Rugby player (Tuscan owner) interview in Telegraph
Discussion
Don't think anyone's posted this yet...
Taken from this article in the Telegraph
www.telegraph.co.uk/motoring/main.jhtml?xml=/motoring/2003/10/10/emrport11.xml&secureRefresh=true&_requestid=224694
Portrait of a driver: Steve Thompson
As the Rugby World Cup gets under way, the England hooker talks to Richard Simpson
When the Northampton Saints and England hooker Steve Thompson was a lad, he craved only two things: a TVR and a Great Dane.
Impact player: Steve Thompson with his new TVR Tuscan
His progress has been swift since then and even this immensely modest man will admit that he has enjoyed "a couple of good years''. So now he possesses both the dog and a brand-new TVR Tuscan 4·0 – although it's little surprise that the former doesn't fit into the latter. (Indeed, 15-month-old Geoffrey is already such a Great Dane that Steve had to dispose of his last dog-mobile, a Jeep Grand Cherokee, because it wasn't big enough for his 72kg, scrum-half-sized hound.)
Given TVR's less than entirely unblemished reliability reputation, it's clear that Steve makes his own mind up when it comes to car selection. But how did he settle on the Tuscan? "My shirt sponsor at Northampton, Nigel Taffs, had a Griffith and I absolutely fell in love with it. It was a pure driver's car and it sounded so nice. You just can't beat it. Then I saw the film Swordfish and decided that I'd get a Tuscan like the one in the film.''
Ever his own man, Steve didn't slavishly follow John Travolta's lead, and instead specified his Tuscan in Mercedes Meteor Grey, set off by a dramatic, wine-red leather interior. "I went to see the car being built at the factory. Everything is done by hand, even the stitching of the seats.'' But what's the Tuscan like to drive? "It puts a smile on your face as soon as you set off. You don't need to drive it fast, either. I sometimes just listen to the engine, although my girlfriend thinks it's noisy.''
Does he resemble his new car? "I'm not one who likes to stick out,'' says Steve, whose off-field manner is the polar opposite of his teak-tough on-field demeanour, "but we're both English through and through. And I suppose the TVR is just a bit rough, too; there's no traction control or anything like that.'' But wouldn't a racy car like the Tuscan really be better suited to one of the fly-boys in the England back line, a centre perhaps? "No,'' he laughs, "it's much too fast for Mike Tindall, although in fact he really likes cars as well.''
Steve adds that most of his England colleagues have really taken to the TVR – and the ever-competitive Austin Healey promptly asked him for a race – although not everyone in the party has found the beefy Tuscan quite to his taste. "Matt Dawson had a drive and came back saying that the controls were too heavy. But I really like the weight and the relatively slight power steering assistance.'' And of course this modest difference of opinion is easily explained by the fact that Dawson is a darting scrum-half, while despite his exceptional handling and running skills Steve is very much a front-row forward at heart.
So he and his TVR seem to be pretty much perfectly matched, but will the Tuscan become what the Americans call a "keeper''? "Yes, the TVR will be staying in my garage long-term,'' he says emphatically. Let's hope that the next time he swings open those garage doors, keys in hand, he does so as a Rugby World Cup winner.
LB
>>> Edited by luca brazzi on Tuesday 14th October 13:50
Taken from this article in the Telegraph
www.telegraph.co.uk/motoring/main.jhtml?xml=/motoring/2003/10/10/emrport11.xml&secureRefresh=true&_requestid=224694
Portrait of a driver: Steve Thompson
As the Rugby World Cup gets under way, the England hooker talks to Richard Simpson
When the Northampton Saints and England hooker Steve Thompson was a lad, he craved only two things: a TVR and a Great Dane.
Impact player: Steve Thompson with his new TVR Tuscan
His progress has been swift since then and even this immensely modest man will admit that he has enjoyed "a couple of good years''. So now he possesses both the dog and a brand-new TVR Tuscan 4·0 – although it's little surprise that the former doesn't fit into the latter. (Indeed, 15-month-old Geoffrey is already such a Great Dane that Steve had to dispose of his last dog-mobile, a Jeep Grand Cherokee, because it wasn't big enough for his 72kg, scrum-half-sized hound.)
Given TVR's less than entirely unblemished reliability reputation, it's clear that Steve makes his own mind up when it comes to car selection. But how did he settle on the Tuscan? "My shirt sponsor at Northampton, Nigel Taffs, had a Griffith and I absolutely fell in love with it. It was a pure driver's car and it sounded so nice. You just can't beat it. Then I saw the film Swordfish and decided that I'd get a Tuscan like the one in the film.''
Ever his own man, Steve didn't slavishly follow John Travolta's lead, and instead specified his Tuscan in Mercedes Meteor Grey, set off by a dramatic, wine-red leather interior. "I went to see the car being built at the factory. Everything is done by hand, even the stitching of the seats.'' But what's the Tuscan like to drive? "It puts a smile on your face as soon as you set off. You don't need to drive it fast, either. I sometimes just listen to the engine, although my girlfriend thinks it's noisy.''
Does he resemble his new car? "I'm not one who likes to stick out,'' says Steve, whose off-field manner is the polar opposite of his teak-tough on-field demeanour, "but we're both English through and through. And I suppose the TVR is just a bit rough, too; there's no traction control or anything like that.'' But wouldn't a racy car like the Tuscan really be better suited to one of the fly-boys in the England back line, a centre perhaps? "No,'' he laughs, "it's much too fast for Mike Tindall, although in fact he really likes cars as well.''
Steve adds that most of his England colleagues have really taken to the TVR – and the ever-competitive Austin Healey promptly asked him for a race – although not everyone in the party has found the beefy Tuscan quite to his taste. "Matt Dawson had a drive and came back saying that the controls were too heavy. But I really like the weight and the relatively slight power steering assistance.'' And of course this modest difference of opinion is easily explained by the fact that Dawson is a darting scrum-half, while despite his exceptional handling and running skills Steve is very much a front-row forward at heart.
So he and his TVR seem to be pretty much perfectly matched, but will the Tuscan become what the Americans call a "keeper''? "Yes, the TVR will be staying in my garage long-term,'' he says emphatically. Let's hope that the next time he swings open those garage doors, keys in hand, he does so as a Rugby World Cup winner.
LB
>>> Edited by luca brazzi on Tuesday 14th October 13:50
) Also in the Times a large picture of a red Tuscan with Johnny Vegas and someone else arriving for a Premier in Leicester Square. Talks of how "stars" are now using fantastic cars to arrive instead of s t r e t c h e d limos. Mention of Ferraris etc. in the artice but TVR got the picture! Rich...
). No mention in the text about the TVR, but a good picture nevertheless. 
It was the latter reason that made me think I would not like to inherit that car's suspension problems........
nubbin said:
Johnny Wilkinson also owns a TVR, but I noticed an advert in last month's Sprint, selling a Cerbera, and the seller was a "John Wilkinson" in Surrey - could be the man himself?
Sorry, Johnny W has a deal with a certain dealer to drive a certain type of car (no names, no pack drill) - and it ain't a TVR!
Also he plays for Newcastle Falcons, and lives in the North East.
Apart from that, your theory's sound as a pound!
Gassing Station | General TVR Stuff & Gossip | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff