TVR Tuscan Speed 6

My Mk2 TVR Tuscan 3.6 is quite simply one of the best cars I have ever owned, certainly the best sports car I've had.

TVRs get a lot of bad press for reliability, so let's sort that out now; most of the rumours come from people who've never owned one, passing on negative comments (often adding embellishment) fouth- or fifth-hand. Yes there are bad ones, there are 'bad ones' of any marque; TVRs were handbuilt in a small factory, do your homework and buy one with some knowledge of the car and the marque beforehand. It's not a Vectra or Focus, stop expecting them to be!!

The Mk2 I owned felt much better put together than the Mk1 I compared it to at the time of purchase. The later cars were put together better IMO, and they certainly underwent more testing (the Tuscan 2, Sagaris and T350 underwent extreme climate testing under TVR's ownership by Nikolai Smolenski, somewhat of a first for TVR!)

I'll address the issues I did have with this car first. One loose ribbon cable for the LCD display (fixed by TVR Power alongside a service), one failed water temp sensor (also fixed by the above), a hair-line cracked radiator (thanks to the temp sensor failure) and a broken rear ARB droplink (which had been badly scored at some point, so not a manufacturing fault). That is all. Nothing major, nothing expensive and nothing worse than I've had on my Mondeo!

The car started every time, the windows and electrics always worked, nothing dropped off, nothing rattled, nothing leaked (and I did take out / leave it out in torrential rain on a few occasions).

It was a pleasure to drive, it felt more alive when stationary than some other cars I've been in at high speed. No ABS, airbags or TC mean it's all down to you, as it should be. You need your wits about you, but the Mk2 is a lot calmer than the Mk1; less skittish but as it is so light (only 1100kg) it can tramline / twitch a little on bad roads. I have taken it out in the snow also and it was easily manageable.

The noise is truly intoxicating and the speed is just incredible for the price of the car (I paid £30k). You really do have to get close to or exceed six figures to get something better. They do need to be driven often though, most of the ones that have problems are ones that are left in garages for months on end (and that advise is from people I know who work on them daily, so believe it!!)

The seats are comfortable and the lumbar support is air adjustable. Visibility is OK, but obviously not as good as the average family car. The boot is deceptively big, you really can get a lot in there (not that it matters!)

All in all, it is a truly awesome beast!! I only let mine go due to a very bad year business-wise a while back, and it kills me every day I open my garage door and it's not there. If you understand these cars and what they are about, I can only say buy one....buy one now!!!! :) Do your homework, buy a good one and DRIVE IT!!

The TVR Tuscan Speed has a bespoke interior,responsive handling, shocking good looks, outstanding performance, value for money a real road presence and probably the sounding car yes even better than a ferrari on the road.

On the downside, wishy washy build quality,a pain to get the bonnet open,unreliable dash /instrument panel

If Lamborghini had not already named a car after the devil, the TVR Tuscan Speed 6 would be an excellent candidate. It goes like a bat out of hell, stops as if Old Scratch himself had suddenly appeared in the road in front of you and is so seductive to the eye and ear you may want to sell your soul to get behind the wheel.

It may not be as well screwed and glued together as something from Stuttgart but many people after a test drive in one of these beasts say "who cares?!" and buy one anyway. Nothing sort of a Carrera GT (at 8x the price) would humble a Tuscan.

Some may be put off by the lack of electronic nannying (no Anti-lock Braking System or Traction Control) and while the Tuscan is not a car that suffers fools gladly, it is an easy car to respect. Despite, what you may have heard and what you may think, it doesn't really need either ABS or TC. The brakes are virtually impossibly to lock up unless you're driving on ice and the throttle is long, linear and very precise. The steering is a joy as well, the helm is sharp and telepathically quick. Treat this car as it deserves, and it will reward like nothing else on the road.

With a massive boot built to swallow the removable hard-top and rear window (and still leaves significant cargo room, it is also surprisingly practical if you can live with a strict two-seater.

If you're going to do any serious driving in one, get air-con. Oh yeah, and don't bother with an expensive stereo. In a car this light (around 1100kg) soundproofing is less than comprehensive. You'll hear the stereo but any money spent on high-fidelity is going to be wasted.

The TVR Tuscan Speed 6 is a good car - fast.