Treser TR 1 Cup in the driving report: Failed miracle car

A wise car dealer once said the following sentence: You can easily make a small fortune with sports car construction. When you start with a big one. Walter T reser awkwardly started building cars 20 years ago with a small fortune. The result: after 25 copies of his mid-engine sports car TR 1, Walter Treser Automobilbau GmbH in Berlin was bankrupt.

The Treser TR 1 was designed around the roof

Walter Treser gives us the keys to the only one of his own three TR 1s that are ready to drive. It is one of the 22 Cup models. They were built instead of a pilot series. They lack the ingenious retractable roof with the patent number 33 17 603. 'We designed the car around the roof,' explains Treser. Unlocked with two hooks, the hardtop on the roadster slips into the gap between the emergency seats and the engine compartment at the push of a button.

In addition to the 22 Cup cars, three more were built: a pre-production roadster and the two Treser TR 1, the at the IAA 1987 stood: a red roadster and a black coupé. Although Walter Treser was long unfamiliar with his past as a car manufacturer, he has since opened up these two cars again and is restoring the red-black TR 1 coalition.

'After the bankruptcy I didn't want to have anything to do with cars. Only after my retirement did I start to be interested in my cars again. As a hobby, I can't mow the lawn all day . ' Physically less strenuous than gardening is a ride in the Treser TR 1 Cup neither.

Little space and a lot of dynamism

That starts with the entry into the Treser TR 1 to: Open the driver's door. Left hand on the pane frame. Right on the roll bar. In a crouched leapfrog with a 90-degree left turn over the sill. Circle your legs past the steering wheel into the footwell. From above in the bucket seat slides, which grip the body like a ski boot holds the foot. Balancing yourself out is even more difficult. Compared to the Cup-TR 1, even a Smart Roadster ranks on the level of a low-floor bus in terms of ease of entry. So stayit is better to sit with four-point belts first.

The height of the steering wheel of the Treser TR 1 can be adjusted along with the instruments. In the transverse direction would be more necessary. Because of the tightly mounted bucket seats on the center tunnel, its position is incorrect: it is far too far to the left. Instead of the forehead, the left collarbone aims at the flapper of the Treser leather valance.

Four cylinders with up to 170 HP provide propulsion

Otherwise there are many inside the Treser TR 1 Parts from the VAG Group again: the levers on the steering wheel, the ventilation slides, the ignition key. Volkswagen also contributed the four-cylinder: 1.8 liter displacement, 16 valves, the Golf II GTI 16V engine. In the series TR 1 it produces 130 hp, in the Cup version it is significantly more. Treser may bring it to 170 hp, thanks to a sharpened camshaft. But it spices up a lot of vibrations through the car. The engine would rather die than run under 2,000 tours. It rumbles, shakes and shakes, roars its staccato-like beat only slightly muffled.

Disappointing cable transmission from the B3 Passat

With this sports engine you expect a clack-clack- clack gear and will be sorely disappointed. 'You only have to master the VW modular system,' said Walter Treser in 1986. He fished not only the 16V engine for the TR 1, but also the transmission from the Passat B3.

Even before it made its not-so-laudable series debut in the Wolfsburg limousine in 1988, from 1987 the Treser TR 1 ensured that the same hand movements were made when switching as when stirring the dough. The cable transmission is almost perfect in its imprecision. For the distances that the Schalthand covers, you should ask for kilometer allowance. However, even the uncomfortable five-course box cannot spoil the joy of the bar. At some point you will find the right course. The coupling reacts like a light switch, separates and connects without play - the Treser TR 1 pushes forward powerfully.

Aluminum composite with plastic body

It doesn't weigh that heavy. Its plastic body is based on a welded, glued and riveted aluminum composite sandwich on a construction similar to that used by Audi from 1994 for the A8 and called the aluminum space frame. This frame gives the light Treser TR 1 the rigidity of a safe.

As a car manufacturer, the engineer Colin Chapman was always more of a role model than the financier Enzo Ferrari. 'I preferred it to be small, light, intelligent. A lot of performance alone was too easy for me. To stink with full pants is easy, but not very smart,' explains Walter Treser and points to the result: the Treser TR 1.

Form two Golf front axlesthe famous chassis

As standard, the Treser TR 1 should invite you to cruise. Slowing down is wasted on the chassis. It consists of two Golf front axles. One sits at the front in a species-appropriate manner, the other with the motor turned by 180 degrees at the rear. The mid-engine layout is known to be gorgeous for weight distribution, handling, and traction.

With the wide 16-inch tires, the possible cornering speeds of the Treser TR 1 are far beyond good and very close to bad. You don't even want to know whether the long-term neutral TR 1 might understeer or oversteer in the border areas. Because the second you find out about it, you're sure to fly off like hell. Do not irritate mid-engined cars! But even those who dared would need more precise steering. The one in Treser TR 1 is stubborn, speaks with varying, but always considerable, stiffness.

The Treser TR 1 is spartan

The honest suspension of the Treser TR 1 goes well with this. It doesn’t have to be said to make the pilot soft. In any case, the cup treser is spartan. The missing roof has already been mentioned. The waiver of side windows seems very logical. You won't be missed anyway because of the high waistline. The windshield, which is pulled far back, directs the wind almost completely over the heads of the passengers. The wind mustn't do more than scratch a little hair.

After a trip in Treser TR 1 you feel as pleasantly challenged and exhausted as after a long run in the forest. You romp with him through the last corners with a bit of wistfulness. And wishes Walter Treser had started out with a large fortune 20 years ago in Berlin.