If Wiesmann gets its skates on, the end product of Project Thunderball will be a unique proposition: a fully electric roadster that’s focused on driving satisfaction more than outright performance.
The Teslarati will of course refer us quickly to the Roadster of 2008, but we’re looking at something different here. This is a ground-up development, not simply a motor and battery transplanted into an existing chassis.
Project Thunderball’s story began in 2019, when the wilfully retro German car maker started on Project Gecko – its first all-new model in more than a decade after several years of uncertainty over its future. Like the rest of Wiesmann’s back catalogue, it was going to be powered by an engine shipped in from BMW’s M division, until the company pondered offering an electric iteration, too.
The idea gathered pace and the resources of Wiesmann’s modest engineering team were quickly pointed in just one direction, as the possibility of bragging rights to the only electric roadster on sale dangled tantalisingly ahead. At least until Porsche launches its much cheaper plug-in Boxster…
“If we were 500 people and could do both ICE and EV at the same time, we would,” says Wiesmann marketing man Arne Kastner. “But as a very small but selective group, we had to make our priorities. It wasn’t easy to convince everybody we should focus on electric, but the more the project progressed, the more fascinating it got.
This story is from the June 08, 2022 edition of Autocar UK.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the June 08, 2022 edition of Autocar UK.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
MCLAREN ARTURA
Finally, sunshine after the rain - but not before some of it got inside our supercar
AUDI S3 SALOON
Warmed-up version of A3 sets out stall with more power and RS3-spec driveline tech
MERCEDES-BENZ CLE CABRIOLET
Convertible follows coupé to complete newly consolidated two-door range
AUDI A3 SPORTBACK
Four years later, Audi moves to address criticisms of its swanky family hatchback
PORSCHE MACAN ELECTRIC
New platform, different motive power, more weight: can the electric version really behave like a Macan should?
DACIA DUSTER
With a more sophisticated platform, design-savvy look and fresh tech, has this all-new version lost sight of the model's value appeal?
Car clubs at mercy of insurers
Soaring insurance costs now pose an 'existential threat' to community car sharing
Vauxhall reinvents the Grandland
New version is bigger, sleeker and available as a 435-mile EV, mild hybrid and PHEV
Volvo on the cusp of a production revolution
Radical new mega-casting production method will cut complexity while boosting flexibility
Alfa to politicians: forget car names and save industry
Boss Imparato speaks out after minister compels Milano rebrand
