Words: Nathan Chadwick
Images: TVR
As we slide into ever more sanitised automotive times, the prospect of a car company that prioritised big-cube theatrics in small lightweight bodies, with the cheek and humour of the British north, only becomes ever greater.
After all, when most cars get signed by their factory staff, these days by limited coachbuilders around the world, it’s usually affirmations of greatness, tributes to the owner or cryptic personal messaging. Not at TVR – owners would quite regularly find all sorts of graphic jokes that would make an HR manager sweat hidden under parts of their car’s trim.
TVR’s great era largely came in the last 15 years of its life, with a slew of seductively shaped performance cars that punched above their weight – Griffith, Cerbera, Chimeara, Sagaris, T350, Tuscan… even the Tamora, so often criticised, looks stunning these days.
However, this overlooks the TVR wedges. These sharply styled slices of British elite-prodding motoring blended the traditional mixture of fibreglass and thumping performance. Okay, so the interiors may not have had the dynamic flair of the 1990s cars, and if you’re a fan of curves over creases you’ll never appreciate them, but the TVR Wedges are characterful cars that offer plenty of bang for your buck.
TVR Tasmin/280i (1980-1984)
The TVR Tasmin didn’t get off to the greatest of births. Seeing the success of the Lotus Esprit, TVR’s then directors believed the new car should be modern-looking compared to the Vixens and M Series cars it was building at the time. The new car also needed to be cheap to build, and easily comply with safety regulations. Oliver Winterbottom was tasked with the aesthetics, while Ian Jones, an alumnus of Lotus, got to work on the chassis.
When shown the final design, TVR’s management were disgusted, but with £100,000 worth of M Series cars languishing with the US federal government due to emissions problems and very little cash to rectify it, the car was put into production.
Looking back, it all seems somewhat unfair – the wedge profile is very of its time, and there’s a modernist elegance to it; if the car had been Italian, we’d probably all be in awe of it. However, despite positivity towards its chassis and handling prowess, the styling proved a stumbling block and sales were slow, not helped by the ongoing UK recession. Within a year, the company was sold to Peter Wheeler.
Built around a tubular spaceframe chassis, the drivetrain and suspension largely came from Ford, though the Jaguar XJ-S coughed up its differential. The Tasmin initially offered a grunty Ford-sourced V6 that was good for 160bhp. In 1981, a low-cost 2.0-litre Ford Pinto engine version was offered, aimed squarely at picking up where the recently retired Triumph TVR had left off. However with just 110bhp it failed to find a widespread market and just 61 found homes, compared to 1167 V6 cars.
The car was continually revised over its life, with a vast number of parts sourced from the likes of Ford, Rover, Triumph, Jaguar and even Renault. The Series II model of 1981 saw major revisions to the styling and the front suspension, as well as the introduction of a convertible version.
TVR 350i (1983-1989), 420SE (1986-1987), 390SE (1990)
By 1982 Peter Wheeler was in search of extra oomph – the 280i’s Cologne V6 could haul the Tasmin/280i to 60mph in eight seconds, but with the horsepower wars between Germany and Italy the benchmark for sporty cars was getting even lower.
There was a problem with TVR’s usual supplier – TVR had done well in the Middle East, which objected to Ford’s strong links to Israel. Instead, Wheeler turned to Rover for its Buick-sourced V8. The 3.5-litre unit produced 197bhp, which was quite a lot in a car weighing just 1000kg – 0-60mph took 6.5 seconds, while the top speed grew to between 130mph and 135mph. By the time production wrapped up, 949 had been built.
During 1984, TVR Engineering teamed up with British Saloon Car Championship ace – and engineering maestro – Andy Rouse to come up with a special blueprinted engine. The engine was bored out to 3.9-litres, and high-lift camshafts, gas-flowed cylinder head, larger valves and Cosworth-machined pistons fitted. To contain the extra 85bhp (bringing it up to 275-280bhp), a more robust clutch, a limited-slip differential and ventilated disc brakes were fitted, and the body was restyled for a more aggressive look. Around 100 of these cars were built, but if this wasn’t quite enough the engine could be further bored out to 4.2-litres, and 300bhp. So-called the 420SE, this variant was built in just seven units between 1986 and 1987, and largely had milder styling than the 390SEs.
The vast majority of 350is were convertibles – just six were finished as coupés. To round off production, a special run of 25 350SE models was launched in 1990. It featured a 3.9-litre version of the Rover V8 and Koni adjustable suspension, and each car featured its number in gold paint to denote its special nature. That didn’t stop one person breaking his up and turning it into an Austin-Healey 3000 Sebring replica… shame.
TVR 420/450 SEAC (1986-1989)
This is where the numbering starts to become awkward to the point of Maserati-in-the-1980s level of confusion. We’ll start with the SEAC models – which stands for Special Equipment Aramid Composite, and are perhaps the most legendary of all the wedges.
TVR’s Competition Manager, Chris Schirle, had been an F1 engineer and set about making the wedge a competition winner. As part of this, kevlar was used in 20 per cent of the body, leading to 100kg of weight savings.
The original plan was for a full Kevlar body but these were the very early days of composites, and after eight to ten somewhat awkwardly produced cars, all but the last five cars used glassfibre. Those five blended carbon fibre and glassfibre, and in total 37 were built, largely due to the car’s exorbitant price. The engine produced 300bhp from a 4.2-litre displacement, reducing the 0-60mph dash to 4.7 seconds and ramping up the top speed to 165mph.
The 450 SEAC appeared in 1988, which used a similar mixture of glassfibre and carbon fibre in the body, but this time used a 4.4-litre Rover V8 that produced 325bhp – enough for a 0-60mph time of 4.5 seconds and a top speed of 175mph. Just 17 were built.
TVR 400SE/450SE/430SE (1988-1991)
The SEAC models were the wildest TVRs of the wedge era, so the 400 series was envisioned to be less extreme – though its big rear spoiler, underbody aero treatment and rakish bonnet vents hardly make it tame. 1988’s 400SE used a 275bhp 4.0-litre V8 engine that was good for 60mph in 5.6 seconds and a 145mph top speed, with ventilated brakes to help haul it up in time. Another big improvement was a wraparound interior treatment.
This was followed just a year later by the 450SE, with a 320bhp 4.4-litre version of the V8 that took 0-60mph down to 5.2 seconds and the top speed to 150mph. Production of this ran to 1990, with 35 built.
There was, however, one last hurrah for the wedge once the Griffith had made its 1990 debut. Three 430SE variants were sold in 1991, each using the 280bhp, 4.2-litre V8 from the Griffith.
The era of the Wedge was over, and TVR went onto much greater success. Nevertheless, the Wedges are a crucial part of TVR history, and offer the raspy V8 fun that’s much missed from today’s world. Time to take a slice yourself?
Which is your favourite TVR wedge? We would love to hear your thoughts at hdc@hagerty.co.uk.