TVR is a legendary name in the world of motorsport. Sadly, it is also known as one of the most cursed manufacturers of all time. Despite its reputation now being of the brand that went bankrupt umpteenth time in the last 2-3 decades, TVR back in its heyday was among the most desired and sought after car manufacturers considering the brand’s smaller size. One of the most extravagant supercars from the brand was the Cerbera Speed 12. Unfortunately, the car never went into production, and the story behind it is out of the ordinary.

Put your seat belt on as we go for a spin in one of the most controversial supercars, let's take a look at the cost, facts, and figures of the TVR Cerbera Speed 12.

The Initial Plan

A red Cerbera Speed 12
reddit.com

In the late ‘90s, TVR wanted to build a car that would give them a win at the Le Mans 24 hour endurance race and the FIA-Certified Gran Turismo Championships (aka FIA GTC). The result was the Cerbera Speed 12, an extraordinary piece of machinery built with only one thing in mind: speed, and power. The car featured a 7.7-liter V12 engine that was made from two V6 engines taken from the old Cerbera and joining them to a mutual crankshaft and modified both V6’s to full race-spec. Normally the engine’s horsepower figure is mentioned, but that is not the case here. When the folks went to measure the power of the engine at a dynamometer test (known as Dyno test these days), the Speed 12 engine broke the shaft of the dyno. So they went to another dyno machine, the same thing happened, the machine broke. With no exact number with them, the estimated horsepower figure was around 960, but later they confirmed it to be around 800. The speed 12 would launch from 0 to 60 miles per hour in 2.9 seconds, and they claimed that the theoretical top speed was more than the mighty McLaren F1. And with the engine that beefy and the weight of just under 1000 kilograms, we are not the ones to doubt it. The speed 12 was ready for the ‘24 hours of Le Mans’ race, but the regulation changes at the last moment made the car archaic against its competitors from bigger brands.

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The Next Step

TVR Cerbera Speed 12 (Red) - Side View
TVR Car Club

With a beast of a car that TVR would not like to go to waste, they made a GTS version of it and competed in a few GT1 class races in the British GT Championship. In these races, they restricted the car to just 700 horsepower. However, even with the restriction in the power, drivers had difficulty maintaining the traction of the car. Unfortunately, with the sudden end of the GT1 class, TVR couldn't compete in them anymore. Once again, to not let all the hard work in Cerbera Speed 12 design go to waste, TVR set on making a road-going version of it. They decided that the road-going version will not have any restrictions on the engine and will harness the full power of the Herculean V12 engine. The car would have a 6-speed semi-automatic transmission that will send all the power to the rear wheels. Costing around £245,000, this would be the most expensive TVR ever created. Preorders rolled in and the mass production of the car was about to start. But then, the inevitable happened. Peter Wheeler, who was an experienced driver and the owner of TVR, took the prototype for a spin. His report from that test drive was the final nail in the coffin for the Cerbera Speed 12. Wheeler proclaimed the car to be extremely dangerous for public roads and should not be sold to customers. With a late ‘90s car with the power that could rival a McLaren F1, rear-wheel drive, and almost no driver aids, it was a matter of time rather than a matter of possibility. As mentioned above, professional racecar drivers were having a hard time handling the car with its power output limited, so selling the car with its full power unlocked to the public would have been a huge mistake.

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The Only TVR

TVR Cerbera Speed 12
Via Reddit

Finally, TVR canceled the production, refunded the money, and used the remaining prototype vehicles to spare for the cars left to compete at GT2 class and British GT racing. But that's not the end of the story. In 2003, TVR made the prototype again and put it up on Auto Trader with registration W112 BHG. This time you cannot just walk into TVR and then buy the car. Instead, you would have to meet Peter Wheeler himself first. He would then decide if you are the right person suitable to handle the car on the roads. They found a guy and made a deal to sell the car to him. But the original bodywork had been destroyed, so TVR used the shell of one of the GT races that remained. This will let the car have increased downforce for better speed and traction. Moreover, the folks at TVR also made some changes to the engine and the ECU unit. Once again, with the exact performance numbers not available, we will have to do with the estimated power output of 960 horsepower derived from The ECU mapping and the cams fitted. To this day, that Cerbera Speed 12(which you can see in the photo just above this paragraph) remains the only one ever sold.

Will TVR Ever Return?

pinterest.com

TVR has seen a lot of ups and downs throughout the years with different owners(including a teenage Russian Millionaire) trying to revitalize the brand but so far, the only thing we have is hope. With the announcement of Mulholland Legend 480 and TVR’s new CEO planning to revive it with an 18-month plan to bring the Griffith back to production by 2022, we will be waiting with dire interest.

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