Until its demise in 2006, TVR (from founder TreVoR Wilkinson) manufactured powerful sports cars renowned for their individualistic styling.
TVR Speed 12 2000
- YEAR REVEALED 2000
- PLACE OF ORIGIN Blackpool, Lancashire, United Kingdom
- HISTORICAL STATUS prototype
- ENGINE V12-cylinder, 472ci (7,730cc)
- MAXIMUM POWER 800–960bhp estimated
- LAYOUT front-mounted engine driving the rear wheels
- BODYWORK two-door, two-seater coupé
- TOP SPEED 240mph (386kph) (potential)
- NUMBER BUILT one
At the heart of the TVR Speed 12 was a landmark TVR engine, a 48-valve V12, with a steel block created by joining two six-cylinder engines together on a single crankshaft. With a six-speed gearbox driving the rear wheels, it was installed in a modified TVR race track-only Tuscan chassis.
Known as Project 7/12 (7 liters and 12 cylinders), it made an enormous impact at the 1996 British motor show. On the track, the TVR also gave a stunning performance, allegedly hitting 60mph (97kph) in under 3 seconds. But the car was a brute to drive, immensely demanding at speed. TVR attempted to tame the beast, and by 2000, a new car was ready.
Weighing just 1 ton (1,000kg) to keep the 231mph (372kph) McLaren F1 within its gunsights, it was renamed Speed 12, and restyled to resemble a pumped-up TVR Cerbera with aerodynamic additions. At £188,000, it would have been the costliest TVR, if company owner Peter Wheeler hadn’t axed the car because he felt it was too powerful.