The Scariest British Car Ever Made and the Flaw that Ruined it - TVR Tuscan 

The said TVR is shapely, distinctive, and displays an aggressive stance - a truly mad concept that is unlikely to be repeated. I have a very strong liking for the TVR, however I agree with Jack, it's not a 'pretty' car.

Some tvr are beautiful cars.

Nah, it definitely ain't pretty! But it is very striking 😎

... The Knight Who Says 'NIT" For 'NOT'... Tee! Hee!... 'Silly Not'... 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿🏰🍻

Nahhhhhhhhhhhh. Just say you like it and move on instead of writing this embarassing paragraph 😂

Once you trust it...famous last words.

There's one fs with a TVR Power engine rebuild. Is that a good rebuild?

Thanks for answering the engine question. As in, what's the 'fix'. I've never driven a TVR sadly. But a colleague owned a wedge way back in 1986 and it looked like nothing else on the road. I was smitten and still am. Fast forward to around 1990 and I had too very good friends in Blackpool, so was there off and on. I think it helped me understand the TVR 'culture' or similar. A little. I think it was something akin to 'wring everything that you can out of what you're given' and maybe what you end up with is the whole being greater than the sum of it's parts? I honestly don't know. They like their bling, which explains the interior ;) They like to do things differently. Which explains the exteriors. And they like raw power, most of all and the ability to just 'get down the road'. As to the exterior styling. I recall being gobsmacked when I saw the 'new style front ends' on the Tuscan/Tasmin etc I LOVE the styling of these later cars and as far as I can remember, there was nothing like it, anywhere. I remember them popping up in various action movies and looking completely at home with all the explosions, supermodels, leading men and Hollywood in general. I think that defining a petrolhead is a toughie. However, I do think that you have to have a special place in your heart/soul for TVR. Right next to the special place that you keep for Italian exotics and others :)

@@nigel.w As good as it gets. Dom at Powers was the guy who handled the warranty repair work when the issues with the Speed 6 engine were first becoming known to TVR. He was there at the very beginning dealing with the failures and developing an understanding and solutions to the problems. A Powers rebuild has a 5 year/100,000 mile warranty, which speaks to how solid the units are when rebuilt properly. The lubrication issue Jack mentions is not addressed as far as I am aware, but with better quality internal components these are proving to be very robust engines. The other key factor is correct warm-up and servicing - it is important to drive it gently when first setting off (don't leave it idling at standstill to warm up) and wait until the oil (not just the coolant) is up to temperature before giving it the beans.

@@Drew-uv5wi Trust it, but always respect it! It might not be as unruly as you first think when you get in one, but it remains a hedge-seeking missile with no traction control, ABS or airbag. 😂 I'm absolutely fine with the fact most hot hatches would absolutely muller me point-to-point. That's not the car's failing, that's down to my limitation as a driver - but I know I would be having more fun, and I'm not about to wrap myself round a tree trying to prove anything to anyone! They are defintiely a handful if you get one out of shape, the key to a long and happy life is to not be daft enough to provoke it on a public road!

🤘🇬🇧🙏

Same here, I absolutely adore TVRs, and I still have the dream of being able to buy one one day. Just look at the Boxster next to it, and you realize how good the design of the TVR was back then. Add the exquisity of being so rare, the unique and raw interior design AND the flaws, and you probably get the most charismatic cars ever made in modern days.

100% agree

First time hearing about these, it is gorgeous.

Griffith, Cerbera, even the T350 and just breathtakingly gorgeous in my opinion...

agreed, when they came out looked very good ,i had both cerebra and tuscan, also scary fast (the cerebra)

If they were, the whole town of Blackpool would be won at court by Americans.

Make sure your life insurance is good it will try too kill you

And then at your mechanics when he waves massive invoices at you

I would as well, beautiful machine 👍🏻♥️

They were rather unconventional in construction , Ladder chassis , not monocoque..They would never make it in any kind of crash tests or modern homologation standard for pedestrial safety. If anything they were very much like the High end Kit cars, that could only be bought preassembled. Suspect that the only way they could be sold out of the UK is by first registering them in the UK, and in doing so they automatically became accepted in the rest of Europe.. But no such agreements were in place with the US, so I doubt you'd ever manage to get them road legal in the States..

Three? Luckily I only had one, TVR Power worked their magic on it. It was a graceful brute.

if they had made engines for the Spitfire in WW2, Germany had won easy!

RUBBISH Reliability is THERE, as the man said, Wheeler starting using cheaper parts etc, and wrong metal part for the engine.

They should have used jaguar v8s then they would have sold like pies 😂

The engines were released too soon and they fixed the issues buying now your nit gonna have the issues the new cars had. Too bad it's tarnished the reputation. Keep in mind the trusty Rover V8 slightly modified were used in the most popular models, ranging from 4 -5 liter across the Griffith and Chimera life span. Super sounding and reliable. Griffith 500 Rovers do a sub 13sec ¼mile. Even today that's right fair and square into hypercar territory!! 😮

Yeah, man, I couldn't agree with you more! One of the very few cars that look as good today, as they did in the naughties! The interior and exterior are both equally unique!

Nothing like that fat snarl of a straight six. Nothing. I get to take in some vintage racing tomorrow and can't wait to hear a 3.8 or two, and anticipating some L24's since Datsun will be the featured marque. I attended the Goodwood Revival back in 2013 and had the giddy pleasure of parking up next to two gentlemen from Holland driving a Griffith and Sagaris respectively.

@@mescko oh boy I’m jealous! Sounds lovely. We don’t have much historic racing events here in the Pennsylvania area. Got to go to California for that type of stuff. Actually it would be quicker for me to get to England nonstop to get to California. See I’m talking myself into a UK trip 🤔 lol

Why's that then?

It's such a cult car that owners will always excuse the dreadful build quality. On pistonheads back in the day you'd face an onslaught for suggesting they are anyway unreliable...yet every owner has had at least one rebuild! The perfect match of crazy British car and British owner

@@dagnut 😝

An engine rebuild at 15,000 miles is an unusual sign of reliability...

It's probably more suited to US roads rather than the third world black top that Jack is driving on.

​@@freespeech3673The car or your driving ability??

Isn’t it!! Amazing sound❤🤘

Absolute beasts: liable to spin at any corner!

Some did. I own a 2005 MK2. Had it for 9 years now and worth a lot more now than I paid for it. I know a guy with a MK2 that's got 120k miles on it, takes trips around Europe, still going strong and never had an engine rebuild. I'll never sell it, just too much fun to drive .

its a British car, i dont trust the Brits..!

Literally it would seem!

ap brakes the best then and now

The smell was the from the polyester used to lay up the glass fibre.

Smelled like glue, yes, from the GRP! One French tester described his car as smelling of pee pee. It didn’t help the car was damp inside due to leak.

Loved it for the TVR but also remember it for Halle Berry’s ample assets.

Yeah. I remember. I think that car had the “flip-flop” or color changing paint scheme.

The V8 Cerbera held worst fastest production car for 2 years top gear did a feature the Blackpool bruiser

@@alanfaultless I don't even remember a TVR in that movie. All I remember about that movie was Halle Berry's knockers. One of my friends loaned me the VHS in school so I could watch that scene. I was only about 12 and didn't even have internet. All we had were movies and car magazine in those days. Amazing how much things have changed in 20 odd years.. Born in 1988 I was really the last generation to experience growing up without internet, smart devices etc. We used to buy car magazine like "Max Power", "Redline" and "Fast Car". The whole British modified car scene was very popular back then. I remember once in the very early 00s there was a feature of a Cerbera in one of those magazines, Max Power I believe. It was painted in gold and features a red leather clad interior.. Corbeau or similar bucket seats I believe.. and a massive sound system in the boot. We thought it was really cool back then. Today it'd probably be looked at as an abomination. I always loved the TVR cars. I only ever saw a few of them over the years, quite a rare sight on the roads around here. We used to play as them on Gran Turismo II on the PlayStation.

downhill quickly.... the UK car industry died many deaths and it took to long to die complete... but Thx tom Brexshit, the last remains will be gone soon, too ....its not a shame, others are just better...!

Ha, ha, the Roma, another ugly car.... (I know beauty is in the eye of the beholder so I'm not serious)

Yes absolutely super critical to have a full 4 wheel alignment done. Do you put max camber-in at the top, on the front?

@@gairnmclennan5876 No idea. Just had the guys make a new suspension part to replace the banana that the original part was (rear suspension) and set it up within specs. Shop owner likes to go racing so let him work his magic. Drives like a dream.

Aha, so I was right. I thought I recognised those roads.

@@joshuarosen6242 At first I thought road was in Cornwall, then Dorset, but ach I don't know really!

@@Quebecoisegal I now know that it's in the Cotswolds near Burford.

​@@joshuarosen6242 Me too, different camera angles, but those S-bends are so unique.

Glad you enjoyed it Paul.. mental car this!!

That’s great Dan, thank you!!

A Speed 12 auctioned recently for a little over £600k.🙂

@@davegreg I read a test drive I think in Autocar back in the day. They said it was a Monster wheelspin in almost every gear it tramlined like crazy. I love those crazy Batmobil looks that the Gen of TVR's if only they could have shaken their Kitcar back ground off to become a quality built car instead of again great idea's let down with poor build quality and cost cutting .

Yes...spot on. When I was a kid our neighbor had one..monumental noise, which I thought was so cool. In GT7, it looks very ugly, will buy it to see how it drives.

I am.. love these cars!!

@@Number27 'Resistance is futile!'

I seem to recall hearing the same story and it would sound like a Wheeler sort of thing to do. 😂

Heard the same story with the speed six

i think you see more BMWs or Mercedes in movies now, because they still produce cars....

Like a first gen Viper. Your feet are the traction and stability controls.

To be fair, 90bhp/litre was not that highly strung, considering BMW, Honda and Ferrari were all pushing over 100bhp/litre in this era... a rebuilt 4.5 with high compression pistons and aggressive cams should be good for 600bhp.

Looks more at home in a modern art studio .... or front knobs of EVH 5150 guitar amps .. or Hartke bass amps

lmao 🤣

​@@davehooper5115These days i have a Triumph Stag which ive engine swapped replacing the disaster that was its original engine with the 3.5l Rover V8 i sourced from an old Range Rover. Its very very lovely.

Those days are gone.....pollution controls , airbags , crash standards , antilock this and lane control that. If you want a real car, look for one and snap it up .they don't make affordable ones for regular people anymore.

@@turboturtle9083 Never say never again!

Glad you approve dude!! Great to hear that from a Tuscan owner..

Got a 5 litre Chim drove it to work on a secure sight (Sellafield) and the security guys always said nice car mate even when a Porche was in front of me .

two former owners in the comments now!

Ah mate.. why a shame. It’s a ride you would not have forgotten!

@@Number27 Oh the sound of it was amazing and the colour, vivid yellow!

What an exaggeration! I bet you are a Fisherman

Nope fact! TBH it was less than that!@@GRACEORT

Bullshit

That would have involved sourcing engines from Australia, and pay import duties on it, not inexpensive at all, and those are HEAVY lumps, based on a 1950s cast iron block!

@@richardharrold9736 And can make heaps of power, iron block alloy head is the way to go for a performance motor, even with the tax it's cheaper, the engines were cheap as chips and can make tons of power. No wonder they are so sought after, people are importing them into the US.

@@REPOMAN24722 the Barra is only any use in turbocharged form. For an N/A engine you want an aluminium block, oversquare dimensions - everything the Barra isn't. And no, it would not have been cheaper to import and modify Barras.

@@richardharrold9736 yes, turbo is fun, why not.

@@REPOMAN24722 once again, too much weight - a turbo and intercooler are heavy. You'd have ended up with an engine a hundred kilos heavier than the TVR Speed Six engine. Plus turbo engines sound awful and their laggy, lumpen power delivery is horrid.

Height clearance would’ve been an issue with the Barra. They’re insanely tall engines compared other i6’s on the market.

Part of the reason is that aftermarket system . . . It would get annoying after a while, I should think. Perhaps there's a button somewhere to give a quiet mode :)

If I remember correctly they weren‘t sounding terrible from the factory to start with

@geoffburns7684 They do look like cherry bomb mufflers out back. So I wonder if a cherry bomb muffler would make an inline 6 sound like this? 🤔🤔

​@@The_Original_Geoff_Bare you sure that's aftermarket? They had those big silencers on the back when new

​@@The_Original_Geoff_BIt's not aftermarket, these cars have always sounded like this from factory.

must be so cool to see your own car appear