Triumph TR6

TR ACTION MAGAZINE:

“September 2019, I decided I wanted a new project, which allowed me to test myself as an Engineer and find out if I could make this brilliant classic TR6 more than a snapshot of a glory day – because as much as I love looking into the history of a car, those glory days weren’t defined by looking at the past. The TR6 design was about invention, adventure and horsepower…” Daniel Loveless

Here is Peterson EV’s fully-electric converted Triumph TR6 looking beautiful at Farnborough Business Park.  Our aim was to keep the car as original as possible in its styling and it is now used as our Demonstrator and test car for gauge integration technology.

We like classic cars to look well-finished, so for this we have treated it to an engine bay respray and a nice new interior, before fitting a brand new Netgain HyPer9 motor and 31kWh battery pack.

We custom designed, laser-cut and powder-coated our own battery box and added our own branded fuse box and maintenance isolation switch.  All the battery monitoring electronics are kept inside the battery box for maximum protection. 

For charging, it’s equipped with a 6.6kWh charger with the Type 2 charge port hidden under the original chrome cap to retain its character.

We decided to take the gearstick and gearbox away because it wasn’t doing much, and mounted the motor to the rear of the original overdrive.  In place of the gearstick now sits a custom drive controller. This cuts the overdrive when selecting reverse and takes care of the charge interlocks, so you can’t drive away with it plugged in, or if the battery management system thinks there’s an issue. All this helps to make it safe and professional and means everything on the car has its use.  The Reverse, Neutral and Drive buttons make it easy to use and there’s now a bit more room for anyone over 5ft! 

During this electric conversion we found the final integration with the vehicle’s existing electrical system a challenge, particularly with the original dashboard and gauges/instruments. This is where we found a passion in EV conversion and restomod gauge solutions, as we get to use our high-quality Aerospace Engineering experience to make beautiful gauges that work smoothly and efficiently.

In 2023 we upgraded the TR6 gauges to show some of our new techniques.  This new gauge set features our new anti-reflective glass option, a newly designed speedometer with a subtle OLED odometer and re-printed 52mm gauges.  Both these 52mm gauges, as well as the large 5″ ones feature an embossed Peterson logo., which is just one way we can showcase a brand.

To some, an electric classic car conversion sounds drastic, but it can be done with little in the way of modification to the car, like we have proved here. 

For the TR6, we have used existing mounts where possible and used the existing fuel tank mounts to hang a lot of the supporting electronics, with only a few drill holes put in stealth locations.

We really believe this is a great way to bring a stylish classic car into the future with us!

TR6 Specifications: