Born in a shed like all TVRs, the Tuscan punched well above is weight thanks to a stonking home-grown engine and a desire to take on all comers for less with more finesse. TVR might be on the verge of making another comeback, but its previous efforts are where serious gearheads should be looking, owner Peter Wheeler claiming driver aids did nothing to improve safety of performance shunned power steering, traction control, and worryingly airbags.
Tuscans aren't for the faint heated, much like the AC Cobra and Dodge Viper, analog purist enthusiast cars that reward drivers who put in the effort to get the most out. The Tuscan might be a past master, but it remains one of the most scintillating drivers' sports cars wrapped up in a gorgeous orgy of curves, drama and spectacle.
10 Tuscan, From The Beginning
Bonkers, modern TVR's owe a lot to the earlier generations of TreVoR's. The Tuscan name dating back to 1967 responsible for cementing the brands' reputation for oversized engines in feather weight bodies, and let's be honest, who hasn't been mesmerized by TVR's unique take on sports cars.
Cramming 4.9-liters of Ford's Windsor V8 motors into a mixture of tubular steel chassis and fiberglass bodywork is what TVR is best known for, making the Tuscan capable of 155 mph. Later production models were made available with smaller less powerful V6s, but once sampled, who would accept fewer horses?
9 1998 Otherworldly Tuscan Revival
Bringing back the Tuscan name in 1998, shrouded to a large extent in mystery thanks to then-owner Peter Wheeler's blanket ban on media reviews. The new Blackpool bomber looked like nothing else on earth, if CETI needed any further proof of extraterrestrial life, then TVR's factory would have been a good starting place.
Peering under the bizarrely styled bodywork, TVR remained loyal to a tubular steel chassis and rear-drive platform. However, it's the exterior that grabs your attention, the front end sporting a triple-stack lighting arrangement atop a full width mouth like grille. At the rear, emerging under the bumper, two enormous bazooka-like exhausts having more in common with those found on a top end sportsbike.
8 With Twisted Take On A Functional Interior
If you can find the Tuscan's hidden door mechanism, more lunacy awaits on the inside. Two seats abreast, a wide central tunnel adorned with unfathomable buttons, gorgeously turned in-house, only to have their function omitted in the name of quirkiness.
Viewed through the Tuscan's steering wheels is one of the most simplistic yet beautifully crated instrument binnacle of any sports car, dominated by a large speedo with smaller gauges off to the lower corners. Once again, milled brass and aluminum makes the Tuscan experience special, which is probably just as well as getting out is a challenge in itself.
7 Nothing Is Quite Where You'd Expect It
Popping the hood reveals, well, pretty much nothing, except for the essential oil and water filler caps, TVR deemed the Tuscan's engine bay off limits, leaving puzzled journalists to wonder just what exactly powered the car.
Even after much head scratching and countless miles of full throttle performance, the Tuscan presents another challenge, just where is the fuel filler cap? The cockpit devoid of anything resembling a remote release and the Tuscan's smoothly designed rear end would be puzzling to all but dyed-in-the-wool TVR fans. To refuel the Tuscan, one simply pops the trunk.
6 There Is an Engine In There Somewhere
Managing to fathom out just how to uncover the TVR's engine is a reward itself. Unlike earlier TVR's the Speed Six motor is a home-grown affair in retaliation to Rover's sale to BMW, Peter Wheeler famously declaring you won't find a German engine under the hood of any TVR.
Oddly, BMW's purchase pushed TVR to new levels of insane performance, the Speed Six coming to fruition in the Tuscan of 1998, sporting a 3.6-liter displacement and 350 hp. Designed by Al Melling, incorporating a valvetrain inspired by Suzuki's GSX-R750, the new engine was not only more powerful but lighter too. In the Tuscan, pushed back behind the front axle, in effect the Tuscan is a mid-front engined sports car.
5 Not A Convertible, But A Clever Compromise
TVR has played the open-topped sports car game before, both the 80s wedges and later, curvier Griffith and Chimaera combined lightweight bodies, V8 engines and folding soft-top roofs.
Unveiling the Tuscan in 1999, on first appearances a two-seater coupe, only once up close does the removable roof section become apparent. Neatly stowed in the trunk, the Tuscan is an open-topped sports car with another trick up its sleeve. Viewed from the rear, a simple latch mechanism allows the rear glass to be removed and stored along with the roof panel.
4 That Sort Of Morphed Into These
Maybe not the TVR S-based example above, but oddly still racing in the TVR Tuscan Challenge series from 1989, a forerunner to the Tuscan in name if not by design. Lightened road cars tuned for more power, at the time still using Rover V8s
By the time Tuscans actually raced in the Tuscan series, the T400R powered by a highly tuned Speed Six pushing out 400 hp, more in later Le Man spec GT1 guise with a top speed over 200 mph.
3 Tuscan Rose Red, For Serious Speed Lovers
Road going Tuscans benefited from TVR's racing program, the Red Rose upgrade pack adding valuable track-focused suspension and chassis upgrades, not least the arrival of a beefier AP Racing upgrade, the Tuscan could now stop as ferociously as it went, pulling up from 100 mph in 4.15 seconds.
Naturally, TVR added more power too, Red Rose increasing the naturally aspirated engine's output to 380 hp dropping its 0-60 mph time to 3.8 seconds, topping out at 180 mph.
2 Only To Be Outshone By The Tuscan S
The best sports cars never stop evolving, TVR likewise couldn't resist turning the Tuscan's Speed six motor up another notch, the S model boasting 390 hp going on to a marginally higher top speed of 186 mph, Surely enough for any gearhead, especially considering TVR ignored every safety aid deemed to interfere with the driving experience.
The Tuscan S did make one tiny concession in the name of better performance, round the rear a trunk-lid lip spoiler increased down force, not that it could contain the extra horsepower, TVR's lack even basic traction control
1 TVR Typhon, One Last, Madder Tuscan Relative
Take one TVR T400R Le Mans spec car, throw away the glass-fiber body in favor of an enlarged, stronger carbon-fiber item, reducing weight and improving aerodynamic efficiency. For most carmakers this would have been enough to launch a new car, TVR however doesn't believe in following trends the T400R not quite fast enough need something more.
Bigger brakes, a race style sequential gearbox, all valuable additions, but nothing in comparison to TVR's trump card. Still using the 4-liter Speed six motor, tweaked, fettled and boosted by a supercharger to produce 600 hp in prototype form, leading TVR to claim a top speed of 215 mph, faster than any other TVR. Only for Peter Wheeler to cancel the Typhon after three cars.