TVR Tasmin

I want one of you to buy this and head to the Challenge in style because I can't afford to right now.

http://dallas.craigslist.org/dal/cto/4898929362.html

I love the blurry pic of the car sitting in the street as proof of runs/drives.

There's one around the corner from me. I don't want it badly enough to knock on the door, but I check to see if it shows up on Craigslist every once in a while.

My gawd... That is... Hideous.

Wiki P said: The Tasmin was the first production car in the world to have both a bonded windscreen and also to incorporate the aerial in the rear screen heater element.

Now THAT is a Milestone.

There's a local club member(who I believe is/was president of the TVR club also) who has one of these that he used to autox frequently. It's a cool car, but certainly not a thrilling performer stock. It has as much body roll as any 70's american land yacht and isn't much quicker...though it's certainly quite a bit lighter. I'm sure it has potential(especially since they were available with a V8) but I think it would take some creative engineering to find it.

The earlier TVR's were super cool! This looks like the love child of a TR7 and a BiTurbo!

"No rust ever!" Don't believe it!!! The frame rusts like any other LBC.

There is a very active TVR club chapter here in SE PA so I see these cars fairly often (and I remember where the dealer that sold them in the mid 80s was and seeing them on the lot). I'd need to confirm, but I think that is actually a really good price for a running project.

These wedges are relatively cheap because they aren't the best looking cars, but they feature a tube frame that is similar to the earlier cars, and they have a ton of potential if the frame is solid. Even if it's not, they are easy to repair, and are pretty stiff. They have independent suspension all the way around, readily accept coil over shocks, has rack and pinion steering, four wheel disc brakes, and you can fit almost any engine you want in them. I think it would make a great challenge car.

Another example of a car where the coupe is waaaaay better looking than the convertible. (See also first generation 350z.)

In reply to psteav:

Yesk, it is. Unfortunately they built a lot more verts than coupes.

petegossett wrote: There's a local club member(who I believe is/was president of the TVR club also) who has one of these that he used to autox frequently. It's a cool car, but certainly not a thrilling performer stock. It has as much body roll as any 70's american land yacht and isn't much quicker...though it's certainly quite a bit lighter. I'm sure it has potential(especially since they were available with a V8) but I think it would take some creative engineering to find it.

Yeah it's surely not much of a performer now, but with a stiff tube frame, independent suspension and discs all around, someone has the ability to turn that thing into a contender. And certainly the only one with a TVR at the challenge.

The fuel injection system is not something easily serviced here... I don't believe any of the US Cologne V6 used it other than TVR.

I think my old 69 Vixen S2 was far better looking.....

In reply to oldeskewltoy: Your not going to find a Vixen for this price either...

bravenrace wrote: These wedges are relatively cheap because they aren't the best looking cars, but they feature a tube frame that is similar to the earlier cars, and they have a ton of potential if the frame is solid. Even if it's not, they are easy to repair, and are pretty stiff.

That's a "when", not an if . Chassis rust on TVRs is not called "Blackpool rot"[1] in the UK for nothing.

[1] It's a pun on a local speciality call "Blackpool Rock":

In reply to BoxheadTim:

So let me ask you, do you have any actual experience with TVR's, or are you a member of the of Society of Internet Exaggeration Proponents? Early TVR's had the fiberglass body laminated to the frame, which caused premature frame rot. Then they went to a bolted on body, but with a burlappy type fabric in between for cushioning. It was better, but not great. The later cars do away with all of that in favor of a more conventional mounting scheme, and have no more rust problems than any other car.
I've owned two TVR's, and have been a member of the TVRCCA for many years. We are a pretty tight group, and most of us know each other, so I'm pretty familiar with other peoples stories as well. These cars have thin wall tube frames, like headers. Yeah, if you drive them in the salt and don't take care of them they will rust - duh! But as a trade-off, they were light weight and structurally stiff, something I would think most of us would value in a vehicle. One of my TVR's, a 1974 2500M had been a northeast Ohio car it's entire life, was driven year around and parked outside for the ten years the previous owner had it. Yes, there was some rust on the frame, but it was also totally solid. I didn't have to do any repairs to it. My other one was the same way, although I don't know it's history as well. These are pretty cool cars that get a bum wrap every time someone makes a comment like yours. No, it's not "when", its "If", just like I said.

I do have some experience with them in the UK, yes. Over there it's when - due to the climate, as usual there with low volume manufacturers, rust prevention especially in specialist cars from the 70s and 80s wasn't high on the list. Pretty much any of the older TVRs there that hasn't had a new chassis or some decent resto will have rust in the chassis.

I'm happy to hear that it's not as much of a problem over here because they are very cool cars and a hoot to drive.

I guess the different corrosion experience might have something to do with the different usage pattern - having third and fourth cars in the UK is/was fairly unusual so a lot of these cars are/were driven daily. Given that I've seen them spread salt on damp roads in 8C weather, there isn't much of a reason for any older car to not rust.

I've had 2 of them. With decent shocks and rear coilovers, they handle like a dream. Without doing anything to them, they stop like no other car I have ever driven, including race cars. I picked up a rough one at a sheriff's auction a few years back. Sold off a few parts and eventually sold off the roller to a guy in AR. From what I was told, he installed one of those VW fiberglass kit car bodies on it with an American V8 and turned it into one of those kit car legends that all the kit car guys go bonkers for. My biggest issue with them was the soul less V6. Sure you'd get to 60mph in a hurry, but you'd have no recollection of how you got there. Nothing at all like the fire and brimstone of a modified TR8, but at least my wife liked driving the TVRs. Out of all the crazy cars I've had, the TVR 280 was her favorite, followed closely by the Saab Sonett. I'd do another one in an instant so long as I could loose the engine and tranny and do a 302/T5 swap.

There was once a point in my life that I had enough self hatred to go on a mad cross country tour to combine that TVR with this

Fortunately now, I merely dislike myself...

I think that every C3 Corvette ever made between would benefit greatly from that fiberglass GT40 "clone" body shell.

Looks to be in really nice shape, wish it were closer. Of course, I'd rather that the Tasman were closer, I really like those cars. I like any TVR . . .