TVR Wedges: The Ultimate in 1980s Blackpool Rock

As we slide into ever more sanitized automotive times, the prospect of a car company that prioritized big-cube theatrics in small lightweight bodies, with the cheek and humor 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 hidden under parts of their car’s trim that would make an HR manager sweat.

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, Chimaera, Sagaris, T350, Tuscan … even the Tamora, so often criticized, looks stunning these days.

However, this overlooks the TVR wedges. These sharply styled slices of British elite-prodding motoring blended the traditional mixture of fiberglass 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 cars full of character that offer plenty of bang for your buck.

TVR Tasmin/280i (1980–84)

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. Designer 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 management was disgusted, but with £100,000 worth of M Series cars languishing with the U.S. 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 toward its chassis and handling prowess, the styling proved a stumbling block and sales were slow, not helped by the ongoing U.K. recession. Within a year, the company was sold to enthusiast 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/280i initially offered a grunty Ford-sourced V-6 that was good for 160 hp. In 1981, a low-cost version with the 2.0-liter Ford Pinto engine was offered, aimed squarely at picking up where the recently retired Triumph TVR had left off. However, with just 110 hp it failed to find a widespread market and just 61 found homes, compared to 1167 of the V-6 cars.

The Tasmin/280i 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 (1983–89), 390SE (1984–88) 420SE (1986–87), 350SE (1990)

By 1982, Peter Wheeler was in search of extra oomph—the Cologne V-6 could haul the Tasmin/280i to 60 mph in 8 seconds, but with the rising 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 V-8. The 3.5-liter unit produced 197 hp, which was quite a lot in a car weighing just 2200 pounds. The dash from 0 to 60 mph took 6.5 seconds, while the top speed grew to somewhere around 135 mph. By the time production of the 350i 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. It was bored out to 3.9 liters, with high-lift camshafts, gas-flowed cylinder heads, larger valves, and Cosworth-machined pistons fitted. To contain the extra 85 hp (bringing it up to 275–280 hp), a more robust clutch, a limited-slip differential, and ventilated disc brakes were added, 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 liters, good for 300 hp. So-called the 420SE, just seven examples were built between 1986 and 1987, and they largely had milder styling than the 390SEs.

The vast majority of 350is were convertibles—just six were finished as coupes. To round off production, a special run of 25 350SE models was launched in 1990. It featured a 3.9-liter version of the Rover V-8 and Koni adjustable suspension, and each car had 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 (1986–89)

This is where the numbering starts to become awkward to the point of Maserati-in-the-1980s levels 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 TVR wedges.

TVR’s competition manager, Chris Schirle, had been an F1 engineer and set about making the wedge a motorsport winner. As part of this, Kevlar was used in 20% of the body, leading to 220 pounds 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 10 somewhat awkwardly produced cars, all but the last five used fiberglass. Those five blended carbon fiber and fiberglass, and in total 37 were built, largely due to the car’s exorbitant price. The 4.2-liter engine produced 300 hp, reducing the 0–60 mph sprint to 4.7 seconds and ramping up the top speed to 165 mph.

The 450 SEAC appeared in 1988 and used a similar mix of fiberglass and carbon fiber in the body, but this time was powered by a 4.4-liter Rover V-8 that produced 325 hp—enough for a 0–60 mph time of 4.5 seconds and a top speed of 175 mph. Just 17 were built.

TVR 400SE/450SE/430SE (1988–91)

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 hood vents hardly make it tame. The 400SE of 1988 used a 275-hp 4.0-liter V-8 engine that was good for 60 mph in 5.6 seconds and a 145 mph top speed, with ventilated brakes to help rein it in. Another big improvement was a wraparound interior treatment.

This was followed just a year later by the 450SE, with a 320-hp 4.4-liter version of the V-8 that took 0–60 mph down to 5.2 seconds and the top speed up to 150 mph. Production 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 280-hp, 4.2-liter V-8 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 they offer raspy V-8 fun that is much missed from today’s world. Time to take a slice yourself?