TVR Cerbera - Tuscan Speed 6

TVR is reviving the Tuscan name for a road car. It has been used since 1967 & lately since 1989 on the one-make race series car.

Unveiled at the end of October '98 at the NEC Motorshow, the new Tuscan has a 2 piece hard top which stores in the boot.

Other novel features are the multiple small headlamps & the rear lights set into the roll bar.

The engine is an improved version of the 4 litre twin cam 24 valve straight six which will soon be fitted to the Cerbera & should produce more than 350 BHP.

Peter was dissatisfied with some elements of the previous years speed six & before he knew it, it had evolved into what we have now.

The seats & fascia are designed for maximum simplicity & the car breaks from tradition with a large digital & analogue speedo / tacho / sub gauges.

Whilst the chassis is closely related to the Cerbera & Speed 6, it needed modifying to allow space for the catalytic converters. It is now asymmetric, having lost some space down the passenger side to allow for the exhausts.

At Ł38,000 the price puts it neatly in the middle of the TVR price range between the Ł35,700 Griffith 500 & the Ł41,000 Speed 6 Cerbera.

The cars should be in production by March '99 & should account for about 6 of the 40 cars they currently build per week. They expect to lose some Griffith & Chimaera sales to the new car.

Click thumbnails for larger image
Exhaust 1	Exhaust 2

Interior 1	Interior 2

Boot	Dash

Front Lights 1	Rear Lights 1

Engine Cover 1	Engine Cover 2

16" Wheel

It was with some trepidation that I entered the TVR stand as I could see Peter talking to Ben Samuelson next to the Speed Twelve. I did not want to be ejected for heresy in front of all those people. Imagine my surprise some time later when we actually stood talking amicably for several minutes. Had I known this was to happen I would have prepared some questions beforehand.

So I bumbled my way through the first few things which came into my mind, namely :

Personally the idea of a removable rear screen is a poor one, especially as it would be difficult to implement heated elements. It is also another item to have rattling around the boot stowed with the targa panel.

Peter's requirement is for it to be as convertible as possible, so removable it shall be.

I had heard on the Usenet mention of some secret cover only openable by the dealer. It transpires that it is merely bolted into place as an aid to chassis rigidity.

I have long said that there is no place for a 4.2 V8 in between a 4.0 straight six and a 4.5 V8. When I asked Peter if the 4.2 was going to be with us for much longer he replied that TVR were not in the business of stopping making something if there was still a demand for it BUT eventually it would cease to be produced.

Peter admitted that the six cylinder Cerbie had become softer & lazier, as he put it, for distinguished gentlemen !!!. The 4.5 V8 is for boy racers like us !!!