liters), super thin tires, roofless and two seats. Unlike the Morgan, it has four wheels. It also has a Citroen transmission. In short, it’s like a real pothole-avoiding Tricycle and weighs only about 800 lbs – about 350 lbs less than the Morgan, for those of you playing at home.
The Pembleton has been around for 24 years, and its first car was essentially a copy of the home-built Morgan Tricycle before Morgan put them back into production. It has a hand-welded frame, hand-made body panels and not much else. That car is still on the road as the founder’s daily driver, which is pretty impressive on many different levels.
The Pembleton T24 is available to order now starting at £32,995 plus around 20% VAT. It’s unclear if this car can be imported into the US – I’d be shocked if it could – but I can still daydream about it, and now you probably can too.
