New coupe to mark 25 years of Radical

RADICAL in name, radical in nature; the British specialist constructor has just teased a two-seat closed top coupe codenamed Project 25 that will soon join its range of track specials and race cars, to celebrate notching up a quarter-century of motorsport expertise.

A proper name for the car has yet to be announced by the Cambridgeshire-based company but what we do know is that only 25 will be made and that most are already spoken for.

Due to go into production late next year, the newcomer is inspired by Radical’s RXC, a line of track-only race cars and street legal track cars first unveiled in January 2013 and since offered in many different engine and racing configurations.

Power for the Project 25 comes from a twin-turbo petrol V6 engine with up to 633kW, likely to be based on the Ford 3.5-litre Ecoboost found under the bonnet of Ford’s F-150 Raptor.

This engine – albeit without the wick turned up quite so high – already sees duty in the Radical RXC GT3, meaning a fair bit of work has been done to the drivetrain for it to achieve considerably more output in Project 25.

Pricing has not been announced this far out from production; suffice to say it will be less than a Ferrari with performance over and above anything – short of full-blown race cars – from Maranello.

Radical conducted an invite-only meet and greet with dealers, media and potential Project 25 customers in Las Vegas a week after the SEMA show concluded, with most examples reportedly snapped up by collectors.

In a statement, radical said the Project 25 “has been designed to showcase the culmination of knowledge that Radical Motorsport has amassed through producing world-class racing cars from its UK premises for over a quarter of a century”.

Since it was founded, Radical has exported cars to 21 countries and has a network of 33 dealers around the world, including two in Australia and one in New Zealand.

Although specific mechanical details about the Project 25 are yet to emerge, Radical has confirmed it will be underpinned by the company’s signature spaceframe chassis that its maker says “delivers outstanding driver engagement and feedback synonymous with the Radical brand”.

Having evolved from the RXC model line, similarities will likely include sub-900kg weight, a transverse six- or seven-speed sequential transmission from Quaife, massive rear wing, rear wheel drive, carbon-fibre skin, inboard suspension, Torsen limited-slip differential and a 0-100kmh sprint in the two-second bracket aided by its… Radical power-to-weight ratio. 

Radical Motorsport CEO Joe Anwyl said: “Twenty five years. It’s a huge accolade for Radical Motorsport as a race car manufacturer and single-make racing series organiser.

“Project 25 has been designed and will be built to commemorate this milestone and showcase the knowledge and skills our UK-based engineering and manufacturing firm has to offer.”

Radical Motorsport will confirm more details of its Project 25 track-only model in early 2023.

Prior to announcing the Project 25, the company’s most-recent model, the SR10, launched in December 2020 having been designed, developed, engineered and manufactured in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Radical Motorsport sold more cars in 2021 than at any other time. The Radical SR3 XX and SR10 both received a suite of updates for 2022, and after its first full year of production, the SR10 has become the fastest-selling car in the company’s history, with over 100 examples already snapped up.

There are now 14 factory-supported Radical racing championships across four different continents, including the Radical Cup Australia, Radical Challenge UK and the Radical Cup North America.

Radical Motorsport has manufactured more than 2800 cars in the past 25 years.