TVR

By 1956, TVRs were being sold in the U.S. and in 1958 production of the Grantura was well and truly under way. By the standards of the day, Granturas were fast, agile and good looking. Indeed something of a TVR formula was emerging: strong tubular steel chassis covered in good looking bodywork and propelled by a strong engine to give impressive performance at a very reasonable price.

In 1963 a major milestone was reached with the introduction of the first TVR Griffith, which was fundamentally a Grantura with a modified chassis and a big American V8 under the bonnet. Performance of these cars was very much in the AC Cobra league, enough to severely embarrass the Jaguars and Ferraris of the day.

In 1966 management of TVR was stabilised in the hands of the Lilleys and over the next few years the company gradually grew with the Grantura being replaced by the Vixen and the Griffith by the Tuscan V8. In 1970 TVR moved to its current factory in Bristol Avenue from where it has never moved, although the premises have been expanded enormously over the last 20 years.

In 1972, the M series was introduced which was to serve TVR extremely well through the '70s. As the years progressed the M was sold in fixed head coupe, hatchback, convertible and turbocharged forms, the last accelerating quicker than the Porsche 911 Turbo.

In 1980, the Tasmin was introduced with a new chassis, new body and a new engine. Power came from the Ford 2.8 unit and there were Coupe, Convertible and 2+2 models. In 1982 TVR's current owner and chairman, Peter Wheeler, took over and in the following year the first of the Rover V8 engined TVR's was introduced: the 350i. Over the years, the cars got faster and more sophisticated, culminating in the mighty 450 SEAC of 1988 which produced 324 bhp from a TVR modified 4500cc V8 engine.

A new chapter in TVR's history was introduced with the birth of the S which went into production in 1987. Although it looked superficially like the M Series, it was an all-new car and with its stunningly low price, it transformed TVR's fortunes and saw production almost double in a year.

However, it was the Griffith that was really responsible for TVR's renaissance. The first cars were delivered to customers at the beginning of 1992 and the car was overwhelmingly successful. An order was taken on average every eight minutes at its first Motor Show and, with the introduction of the Griffith 500 in 1993, it has reached the first rank of the instant classics.

The TVR Chimaera and Cerbera have been introduced since then (see above) and have contributed to TVR's position as the most popular, and prolific, of Britain's independent car manufacturers
The TVR Tuscan challenge is still going strong and this year has been sponsored by ik.com. The series, now shown on Sky TV, will therefore be known as the "ik.com TVR Tuscan Challenge".

How reliable are they? A lot better than their reputation may have you believe. Engine failures are almost unheard of, gearboxes are subjected to large amounts of torque and can suffer, otherwise its only peripheral equipment that fails. Electrical failures appear to be the most common, normally just irritating, rather than incapacitating. Insurance There are a large number of specialist insurers that will cover TVRs in the UK. Rates are no where near as high as you might imagine. The advice, as always, is to ring around and never accept the first quote. Joining an owners Club is also a good idea. Speak to other owners if possible and get recommendations as this can save both time and money. Servicing costs Older TVR's used to have to be serviced every 6 months or 6,000 miles (which ever came sooner) this can be any expensive business as it ensures that at least 2 services a year are required. This appears to have been resolved in newer TVRs with the service interval remaining at 6,000 miles but the 6 month requirement has been removed. These prices are a general guide to main dealer servicing costs. Hourly labour charges can vary by as much as £10 an hour, and when the 24K service takes an indicated 7 hours this can cause substantial variations in cost. Servicing may also identify additional areas requiring work which will increase the overall bill. All prices include VAT. Service 6K miles 12K miles 18K miles 24K miles Cerbera £350     £800 Griffith £424 £498 £498 £612 Chimarea £424 £498 £498 £612 S £297 £297 £297 £488 Wheels and tyres Bridgestones are OEM fitment on all recent model TVR's, the majority of owners appear to keep with the OEM tyres on renewal as well - reports of Yokohama's being as good have been countered by high tyre wear. As it is a rear set of tyres are unlikely to see past 8,000 miles of hard driving. Standard Tyre Fitments are listed below (Griffith's/Chimarea's with PAS have 215/XX fronts) Model Front Rear Speed Rating Wheel Size Model Cerbera 225/50 245/45 ZR 17" S02 Griffith 205/50 235/ ZR Chimaera 205/55 225/50 ZR 15" S02 S 225/50 225/50 VR RE71 Tasmin ZR What's that colour? Walk into a TVR dealer and request a new car and a core 12 colours will be presented. Pester a bit more and you will get to see that TVR Engineering have about 500 colours listed. Start talking to the factory and you then realise that in fact if you really want a colour then they will produce it. How long do you have to wait for a new one? Depends upon the model. The Cerbera was being quoted at a year, although recent reports indicate that this may be reduced to 6-8 months. The Griffith and Chimaera are both being quoted at 6 months delivery time. Do they leak when it rains? Nah, well maybe a little...but not through the hood. TVRs tend to leak in 2 places - firstly through the gap between the side window glass and the hood, and secondly where water runs down the windscreen, down the bulkhead and through the cable guide holes into the footwells. Modern TVRs are getting better in both respects, but as they are hand built then tolerances vary. Good windows alignment will resolve the first problem and a bit of silicon gel smeared around the cable guide holes will resolve the second area. Home