TVR Tasmin Hire

Our TVR Tasmin 2.8

Our Tasmin is a 1982 registered convertible. It is British Racing Green in colour with a gold stripe down the side.

Under the bonnet is the 2.8 Ford V6 which was used in top of the range Granadas and Capris at the time. The engine sounds wonderful, some would argue the best sounding TVR engine, and gives more than adequate performance for a car of its age.

I have been driving the car for around 20 years, as it was previously owned by my father-in-law, and I even drove it to my own wedding 18 years ago. But I don't keep it just for sentimental value. This is a proper open-topped British sports car and I still get a thrill from taking it for a run up onto Exmoor and hearing that superb TVR noise bouncing off the hedge rows.

Our Tasmin is substantially original and is maintained by our local TVR experts at Dulford Automotive who make sure this classic car is dependable enough to be enjoyed by the discerning enthusiast.

Yes, it very occasionally has some of those endearing TVR niggles that are sent to try us but that can sometimes be just a part of the classic car hire experience.

If there was a 'pounds per thrill' index out there, this car would surely be close to the top of the rankings. Why not find out for yourself by hiring our classic sports car for the day or a weekend, or give it a go as part of our TVR Experience day.

TVR Tasmin Driving Experience

The Tasmin is a right hand drive 2 seater rear wheel drive sports car with a four speed manual gearbox.

It has a 'parcel shelf' behind the seats which is adequate for putting a couple of small pieces of luggage. The boot space is partly compromised by the spare wheel, which sits upright in the middle of the boot space and allows for a couple of small bags to be squeezed either side of it.

The roof panel is easily removed and fits neatly across the top of the boot space without taking up too much room. The soft top is substantially weatherproof but do expect some minor leaks around the windows if the heavens open!

The Tasmin does not have power steering which means that it is very heavy going for low speed manoeuvres. I'm hardly Charles Atlas but find I can cope alright with this, especially as it quickly lightens up when you start moving and becomes nicely weighted at normal road speeds.

The performance is similar to a 'reasonably hot' modern hatchback, so any reasonably competent driver should not be over-awed by the power. It is a rear wheel drive car, as all proper sports cars should be.

Similarly, the car does not have any other modern driver aids such as anti lock brakes, airbags or 'dynamic stability control' type electrical wizardry.

There are disc brakes all round which are more than adequate for stopping this relatively lightweight car provided sensible stopping distances are allowed for.

This being a classic car, and a classic TVR at that, some of the switchgear has given up trying to pretend it works. All the road legal MOT stuff is operational but don't expect too much in the way of heating/de-misting or bother trying the radio (why would you want to anyway?). And the electric windows have a mind of their own.....

Don't let this put you off though, as this is a true British sports car which gives you an authentic TVR experience.

We will familiarise you with the car during the Driver Briefing when you come to pick it up.

TVR Tasmin History

The Tasmin was designed in response to changing car manufacturing legislation, particularly in the US, that required safety 'improvements' to vehicles designs. It was an expensive proposition for TVR to build an all new car from scratch but it was an unavoidable necessity.

Martin Lilley was running TVR at the time and he called upon the design talents of ex-lotus man Oliver Winterbottom to draw up a cutting edge sports car design. The wedge shaped Tasmin that resulted was clearly a radical departure from the swoops and curves of earlier models and took TVR into unchartered territory.

TVR launched the Tasmin in January 1980 at the Brussels Motor Show. The show car was the fixed head coupe, with the convertible launched in October 1980.

The car followed TVR's usual formula, with a tubular steel space frame chassis, with most of the running gear sourced from Ford and a lightweight glass reinforced plastic (GRP) body shell.

The performance of the 2.8 litre Ford Cologne V6 engine was more than adequate for this lightweight sports car, with the 160 bhp motor accelerating the car from 0 to 60 mph in around 8 seconds, a match for even today's hot hatches.

However, this new change of shape for TVR was not very well received by the buying public. Added to this, the £12,800 price tag was set too high in an effort to try to offset financial difficulties that the Company was having at the time.

As a result of these financial difficulties, Martin Lilley sold the ownership of the Company to Peter Wheeler.

In an effort to keep the price tag down to improve sales numbers Peter Wheeler initially put a 2 litre Ford Pinto engine in the car and dropped the price to under £10,000. This didn't improve things much.

Come 1983, Plan B was implemented. This involved fitting a 190bhp 3.5 litre Rover V8 unit into a remodelled engine bay. This up rated car was re-badged as the 350i with the 'original' V6 cars becoming the 280i. This was truly the dawn of a new era for TVR.

The new power-plant lowered the time it took for the car to hit the 60 mph mark from standing to 6.6 seconds, which was faster than it's high profile contemporary of the time, the Ferrari 308.

Despite shoe horning in ever increasingly powerful engines, culminating in the 320bhp 450SEAC in 1989, the 'wedge' was discontinued in 1991 with the introduction of the iconic Griffith.

The 2.80i wedge itself was discontinued in 1988 when the TVR S was launched with the same engine but at a lower price. In all, a total of 1,167 V6 cars were produced between 1980 and 1988.