TVR Tuscan V8 SWB SE 1967 chassis 200/025 in LHD
Discussion
So after at least 30 years, but I guess it could also have been about 40 years lustering after such small-ish muscle cars ala the TVR Griffith 200/400 and Tuscan V8 models, I finally bought one and it's almost in its new home here by me.
at one of those concours events Amalia 2025
As the title says, it turned out to be a 1967 TVR Tuscan V8 SWB SE chassis 200/025 , apparently, these were also only built in that year as a successor and upgrade to the Griffith 400, its older brother, but not to be confused by the later Tuscan V8 LWB also started production in 1967, so even AI has problems with the first version and even 10 TVR books that I have only some poor info of my model, but hey, part of the fun I guess.
The most striking feature is the side windows, which are one whole no longer like, for example, the two-part windows on the Griffith 400.
The car was finished somewhat better in America, more for concours, with some minor adjustments for originality.
Nice, of course, although I'm actually more of a Restomod-style fan meaning buying a lesser car rather than modifying what you like, say brakes, suspension, bushings, seats, rims, etc. but this one is already finished, albeit in a more standard form, haha, but built up mechanically by Peter from Knight Racing Services Ltd, with a printout included: 403 bhp and 530 nm; that seems enough for the 185 wide Avon tires, I guess...
Bought in America, had Marlog handled via a large import company, so picking it up there for inspection and transport for shipping and insurance, then clearing it through customs here once and paying again, then also having it inspected via Marlog for EU roads and the Dutch RDW inspection for road admission on Dutch roads.
as you can see it only has a drivers mirror, I also want one on the other side, because I always park my car backwards in my garage via a turn... so want and need to see were precise the doorposts are, don't want to scratch the paint via the wall or doorpost iron.
you can buy a pair of chrome bullet/Torpedo style side mirrors from say 50,-euro but the one on my car is a Talbot & Co Berlin mirror, costing more then 10 times for 1 mirror, why...
I already received a list of what they want to modify... including the still-new headlights that are on it; they said those were more for RHD roads, and besides, without EU approval, modifying them would be difficult on those models, so new EU-approved headlights for LHD are now being installed. The rear brakes also appear to brake harder on one side than the other, which they are going to adjust (it is all out of my hands then, and I just have to trust that it is necessary; I ll just assume that s the case, a bit out of my hands).
And they are going to re-stamp the chassis number; they find it too unclear, even though it was clear when they finally found it during restoration and lightly sanded that part. However, the chassis was painted properly again afterwards, of course; it is somewhat hidden, but anyway, if the RDW says so, there is little I can do about it. Anyway, all in all, apparently another 1,255 euros in costs on top of that, including inspection and preparation work via the importer and time; I thought that was already included in the handling fees etc. Anyway, I thought I'd outsource that part now too. It's all a bit scary, but it's nice that when it arrives and I can order the license plates etc., I can drive it right away for the first time in one of those first Tuscan V8 SWB SE versions.
Anyway, it is getting closer now; as soon as I know the license plate (Old Dutch Model and lettering), I can order the new plates with raised letters and some nice matching chrome holders. I still need to take a good look at how to mount the front; I don't want it to obstruct anything, so no blockages for intake cooling/radiators etc., but I also have to be careful that the entire hood bends forward when opening, etc., so how to mount it... maybe I'll remove it again later and stick a smaller sticker model on the hood. Anyway, as long as the car is inside my garage just once.
is that not just lovely, looks like vacation with a nice view
I will also use this thread for questions regarding the car; everything is new to me, I've never had such an old one before, even though it looks like new and rebuilt.
This is the opening post, more later, and oh, it will be my third TVR ever, after my first TVR, the Griffith 430 BV and the TVR V8S, both also in LHD.
it was a frame of and frame on again resto, a lot of work while the now originally just did 30.000 miles in all its live, because by its second owner from 1969 drove a lot with it, but in all those years it also almost stood 40 years in a storage/collection so all needed done over to be the best it could be.
And ow, I'm not a Red car fan In general, but I had little choice and I must say, this one looks pretty good, also my first car was a Red Fiat X1/9 1300
but I got a bit anti Red after seeing 40+ Red Ferrari's in the nineties at a big Zandvoort event, that was the day Red became a bit to much? 
at one of those concours events Amalia 2025
As the title says, it turned out to be a 1967 TVR Tuscan V8 SWB SE chassis 200/025 , apparently, these were also only built in that year as a successor and upgrade to the Griffith 400, its older brother, but not to be confused by the later Tuscan V8 LWB also started production in 1967, so even AI has problems with the first version and even 10 TVR books that I have only some poor info of my model, but hey, part of the fun I guess.
The most striking feature is the side windows, which are one whole no longer like, for example, the two-part windows on the Griffith 400.
The car was finished somewhat better in America, more for concours, with some minor adjustments for originality.
Nice, of course, although I'm actually more of a Restomod-style fan meaning buying a lesser car rather than modifying what you like, say brakes, suspension, bushings, seats, rims, etc. but this one is already finished, albeit in a more standard form, haha, but built up mechanically by Peter from Knight Racing Services Ltd, with a printout included: 403 bhp and 530 nm; that seems enough for the 185 wide Avon tires, I guess...
Bought in America, had Marlog handled via a large import company, so picking it up there for inspection and transport for shipping and insurance, then clearing it through customs here once and paying again, then also having it inspected via Marlog for EU roads and the Dutch RDW inspection for road admission on Dutch roads.
as you can see it only has a drivers mirror, I also want one on the other side, because I always park my car backwards in my garage via a turn... so want and need to see were precise the doorposts are, don't want to scratch the paint via the wall or doorpost iron.
you can buy a pair of chrome bullet/Torpedo style side mirrors from say 50,-euro but the one on my car is a Talbot & Co Berlin mirror, costing more then 10 times for 1 mirror, why...
I already received a list of what they want to modify... including the still-new headlights that are on it; they said those were more for RHD roads, and besides, without EU approval, modifying them would be difficult on those models, so new EU-approved headlights for LHD are now being installed. The rear brakes also appear to brake harder on one side than the other, which they are going to adjust (it is all out of my hands then, and I just have to trust that it is necessary; I ll just assume that s the case, a bit out of my hands).
And they are going to re-stamp the chassis number; they find it too unclear, even though it was clear when they finally found it during restoration and lightly sanded that part. However, the chassis was painted properly again afterwards, of course; it is somewhat hidden, but anyway, if the RDW says so, there is little I can do about it. Anyway, all in all, apparently another 1,255 euros in costs on top of that, including inspection and preparation work via the importer and time; I thought that was already included in the handling fees etc. Anyway, I thought I'd outsource that part now too. It's all a bit scary, but it's nice that when it arrives and I can order the license plates etc., I can drive it right away for the first time in one of those first Tuscan V8 SWB SE versions.
Anyway, it is getting closer now; as soon as I know the license plate (Old Dutch Model and lettering), I can order the new plates with raised letters and some nice matching chrome holders. I still need to take a good look at how to mount the front; I don't want it to obstruct anything, so no blockages for intake cooling/radiators etc., but I also have to be careful that the entire hood bends forward when opening, etc., so how to mount it... maybe I'll remove it again later and stick a smaller sticker model on the hood. Anyway, as long as the car is inside my garage just once.
is that not just lovely, looks like vacation with a nice view
I will also use this thread for questions regarding the car; everything is new to me, I've never had such an old one before, even though it looks like new and rebuilt.
This is the opening post, more later, and oh, it will be my third TVR ever, after my first TVR, the Griffith 430 BV and the TVR V8S, both also in LHD.
it was a frame of and frame on again resto, a lot of work while the now originally just did 30.000 miles in all its live, because by its second owner from 1969 drove a lot with it, but in all those years it also almost stood 40 years in a storage/collection so all needed done over to be the best it could be.
And ow, I'm not a Red car fan In general, but I had little choice and I must say, this one looks pretty good, also my first car was a Red Fiat X1/9 1300
but I got a bit anti Red after seeing 40+ Red Ferrari's in the nineties at a big Zandvoort event, that was the day Red became a bit to much? Ron L said:
That is very, very nice.
Thanks 
GAjon said:
Congratulations on your classic TVR, it looks fantastic.
1967, it would have been built primarily under the control of Bernard Williams , David Hives and Tommy Entwistle.
Thanks 1967, it would have been built primarily under the control of Bernard Williams , David Hives and Tommy Entwistle.
I do not know that
believe it was the Martin Lilley era to change the then 'bad' reputation that the Griffith 400's had, so they upgraded a few things, some say even some aero? lines? no idea, ofcourse you see the front bonnet and side windows from the outside.TR4man said:
What a stunning car!
That shade of red looks spectacular and the interior seems to a wonderful place to be. It appears to be in great condition judging by the photos.
I hope you'll be showing it off at the Euromeet next August at the 'Ring?
I love such interiors, I wonder how I feel once inside in the seats, the wheel and the pedals and so on, but by looks yes, looks fantastic and high quality materials been used.That shade of red looks spectacular and the interior seems to a wonderful place to be. It appears to be in great condition judging by the photos.
I hope you'll be showing it off at the Euromeet next August at the 'Ring?
it says
>The cabin features fixed-back bucket seats trimmed in black
Bridge of Weir leather and accompanied by a color-coordinated
dash pad, console cover, door panels, and wool carpets, the
latter of which are overlaid with black and red Coco-style mats.
Interior details include burl wood dashboard trim, a RetroSound
digital media receiver, a heater, and lap belts.
The wood-rimmed three-spoke steering wheel fronts Smiths
instrumentation consisting of a 160-mph speedometer & an 8k-rpm
tachometer, and gauges that monitor coolant temperature, oil
pressure, amperage, and fuel level are mounted in the center
stack above a row of toggle-type switchgear.
The five-digit odometer shows 30k miles, approximately
2,500 of which were driven under current ownership.<
also, the last owner mailed that those toggle switches seem to be also use in Lamborghini Muirá and others? anyhow, those look nice me thinks, also it has a heated wind screen, but the last owner forgot if that was under one of those toggle switches or?
and the heater things he never used... so he does not know, I said what? you have to use those at least once in a while for the flow and keeping such healthy.
so he did not knew for what those 3 pul switches? were, yes heater but? I think the middle one is the lighter? but the left and the right one? and ow how to use those? pul? turn? hah, I have a lot to learn and ow, to read, the car comes with a load of history and pictures and USB and hardcover with lots of resto pictures and magazines were the car was in and so fort, so I hope that all is still in the car when it arrives safely here were I live.
Hope in a week max 2 weeks? when its ready for Dutch roads and adjusted some things and I can get paltes as soon as I know the numbers/letters, so that I can drive the little Monster.
Lefty said:
Magnificent 
So, we touched on this briefly in the other thread i think but what are the difference between this and a Griffith?
thanks So, we touched on this briefly in the other thread i think but what are the difference between this and a Griffith?
Good question, I still have to get the car and hopefully all the documents/historie that was send with it, so I have to go trough that also to see if I can find more, because the Internet is vague/misleading a bit, they cross the SWB and LWB both in 1967 so mostly you get a mix of the 2 models info.
But what I think/get out of such.
The difference between the TVR Griffith 400 (and the GB200, I suppose) lies in the interior and finish—better leather, a burr walnut dashboard, high-quality wool floor mats, and so on.
The SE featured wider 15-inch center-lock wire wheels (often 6 inches wide) and more powerful, power-assisted brakes.
It had a prominent bonnet bulge.
The door windows lacked the quarter-lights.
I also read somewhere about improved aerodynamics; if you look at the photo above—comparing the black car with this red TVR—the roofline seems to slope down a bit earlier (looking more bulbous), and the rear window appears slightly different too. That might just be an optical illusion, though I did read that there were some improvements in that area.
Apparently, the chassis was reinforced, torque steer was eliminated, and there were other changes. However, researching this is tricky because the LWB Series 2 Tuscan was also released in 1967, leading to a lot of confusion between the models; it’s hard to pinpoint exactly what was improved or changed beyond the name switch from Griffith to Tuscan.
What I find interesting is that it’s the first model to bear the Tuscan name, yet it still carries the Griffith chassis number 200/025.
Also their brochure at the time, they used photos from a upgraded TVR Griffith 400 to the New Tuscan line, see the side quarter windows still there, guess you can see that one as a prototype?
Lefty said:
Fabulous, love the original brochure data too, when you don't see these very often you forget just how tiny they are!
I had the same, when you look at those in a picture I think, ok, compact but not low or wide, but measuring the car looks like its wider then you think looking how long/short it is with just 3.59 mtr, also the height at 1.19 mtr, thats way lower then my Z3 s65 was with 1.26 mtrso yeah, funny.
not so funny is that I thought I would already have the car at home, they said a week for customs clearance and a week for RDW (road allowance and good check up) but no, have to change my plans, got a mail from them, Monday 14th RDW so then I hope they bring it later that week and I wanted to use the car Sunday 13th sadly all out my hands, hate that, but yeah, have to wait.
and if its home in the garage, I can finally order the plates when I know what numbers/letters and the chrome plat holders and see if I can mount the front plate somewhere save, not for some air inlet and not so low that I can't open the hood and see were to mount it, maybe later a smaller sticker (ala Donkervoort or many UK cars mostly use)plate on the hood, so no drilling.
GTRene said:
I had the same, when you look at those in a picture I think, ok, compact but not low or wide, but measuring the car looks like its wider then you think looking how long/short it is with just 3.59 mtr, also the height at 1.19 mtr, thats way lower then my Z3 s65 was with 1.26 mtr
so yeah, funny.
not so funny is that I thought I would already have the car at home, they said a week for customs clearance and a week for RDW (road allowance and good check up) but no, have to change my plans, got a mail from them, Monday 14th RDW so then I hope they bring it later that week and I wanted to use the car Sunday 13th sadly all out my hands, hate that, but yeah, have to wait.
and if its home in the garage, I can finally order the plates when I know what numbers/letters and the chrome plat holders and see if I can mount the front plate somewhere save, not for some air inlet and not so low that I can't open the hood and see were to mount it, maybe later a smaller sticker (ala Donkervoort or many UK cars mostly use)plate on the hood, so no drilling.
Ahh that's so frustrating. How long has it taken in total?so yeah, funny.
not so funny is that I thought I would already have the car at home, they said a week for customs clearance and a week for RDW (road allowance and good check up) but no, have to change my plans, got a mail from them, Monday 14th RDW so then I hope they bring it later that week and I wanted to use the car Sunday 13th sadly all out my hands, hate that, but yeah, have to wait.
and if its home in the garage, I can finally order the plates when I know what numbers/letters and the chrome plat holders and see if I can mount the front plate somewhere save, not for some air inlet and not so low that I can't open the hood and see were to mount it, maybe later a smaller sticker (ala Donkervoort or many UK cars mostly use)plate on the hood, so no drilling.
Lefty said:
GTRene said:
I had the same, when you look at those in a picture I think, ok, compact but not low or wide, but measuring the car looks like its wider then you think looking how long/short it is with just 3.59 mtr, also the height at 1.19 mtr, thats way lower then my Z3 s65 was with 1.26 mtr
so yeah, funny.
not so funny is that I thought I would already have the car at home, they said a week for customs clearance and a week for RDW (road allowance and good check up) but no, have to change my plans, got a mail from them, Monday 14th RDW so then I hope they bring it later that week and I wanted to use the car Sunday 13th sadly all out my hands, hate that, but yeah, have to wait.
and if its home in the garage, I can finally order the plates when I know what numbers/letters and the chrome plat holders and see if I can mount the front plate somewhere save, not for some air inlet and not so low that I can't open the hood and see were to mount it, maybe later a smaller sticker (ala Donkervoort or many UK cars mostly use)plate on the hood, so no drilling.
Ahh that's so frustrating. How long has it taken in total?so yeah, funny.
not so funny is that I thought I would already have the car at home, they said a week for customs clearance and a week for RDW (road allowance and good check up) but no, have to change my plans, got a mail from them, Monday 14th RDW so then I hope they bring it later that week and I wanted to use the car Sunday 13th sadly all out my hands, hate that, but yeah, have to wait.
and if its home in the garage, I can finally order the plates when I know what numbers/letters and the chrome plat holders and see if I can mount the front plate somewhere save, not for some air inlet and not so low that I can't open the hood and see were to mount it, maybe later a smaller sticker (ala Donkervoort or many UK cars mostly use)plate on the hood, so no drilling.
From there, customs clearance and the RDW inspection (and related procedures) were expected to take about a week each so they said. Unfortunately, things didn't go quite that way, so I had to postpone some plans involving the car.
They now say the RDW inspection is set for September 14th, followed by transport to my home by truck (assuming everything goes according to plan), so I hope to receive the car by the 18th at the latest.
All in all—including arrangements with the importer and so on—the process will take a little over two months. That’s longer than I’d hoped, though I had somewhat anticipated a delay; still, it’s a bit of a wait.
Once the car arrives, I’ll need to call a certified appraiser to schedule a valuation, forward the report to my insurer, and—once I have the Dutch license plate number from the RDW I can order the plates and chrome holders to get the car ready for the road.
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