Features

This probably explains the ugly, off-the-shelf airbagged steering wheel, but the rest of the cabin is nicely atmospheric. There are BMW stalks, buttons and trip computer, and a simple array of dials. The interior door-handles are from the Mini. Nestled in the middle of the dash is a row of push-buttons, including a starter button and another which operates the boot release.

What this actually does is trigger those two bits of rear window, which shoot open at an alarming velocity, stopping just as they threaten to smash into each other. They don't do much for your rear vision either, though Humphries insists there's a good reason for the 'spinal' split.

"Like the Aero 8, the Aeromax has a laminated ash frame chassis, with the aluminium panels laid over the top. The car's skeleton and spine are key structural elements, and I wanted to turn them into a styling feature: exposing the internals in the same way that some modernist architecture does."

After all that, it's easy to forget that the very latest version of BMW's 385bhp 4.8-litre V8 is squeezed under that long bonnet, complete with all the recent software upgrades. The transmission is ZF's excellent six-speed auto, though a manual 'box is also available. The Aeromax, like all Morgans, is fashionably light, just 1,150kg. Remember, the Conti GT weighs more than double that.

Surprising, then, to find that the Max feels a little lethargic at start-up. Instead of the expected whip-crack throttle response, the revs rise in a rather lazy arc. Then again, it is an auto, and this particular car is due some mapping tweaks.

Slide the BMW gear-lever into D - do it gently, or risk a worrying thunk from the transmission - and ease away. The view ahead across the louvred bonnet and over those sculpted wings is unique and actually rather daunting to start with; it takes time to figure out exactly where the car's extremities are.

There are a few other initial disappointments. With equal- length wishbones all round and the latest Bilstein shocks, there’s nothing vintage about the Aeromax's suspension, but it’s not much good at filtering out bumps and ridges, certainly at low speeds. Charles Morgan had warned me that the prototype had a 'harsh' ride quality, and the 19in wheels and comparatively skinny tyres don’t help. Variable rate shock absorbers probably would.

I'd also go for the manual box. The auto Max responds best in 'tiptronic' mode, which suggests that this is a car that needs to be driven – unsurprisingly - in the old school way; clutch, throttle blip, change down, stroke beard satisfied with a job well done.

Because once we're up and running, this outrageous-looking Morgan turns into an absolute blast. It might be a grunty V8, but this is an engine that needs a big bootful of revs, and once you've figured that out, you're looking at one seriously fast car.

Pretty soon we're reeling in the endless hairpins and switchbacks that stud this poetically beautiful lake shore; the Aeromax is front mid-engined, has the optimum weight distribution and, despite all appearances to the contrary, it devours the road in a way that is very similar to the Audi R8.

The brakes are good too; a bit dead to start with, but capable of gut-busting retardation once you've worked out how to use them properly. Excellent steering also; an unfashionably meaty electro-hydraulic set-up borrowed from BMW. Having upstaged some of the world's most beautiful cars, pretty soon the Aeromax is upstaging some of the planet's finest scenery. Above all else, this car is a (capital-letter) Experience.

It also costs £110,000, which is a lot, but largely irrelevant,given that Aeromax production is sold out. Besides, that buys you a truly special motor car. It's also further proof that Charles Morgan’s modernising gamble is paying off. Where next, then? "We're only half-way through our journey," he says. "We'll do something very interesting." And that you can bank on.