► TR25 celebrates Triumph’s 100th birthday
► Pays homage to the record-breaking Triumph TR2
► Based on the same platform as a BMW i3S
After an almost 40-year hiatus, the Triumph badge has once again found itself on the nose of a new sports car, albeit under rather unusual circumstances. This is the Triumph TR25 concept. It’s the work of the British design house Makkina – and its aim is to both celebrate Triumph’s automotive centenary and pay homage to the record-breaking 1953 Triumph TR2 (which you can see by scrolling through our gallery).
In the 1950s, the TR2 set a new land speed record for production cars powered by engines smaller than 2.0 litres in capacity. It achieved a top speed of 124.889mph, thanks in part to a collection of aerodynamic panels, such as a smooth undertray, enclosed rear wheel arches and a cockpit cover. It beat the previous record holder, the Sunbeam Alpine, by almost 5mph.
With the Triumph TR25 concept, Makkina tried to retain as much of the TR2’s aero-focused styling as possible, while updating it for the modern era. Like the classic, the concept has a tonneau cover for the passenger seat, a deep front intake and small headlights perched atop the front end.
But the concept’s surfacing is more angular, it has a new aero fin behind the driver and it junks the old car’s utterly useless halogen headlamps for LEDs. Its cabin is also incredibly pared back, sporting little more than a seat, some pedals and a steering wheel to help keep weight to a minimum.
What’s powering the Triumph TR25 concept?
If you’re a Triumph anorak, you should probably stop reading now. That’s because TR25 is built on a recycled BMW i3S platform which – shock, horror – means it’s an electric car. There’s a reasonable explanation for this, though.
BMW has owned the rights to the Triumph badge since the 1990s and, when Makkina approach the company’s executives with its plans for this new concept, they gave it the green light. Using one of BMW’s cars as starting point, therefore, was an obvious choice for Makkina.
However, Makkina didn’t make merry with the angle grinder when it was adapting the chassis for use under the TR25, which means its footprint is almost identical to the BMW. The concept also shares the 42.2kWh battery pack and 184bhp electric motor but, because it’s much lighter, it’s considerably faster than a standard i3S.
Makkina says the TR25 can dispatch the 0–62mph sprint in just 5.2 seconds and hit a top speed of 115mph. By comparison, an i3S musters respective performance figures of 6.9 seconds and 99mph. The concept’s lightweight carbon fibre construction and aerodynamic panelling also give it a slightly higher maximum range of 190 miles compared to 175 miles for the i3S.
Ah, but can it go around corners?
Makkina’s engineers are confident it can. They say they’ve managed to achieve a near 50:50 weight distribution and, because the battery pack is mounted along the car’s spine, it has a low centre of gravity. That should translate into good cornering performance.
The i3S’s platform couldn’t do this out of the box, though. Makkina drew up a long list of improvements for the TR25 which included bigger brakes, a 30mm reduction in ride height, sticky Pirelli P Zero tyres and new alloy wheels that are both wider and larger in diameter.
Michael Ani, director of Makkina, said: ‘Our aim was to update the true character of the original record-breaking TR2 with our design, through both interior and exterior design. Using the BMW i3S platform allows us to create a blend of old and new with the TR2-inspired body shape and the versatile and adaptable powertrain, creating a seamless, fully electric experience. The i3S platform proves that driving an electric car can be fun! The combination of instant torque, acceleration, agility and silence are as compelling now as ever.’