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Rocketman
| | Posted on Friday, December 28, 2007 - 09:52 pm: | 
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I think it's pretty obvious the chassis from the M series TVR's is very much superior to anything Triumph ever offered.
Fully adjustable double wishbone independent front and rear suspension. Racing car chassis is what it is. The Triumph offerings were nothing more than platforms to sit a body on.
As for the body, TR's have a central positioned pressed steel tub that had wings placed front and rear. TVR's of the same era have an all fiberglass monocoque constructed body. Much lighter. No corrosion. Simple to repair, and fantastic looks. Not that the TR's were bad looking, but next to a TVR, a TVR represented modernity rather than tradition.
Rocket |
Old_man
| | Posted on Friday, December 28, 2007 - 10:18 pm: |
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I must admit, that frame is a beautiful piece. |
Dbird29
| | Posted on Friday, December 28, 2007 - 10:44 pm: |
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Somewhat tinker toy like, maybe Lincoln logs. |
Aesquire
| | Posted on Friday, December 28, 2007 - 11:05 pm: |
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the not calm troll needs to mellow out.
I've helped on a couple of Triumph resto's, & a Healy. ( some help was just holding spanners & moving a tack cloth, some more involved ) The Austin Healy has a bank of 'D' cells under the passenger seat with a switch on the dash to be a built in booster on cold days. Most of the English car nuts I know would love to get a TVR. Most of the Tr's lack, um, torque.
( lincoln logs??? no way. Erector set! )
Considering that finite analysis without modern super computers gives you Eiffel truss's, that chassis's not at all bad. Compare a Ducati Monster, ( Eiffle truss trangulation substituting for a straight beam, nicely, I might add ) a Buell Tube frame, ( triangulated structure along the lines of force, modified to allow service, somewhat ) and a Buell XB frame, ( aluminum complex hollow box section ) and realize that loathing that TVR chassis is like complaining of the lack of titanium monocoque wing structure on a Spad. Different time, different tech.
(Message edited by AESquire on December 28, 2007) |
Captpete
| | Posted on Friday, December 28, 2007 - 11:17 pm: |
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Great thread, Sean.
I've been meaning to ask you more about the TVR's ever since back in the day when you were a little down & out, and living in yours. 
The styling of the earlier ones dates them, of course. But that orange Sagaris you posted is timeless styling, in my book. At least that shot at that angle. How current is it? And when did the V8's you've spoken of appear?
And good on ya for not rising (sinking) to the bait offered above.
Don't it feel better staying up there on the throne? (Inside Joke)
Capt Pete |
Rocketman
| | Posted on Friday, December 28, 2007 - 11:34 pm: |
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Pete, TVR are no longer (for now anyway). The Sagaris was current for 2004 to 2006.
You want TVR V8 engine history.
Google 'Al Melling', he of Norton Nemesis, the V8 one, fame.
Al Melling on Wikipedia
MCD Eng MCD Design Consultancy
Rocket |
Rocketman
| | Posted on Friday, December 28, 2007 - 11:41 pm: |
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Lincoln Logs?
I've never seen these in the UK.
They're beautiful. Lucky buggers.
Rocket |
Doerman
| | Posted on Friday, December 28, 2007 - 11:49 pm: |
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What do you think of Spyker, Rocket? Do you think it can take up the slack where TVR (hopefully temporary) has left off? |
Captpete
| | Posted on Saturday, December 29, 2007 - 04:57 am: |
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Wow! |
S2pengy
| | Posted on Saturday, December 29, 2007 - 08:12 am: |
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Rocket
Are Morgans still being produced??? I have always liked the plus 8 .... |
Rocketman
| | Posted on Saturday, December 29, 2007 - 05:10 pm: |
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Are Morgans still being produced???
How about the Aero 8?
Rocket |
Rocketman
| | Posted on Saturday, December 29, 2007 - 05:13 pm: |
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Rocket |
Wile_ecoyote
| | Posted on Saturday, December 29, 2007 - 05:23 pm: |
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Kinda has a Bugatti look to it dont it? I like it. What kind of motor is in it? HP? Oh yeah, whats it cost?
(Message edited by wile_ecoyote on December 29, 2007) |
Rocketman
| | Posted on Saturday, December 29, 2007 - 08:12 pm: |
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I don't know much about them. They're really not my thing. I saw the Aero, and their other model I forget the name of, at TVR's 60th birthday bash. The dashboard is a work of art. Hand carved from a tree trunk of your desire no less. Still not my cup of tea though.
I believe Morgan are still running the venerable Rover V8 power plant, Still a bit of an old mans car though, lol.
Morgan are here
Check out the photo gallery in 'extras' .
Rocket |
Wile_ecoyote
| | Posted on Saturday, December 29, 2007 - 08:22 pm: |
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Neat website, thankyou. There is a pic of a road racer with the drivers right arm in the "proper" racing position. Old mans car? It is if they are still running that motor.  |
Rocketman
| | Posted on Saturday, December 29, 2007 - 09:26 pm: |
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After I called it an old mans car, I saw those pictures with all those gorgeous women in those Morgans. Sean, you're an idiot, lol.
Speaking of women, and TVR's. Here's an interesting fact.
Back in 1971 at the Earls Court motor show, TVR caused quite a sensation, and a huge amount of publicity, when they showed their cars with naked women draped over them. So when you see naked women draped across those scoots at any bike show, just remember to thank TVR.
Rocket |
Old_man
| | Posted on Sunday, December 30, 2007 - 12:08 am: |
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In 1964, looking to buy my first "expensive" car.
A guy I went to high school with was a salesman at the local foreign car dealer.
I was looking at a used beautiful green Morgan (like the one pictured in the above site)- $1600.
He told me it had a Triumph engine.
Not knowing any better, I thought I don't want a car where the engine had already been replaced. --What an idiot I was!
Bought a 60 Chevy Impala.
(Message edited by old_man on December 30, 2007) |
Doerman
| | Posted on Sunday, December 30, 2007 - 12:45 am: |
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That reminds me, Old_Man, about when I first came to America in 1974. The first thing I did was to buy an American car. So I went out and found a 69 Galaxie with a 394CI engine. When I left Norway I sold my Mini Cooper. I swear, that Cooper could have fit in the engine bay of the Galaxie.
I was proud as a rooster ridin' in my Galaxie!
Oh yeah! |
Bill0351
| | Posted on Sunday, December 30, 2007 - 01:20 am: |
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390 4V? I have never heard of the 394. I almost bought a 64 Galaxie 500XL and I still regret going with the VW GTI instead.
Bill |
Doerman
| | Posted on Sunday, December 30, 2007 - 02:17 am: |
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Sorry. Yes. 390 4bbl. 2 door hatcback and snot green. A fine vehicle it was! My mistake |
S2pengy
| | Posted on Sunday, December 30, 2007 - 07:31 am: |
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Rocket
Thanks you made my day... Last I had heard they had to have a propane conversion to get in the USA for sale... |
Rocketman
| | Posted on Sunday, January 20, 2008 - 10:55 pm: |
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If the leafy lanes of West Sussex were no substitute for the sweeping curves of Spa Francorchamps or tortuous back roads of rural France in 1964, the sensation of speed must have been similar. The 2006 take on one of the world’s most iconic cars may well be faster than the original, and it’s certainly a lot more comfortable to drive.
It’s difficult to know where to begin with this one. Sharing the same designer (Peter Brock) as the original, a tubular chassis and front-mounted American V8 - and now carrying the Shelby name - the latest Daytona Cobra is designed to be like an original 1960s competition coupe yet have just enough comforts and modern manners to make the novelty as durable as possible. Most people should know that the 1960s Daytona Coupe was designed to give a Shelby Cobra some streamlining, and allow it to take on the then all-dominant Ferrari 250 GTOs in period GT racing. Its name comes from its debut at the famous Florida race track in 1964.
I had to read the spec sheet thoroughly to realise the car is actually 2% larger overall than its 1964/65 ancestors, such is the fidelity of line and proportion. The increase in size was essential to allow the occupants some degree of comfort, and enables a roll-cage to be fitted, together with a seat on runners – neither of which would have been in the original.
Despite this, it’s a tightish cabin that greets the average-to-large driver, but one that becomes roomier with acquaintance. The transmission tunnel takes up a lot of space and really separates driver from passenger. The doors are opened remotely (á la TVR) on the key fob of the alarm that’s standard on the car, and to open them from the inside you press a button under the dash. It’s fiddly, but more familiar with time no doubt.
Strap yourself in with a normal 3-point inertia-reel belt, turn the key and flick down the toggle ‘Start’ switch and prepare for action. As it’s a fully road-legal and registered car, there’s not the ‘emptying bricks into a builder’s skip’ noise I was expecting (although alternative exhaust set-ups can be installed), but make no mistake – you know the engine is running with the barking growl only a blueprinted 500+ HP American V8 (by legendary NASCAR tuner Roush) can make.
The gearbox is an all-modern Tremec 5-speed (with 6-speed a probably unnecessary option) and the clutch pretty docile so snicking the car into first, off we go. The cabin and dash layout is intentionally old-fashioned (that’s what you’re buying into!), so the small Moto Lita steering wheel seems lower-down and more horizontal than we’ve become accustomed. The test car was equipped with fuel injection so the accelerator pedal needed a firm push to start opening the multiple butterflies, again some more character of the car showing itself.
It’s fast. Oh yes, it’s fast. Revving to 6,200 rpm, it’s a typical high-performance V8 with a pretty big (402 CI, or 6.6 litres) capacity yet exhibiting the free-spinning characteristics of something smaller. Push it in 2nd or 3rd and mentally you’re soon transported back 40-odd years to a simpler time before modern driver aids. It will tear along a road in the manner of the racing Cobras we’ve all seen at the Goodwood Revival or the front-engined Panoz at Le Mans. But the engineers have done such a good job on the chassis, steering and brakes that you do feel completely in control at all times. The car bumps and crashes no more over the UK’s broken tarmac than the (excellent) Aston Martin V8 Vantage I drove last month – it really is a well thought-out and built car, and terrifically exciting to drive.
The visibility is pretty good, and comfort is aided by air-conditioning that is vital nowadays and keeps the ever-present V8 from heating up the cabin too much, as well as allowing the car to be used for longer runs.
In fact Nigel Hulme, the car’s UK Importer, says “It’s something I’d quite happily take on a long European trip – and you couldn’t say that about an original!”
Mechanically, the Shelby Daytona Cobra is straightforward but deceptively sophisticated with its fully independent (and adjustable) unequal-length double-wishbone suspension, coil-over Bilstein springs and dampers, and 18” (by 8” wide front, 10” rear) alloy wheels. The tyres are Dunlop 9000 series (255 45 front, 285 50 rear) and the wheel/tyre combination is designed to give the very best possible grip yet still looking authentically ‘period’. The bodywork is of composite construction, with a tinted shatterproof screen, toughened glass side and tinted plexiglass rear-windows.
The engine comes complete with a dyno read-out (ours was 530 HP), and it is covered by a two-year warranty that’s administered in the UK by Roush’s offices in Essex that also look after the Ford GTs. The car itself has a one year warranty and comes completely road-legal and SVA’d with new car number plates.
The exhaust uses the original side-pipe design but actually vents under the rear valence, while the stainless steel 21 gallon fuel tank, mounted over the rear axle, is topped up with pump Premium Unleaded, so nothing special is needed to keep the car running.
So who’d buy one? Someone who may well have a collection of 1960s cars and likes the driving sensation but wants the convenience of a ‘turn-key’ GT with the performance to beat most modern exotica. In fact at least two of the cars so far sold in the UK have gone to those very people, well known classic racers who want something a little different. And in the USA, the biggest market for the cars that are built in South Africa (at the same factory that makes Noble supercar), a specially made ‘Viking Blue’ Daytona Coupe, commissioned to celebrate the original’s victory at Sebring in 1964, sold for $270,000 at auction - a sure sign that the market is taking these cars seriously.
And my verdict? A great car with the raw ‘period’ feel and yet a well-mannered ride that belies its performance. It’s a time-machine that has the knack of being in two zones at once, and none the worse for that.
The car is priced at £78,000 + VAT in the UK and is available in right- or left-hand drive. A wide choice of body colours is available with optional stripes or roundels.
*Performance:
0-60 mph: - 3.9 secs
0-100 mph: 8.6 secs
Standing 1/4 mile: 11.5 secs
Maximum speed: 200+ mph
AMERICAS BEST KEPT SECRET?
Rocket |
Rocketman
| | Posted on Sunday, January 20, 2008 - 10:56 pm: |
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Rocket |
Rocketman
| | Posted on Sunday, January 20, 2008 - 10:59 pm: |
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Rocket |
Rocketman
| | Posted on Sunday, January 20, 2008 - 11:00 pm: |
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Rocket |
Rocketman
| | Posted on Sunday, January 20, 2008 - 11:01 pm: |
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Rocket |
Rocketman
| | Posted on Sunday, January 20, 2008 - 11:03 pm: |
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Rocket |
Rocketman
| | Posted on Monday, January 21, 2008 - 07:46 pm: |
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With all this talk about cars, I'm a little surprised this Shelby hasn't made its debut on the BadWeB previously. Looks remarkably similar in some areas to the British Marcos.
Rocket |
Aesquire
| | Posted on Tuesday, February 19, 2008 - 06:05 pm: |
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I found a TVR Tuscan mouse for you!
http://www.x-tremegeek.com/templates/SearchDetail. asp?productID=16263 |
Aesquire
| | Posted on Tuesday, February 19, 2008 - 06:12 pm: |
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I frequently compare Buell's ( especially the tube frame ones & the S1 in particular ) to the original Shelby Cobra.
A light, minimalist race frame with a large torque beast engine. Most U.S. car motor heads know the Shelby, and I think it puts Buell's in the proper perspective. |
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