T
OPINION
18 MODERN CLASSICS
here’sa blokewho
li veson my road
who ownstwo
TVRs –a nice,easy-going
Chimeraanda lastof the
li ne TuscanS Mk II built
un der theshort-livedreign
of NikolaiSmolenski.Some
mi ght (cruelly)saythat
meanshe’sgot a better
ch anceof oneof them
working.I don’tseethem
much, butwhenthesun’s
sh iningI oftenhearthe
de ep, rib-rattlingroarof the
un silencedV8 or thebusy,
boomingblareof theSpeed
Si x. Unmistakable,unruly
and hilariouslyunapologetic.
TVRs havetheirfaults,but
yo u couldneveraccuse
th em ofbeingdull.
God, I missthem.Of
co urse,I didn’tfullyappreciatethebrilliant
madnessof TVRwhenI wastrudgingup to
Bl ackpoolto collecttestcars.Thechaosof a
fa ctorythatbuilteverythingin house.The
st enchof fibreglass.Thetrimshopwithyour
AuntieDorisstitchingup purple,yellowand
gr een leatherandvinyl.Thehammering,
weldinganddrilling.Thestacksof chassis
an d bodiesandmoulds.It waslikeWilly
Wonka’splaceexcepttheOompaLoompas
were grittyLancashirefolkandthefactory
di dn’t smellquiteas goodas chocolate.
Th esecanoeswerequick,though.
Es peciallyif youwerepickingoneup fora
pe rformancetest.Presscarswouldoften
ha ve strangerideheightsanddamper
se ttingsdependingon theproposedtest.
St raightlinestuffmeanta softerset-upat
th e rearandgearingthatwouldallow
0- 60mphin 1st (a gearchangewiththe
ch unky5-speed‘boxcouldeasilyaddhalfa
Ev ennowI canremember
thesensationof trying to
rotatemy ankle far enough
to fullydepressthe super-
longtravelaccelerator (an
effectiveformof traction
control),thetough gearshift
mountedwayup on the fat
transmissiontunnel and the
superbbrakepedal action.
Notto mentionthe hot
panicof misjudging a
corner’sradiusand having
noABSto helpyou out, or
wetfeetslidingoff those
slender,slipperypedals on a
winter’sday.And always the
braying,howlingengines.
Didtheybreak often?
Well,I hada T350 let go on
theMillbrookbanking at
over160mph.A Tamora
meltedon theway back
second).Tracktestswouldmeanstickier
ty resanda hunkered-downchassis.The
fa ctorywouldfeigndisbeliefbut thegame
was playedin a good-humouredway.
A goodTVRwasa veryfinethingindeed.
A ba d onewasa liability.Predictingwhat
yo u’dget wasimpossible.I drovesweet,
ey e-wateringlyfastCerberasandloose,
ba ggyonesthatdidn’tseemanywherenear
asquickas advertised.Tuscansthatturned
in so quicklythattherearseemedto rollover
an d giveup thechaseimmediately;others
th at werepredictableandalmostfriendly.
fr omLe Mansbut limpedgamely back to
theUK. I wasin thepassengerseat of a
Tuscanthatpoppedout its roofpanel after a
spin.A colleaguetryingto hit 200mph in
Germanygot thefrightof his lifewhen the
frontsplitterdetached20mphshort of that.
Otherswereperfectandtooka hell of a
beatingwithno complaintwhatsoever. In
otherwords,driveplentybeforetaking the
plunge.No twoare everquitethe same...
Sucha shamethatthere’sno space for
TVRanymore,or forNoblein its old form,
orforanyoneelseoffering911 Turbo-chasing
performanceforBoxsterS cash.It seems it’s
impossibleto makemoneyat this price point
andsuchis theleapin performance of ‘baby’
sportscarsthattheold bang-per-buck
formulais deadandburied.
TVRsweremodernclassicsfrom new. The
worldis a poorerplacewithoutone in your
garage.Or two.Justin case.
‘I HAD A T350 LET GO AT
160MPH AT MILLBROOK’
Mad, bad and dangerous to know,
TVR test cars provided journos
with the full range of emotions
WHO IS...
JETHRO BOVINGDON
Jethro's CV includes some
instrumental years spent at
EVO with a spell at CAR.
He's currently a part of US
media giant Motor Trend.
THE PETROLHEAD
Jethro Bovingdon
