tvr / scale 1/43 | thebiggarage

The abbreviation TVR stems from the name of the company's owner Trevor Wilkinson, his first garage sporting the letters T, V and R.

TVR is an independent British manufacturer of high-end sports cars. The company manufactures lightweight sports cars with powerful engines and was, at one time, the third-largest specialised sports car manufacturer in the world, offering a diverse range of coupés and convertibles. In 1949, TVR built its first original chassis.

Headquarters Walliswood, Surrey, United Kingdom

390se 1984-1989

The TVR 390SE is a sports car designed and built by TVR. It was introduced in October 1984. It featured many novelties not found in other 'Wedge' TVRs before and was also the most powerful one yet. It never received British Type Approval, so technically speaking the 390SE was just a 350i with special equipment fitted.

The engine was a 3.5 litre Rover v8, producing 275 bhp.

Only 103 390SEs were built.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rfJ2ak6ySKg&ab_channel=thebiggarage

450 seac 1988-1989

The TVR 450 SEAC is a sports car designed and built by TVR in a one-year only run.

SE AC is an acronym that will raise the pulse of many TVR fan. Designating "Special Edition Aramid Composite", this was the ultimate wedge. Supposedly indicating a composite body to reduce weight, only the first twenty or so were in fact Kevlar. The remainder were in fact GRP like all TVR's. This was due largely to customer complaints about body quality. By looking closely enough, you should be able to see the weave of the carbon fibre.

The first SEAC was produced in 1986, costing twice as much as the 'basic' 350, this model used a 4.2 litre version of the Rover V8.

It used the same body style as the 420 SEAC but was fibreglass compared with the Aramid Composite (Glassfibre and Kevlar) body of the 420 and the same chassis. The only difference was the engine which grew to 4,5 litres and about 325 bhp and 435 Nm torque. As a consequence though the 450 SEAC was even more expensive to build and buy than the already expensive 420 SEAC, so about 17 were made.

Curiously, rumour has it that more SEAC's are on the road now than were manufactured in the first place, that is because many wedges were converted to 450 SEAC spec afterwards.

The TVR 450 seac is powered by a Rover V8 with a capacity of 4441 cc (4.4L) and a power output of 325 bhp with a torque output of 434 N⋅m. The acceleration from 0-100 km/h takes 4.6 seconds and the top speed is 282 km/h. It uses a five speed gearbox (Borg Warner T5).

TVR 450 SEAC (youtube.com)

griffith 1991-2002

The TVR Griffith, later models being referred to as the Griffith 500, is a sports car designed and built by TVR, starting production in 1990, and ending production in 2002. The Griffith name appeared again on a sports car introduced under a revived TVR brand in 2017.

Like its forerunner namesakes, the Griffith 200 and Griffith 400, the modern Griffith was a lightweight (1060 kg) fiberglass-bodied, 2-door, 2-seat sports car with a V8 engine.

Originally, it used a 4.0 L 240 hp Rover V8 engine, but that could be optionally increased to 4.3 L 280 hp in 1992 with a further option of big-valve cylinder heads. In 1993, with a TVR-developed 5.0 L 340 hp version of the Rover V8 became available. All versions of the Griffith use the Lucas Industries 14CUX engine management system. All models use a five-speed manual transmission from Rover and TREMEC.

Although the Griffith was almost mechanically identical to its sister car, the Chimaera, it had a different body design and was produced in much smaller numbers.

In 2000, TVR announced that the Griffith production was going to end. A limited edition run of 100 Special Edition (SE) cars were to be built to mark the end of production. Although still very similar to the previous Griffith 500 model, the SE had a hybrid interior using the Chimaera dashboard and Cerbera seats. Noticeably, the rear lights were different along with different door mirrors, higher powered headlights and clear indicator lenses.

A total of 2351 cars were produced.

TVR Griffith (youtube.com)

cerbera 1996-2006

The TVR Cerbera is a grand touring sports car manufactured between 1996 and 2006. The name is derived from Cerberus, the three-headed beast of Greek legend that guarded the entrance of Hades.

Introduced at the 1993 London Motor Show, the Cerbera was the third car manufactured by TVR under the leadership of Peter Wheeler (the first was the Griffith and the second was the Chimaera). The car represented three firsts for the Wheeler-led company

The engine was called "Speed Eight" and was a 4.2 litre V8 rated at 360 hp that gave the Cerbera a top speed of 297 km/h. A 4.5 litre version of the engine was later offered with 420 hp.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iykNcRSz3GM&ab_channel=thebiggarage

cerbera speed12 1998

The TVR Cerbera Speed 12, originally known as the Project 7/12, is a high performance sports car designed by TVR in 1997. Based on the TVR Cerbera, the vehicle was intended to be both the world's highest performance road car and the basis for a GT1 class endurance racer. However, problems during its development, changing GT1 class regulations and the eventual decision that it was simply incapable of being used as a road car forced TVR executives to abandon its development.

The engine, displacing 7.7 L and having twelve cylinders, was reportedly capable of producing nearly 1,000 hp, although an exact measurement was never made. Nonetheless, it was claimed to have a top speed greater than that of the McLaren F1.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tSVa7pxw6bw&ab_channel=thebiggarage

tuscan s 1999-2006

The TVR Tuscan Speed Six is a sports car which was manufactured by British automobile manufacturer TVR from 1999 to 2006. The name pays homage to the original Tuscan which was introduced in 1967.

The Tuscan Speed Six was fitted with the 4.0 litre version of the TVR Speed Six engine rated at 360 hp.

Five different inline-six engine options were offered to customers. Four of these were variants of the naturally aspirated 4.0 L Speed Six fuel fed by multipoint fuel injection making different amounts of power.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=89V-XTzEE5w&ab_channel=thebiggarage

tamora roadster 2002-2006

The TVR Tamora is a 2-seater sports car built from 2002, filling the gap left by the company's Chimaera and Griffith models. The car is named after Tamora, a character in William Shakespeare's play Titus Andronicus and served as an entry-level model in the TVR range.

The Tamora was intended to be a more practical and urban-friendly model in the TVR range. Based on the Tuscan Speed Six, the Tamora used the same chassis and suspension as the Tuscan. The engine was a short-stroked version of the 4.0 litre Speed Six found on the Tuscan now displacing 3.6 litres.

TVR Tamora Roadster (youtube.com)

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