Cracking 150 mph isn't a big deal these days, but back in 1926 it was enough to make a Sunbeam Tiger called Ladybird the quickest car on the planet. A British design student has paid tribute to that remarkable car by reimagining it as an all-electric roadster.
The concept car envisioned by Ryan Skelly would commemorate the 100th anniversary of the car Henry Seagrave drove to a record-setting 152.33 mph on March 21, 1926. It's purely a styling exercise, but we like what he's done with it.
"From the outset of the project, I wanted to create a successor to a small car from a dormant British car company," Skelly told Wired.com. "It wasn't until my friend pointed out the Tiger that I fell in love with it and restarted my project on the original 1925 vehicle. It's such an amazing little vehicle with so much heritage and a testament to the British motor industry."
The futuristic Tiger designed by the Coventry University student would be as quick as it is cool.
Seagrave made his record-setting run at Southport Beach, England, in a supercharged V-12 Tiger. Skelly updates the drivetrain in Tiger Tribute Concept, envisioning a car capable of 0 to 60 in 2.8 seconds and an electronically limited top speed of 160 mph. The 342-horsepower (255 kilowatt) motor would be powered by a lithium titanate battery with a four-hour recharge time and a range of 800 miles.
As we said, it's a concept. But if you're gonna dream, dream big.
"Originally I was going to build the vehicle with a flex-fuel V-12 engine harking back to the original's petrol V12," Skelly said. "But after rethinking the idea, I chose electric, not due to the current climate surrounding petrol vehicles, but more down to the fact that this vehicle is a tribute from a modern perspective that needed raw power."
Skelly specs eco-friendly materials for building the Sunbeam Tiger Tribute Concept. The frame is recycled aluminum, the seats are soy foam, the brake pads are natural fiber and the body panels use veggie oil resin.
The Tiger Tribute Concept will be featured in the Coventry University Art and Design Show on May 30.
*Images courtesy of Ryan Skelly. Used with permission. If you'd like to see the original Ladybird, there's a photo of it over at TheSupremeSunbeam.org. It's copyrighted, so we can't post it here.
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