RE: Spotted: TVR T440-R

[jellison]

Pointless unless it goes alot faster than a Tuscan and it won't without a SERIOUS engine upgrade (talking what they ran when these theings raced) alot more racers than road ones!!!

[DJRC]

Flat2theMat said:

DJRC said:

Flat2theMat said:

Spotted the Typhon in Liverpool a few years ago and had to look twice, three times and then a fourth time to make sure it was really a Typhon! Lovely car. It was one of the black ones and I'd literally been reading an artical in Evo magazine about it the night before. Is there much difference between the Typhon and the T440 - R?

That would most probably have been me. Did you spot a Sag in close proximity? If it wasnt me then it was probably redheaded lass.

It was at Liverpool Airport Easter 2007. Here's some pics I took of it:





Such a classy looking car, and the interior looks beautiful as well. I love the carbon fibre wrapped around the chassis. Even the fuel filler is a touch of class. I prefer the wheels on this one to the T440 in the article.

Yes it was me, delivering it back to its owner.

[PaulMoor]

Jonny TVR said:

As much as I love it and want it, I think its a risky investment at that level. However if you already have a DB4, V12 Vantage, Muira, Fulvia, Griffith 200, Griffith 4.3BV, Series 1 land rover etc then it would be a good addition

I suppose if you have enough at least one of them would work at a time. The only problem is working out which one it will be each morning.

[Or888t]

Finding out about this car, reading this thread, looking at the posted pic of the orange one- which confirmed is it totally gorgeous- and finding this thread
http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...
(from 2006) Had made me feel really sad.
I really do wish they still existed as a manufacturer...

[V8 GRF]

Mx5guy said:

Blown2CV said:

Flat2theMat said:

Spotted the Typhon in Liverpool a few years ago and had to look twice, three times and then a fourth time to make sure it was really a Typhon! Lovely car. It was one of the black ones and I'd literally been reading an artical in Evo magazine about it the night before. Is there much difference between the Typhon and the T440 - R?

I thought the Typhon was intended to be the SC version.

The Typhons were going to be supercharged. There was 3 made, but the orange one had problems with the supercharger, so it was dropped for the other two. The orange one has vanished (in bits from what I have heard) and it is unknown where it is. Of the other two one is owned by a PHer, and the other was/ is owned by the same lady who owned (owns?) this car. I had the pleasure of having a ride in her Typhon and it is a stunning car. Would love to have the money to get it!

Briefly, the project was originally started by PW to be a car to go to Le-Man which it obviously did. It was originally called the Tuscan R andthen evolved into the T400/T440. The race cars where to be designated T400 and the road cars T440.

As it turned out the one being discussed was the only cars delivered to it's owner (LNT) designated as a T440r. The Typhon was then announced by NS as a S/C, sequential box car. Only one car, the orange one, ever ran a S/C and the development sequential box, it was never delivered/finished in this spec as the car overheated and the development box continually seized. It was retained by TVR and sold via RG last year. The other cars subseqently called/referred to as Typhons are technically T440s as they were never intended to have or indeed were fitted with the S/C or sequential box, indeed iirc they were built and delivered before NS announced the supercharged version.

[Flat2theMat]

DJRC said:

Yes it was me, delivering it back to its owner.

Cool, we spoke briefly then. What's it like to drive - I suppose, not much different to a Tuscan?

[crankedup]

If only TVR had established some proper racing heritage, like Lotus. Don't get me wrong I am a big fan of TVR but wouldn't invest 150k into one.

[PieterA]

I really like this one, but that interior is just ugly. Unique opportunity, but at 150k too steep I guess.

[scholesy]

Damn that is pricey, nice car and all, but a bit too much for what it is!

[V8 GRF]

More detail with research done by myself and 'Donkey Apple' with the original build team can be found on this thread.

http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...

[soad]

Nothing wrong with interior - it's functional enough.


Racer (T400R):

[Roo]

V8 GRF said:

More detail with research done by myself and 'Donkey Apple' with the original build team can be found on this thread.

http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...

What an incredibly interesting read. I remember the first T400/T440 being shown. It was the last year I attended the show as a dealer.

Thanks for posting the link.

[rampageturke]

the steering wheel is on upside down

[myhandle]

These looked good at Wilton, really quite different from a Tuscan. I'm not a TVR diehard by any means, but Harry Metcalfe's Le Mans story when the car was new was good reading. Anything this rare will always have a niche appeal. Did anyone see the Spectre R45 at Wilton? The owner advised me only 2 were built. This sort of car is almost as rare as a concept car, so the most important thing is that they are owned and preserved by enthusiasts.

[PiB]

rampageturke said:

the steering wheel is on upside down

• sigh* You have to appreciate the dial layout to understand.

If i'm not mistaken

[silversixx]

andyps said:

There is a speed 12 around, but only one. Allegedly Peter Wheeler took the car home one night and decided it was too fast for road use so no others were built.

For what it's worth I've heard the same explanation from a number of sources.

[tail slide]

jellison said:

Pointless unless it goes alot faster than a Tuscan and it won't without a SERIOUS engine upgrade (talking what they ran when these theings raced) alot more racers than road ones!!!

Hi Jon, Hope you're still having fun thrashing the classic racers. I now have this same spec new 430bhp 4.2 in my T350, and trust me it's as far as you'd want to go for road use, after some discussion with the factory engineers on other road & track options!

In fact with the tiny air restrictor they had to run this engine with at LeMans, even with their extreme cams that were apparently undriveable below 4000rpm and went up to 8k revs, these TVRPower/STR8SIX 4.2's now have near as dammit as much mid- and top-end torque as the racers had, according to Mr.Ravenscroft when he mapped mine.

[V8 GRF]

silversixx said:

andyps said:

There is a speed 12 around, but only one. Allegedly Peter Wheeler took the car home one night and decided it was too fast for road use so no others were built.

For what it's worth I've heard the same explanation from a number of sources.

That's just a myth.

From what I've gleaned from those at the factory it was just a publicity stunt by PW that they were going to make them for the road and that he never took the car home.
I'd suggest a number of reasons would have prevented that. A few of those being that it's huge bulk would have prevented it going down very narrow country lanes, the fact that it had almost zero steering lock and finally the engine didn't just start on the push of a button and required a team of guys to get it started.

[DonkeyApple]

V8 GRF said:

silversixx said:

andyps said:

There is a speed 12 around, but only one. Allegedly Peter Wheeler took the car home one night and decided it was too fast for road use so no others were built.

For what it's worth I've heard the same explanation from a number of sources.

That's just a myth.

From what I've gleaned from those at the factory it was just a publicity stunt by PW that they were going to make them for the road and that he never took the car home.
I'd suggest a number of reasons would have prevented that. A few of those being that it's huge bulk would have prevented it going down very narrow country lanes, the fact that it had almost zero steering lock and finally the engine didn't just start on the push of a button and required a team of guys to get it started.

I think the 'Too powerful for the road' was more of a disguise for the fact that it would have just cost too much to get it to genuinely work on the road in contrast to the number of potential clients. Just like the 'Driver's aids for women', it was just that the tech was too expensive back then.

[DonkeyApple]

V8 GRF said:

Mx5guy said:

Blown2CV said:

Flat2theMat said:

Spotted the Typhon in Liverpool a few years ago and had to look twice, three times and then a fourth time to make sure it was really a Typhon! Lovely car. It was one of the black ones and I'd literally been reading an artical in Evo magazine about it the night before. Is there much difference between the Typhon and the T440 - R?

I thought the Typhon was intended to be the SC version.

The Typhons were going to be supercharged. There was 3 made, but the orange one had problems with the supercharger, so it was dropped for the other two. The orange one has vanished (in bits from what I have heard) and it is unknown where it is. Of the other two one is owned by a PHer, and the other was/ is owned by the same lady who owned (owns?) this car. I had the pleasure of having a ride in her Typhon and it is a stunning car. Would love to have the money to get it!

Briefly, the project was originally started by PW to be a car to go to Le-Man which it obviously did. It was originally called the Tuscan R andthen evolved into the T400/T440. The race cars where to be designated T400 and the road cars T440.

As it turned out the one being discussed was the only cars delivered to it's owner (LNT) designated as a T440r. The Typhon was then announced by NS as a S/C, sequential box car. Only one car, the orange one, ever ran a S/C and the development sequential box, it was never delivered/finished in this spec as the car overheated and the development box continually seized. It was retained by TVR and sold via RG last year. The other cars subseqently called/referred to as Typhons are technically T440s as they were never intended to have or indeed were fitted with the S/C or sequential box, indeed iirc they were built and delivered before NS announced the supercharged version.

PW announced the road cars in about 2001 as the T400, basically the Tuscan R but with the 2+2 interior and the different rear end. Then to distinguish it more from the other 4.0 engines Tivs they changed it to the T440 with a 4.2 to get the extra power. In 2003, or thereabouts, PW announced the 600 bhp Typhon, a T440 with a supercharger and a sequential box.

In 03 they built the silver car as a T440

In 04 they built the orange Typhon as a Typhon as PW intended (4.2 supercharged), but they couldn't get it to work and were still trying when PW sold out to NS. By then the other 2 cars were in build.

NS dropped the supercharger and sequential box project and changed the name of the cars to just Typhon, so the name T440 ceased to exist, just like PW dropped the Tuscan R and the T400. He took the first customer car for himself, so the other one that was in build was then built to the same spec and was delivered to the customer. The 2 reflex charcoal Typhons were registered in 2006 with 4.0L engines.

NS then sold his reflex charcoal Typhon around 2007 to the same couple who owned the silver T440 which by then had been crunched by a journalist and was in need of repair.

At the time that TVR went bust the orange Typhon was still sitting at TVR's new premisis with the supercharger still installed but not running.

To all intents and purposes, the 4 road cars are the same. As you would expect with TVR in the 3 years between them all be road registered there are some very minor interior differences.

All 4 are on the road and in Britain which is nice. Their names are more a function of when they were registered rather than any actual differences between the cars, especially since the orange one was been put back on the road without its supercharger or sequential box, meaning it is the same as the others.

These cars are rather special as they were the only TVRs to be born out of a car specifically built to go high end racing with, but also as a showcase of just where TVR as a company were heading. They are the last of PW's great creations, his crowning pinnacle. All English, down to the engine and a real showcase of what a bunch of lads from Blackpool were truly capable of when some of them weren't splashing a little too much carpet glue in the cabins.

They are great cars and a real part of English motoring history. Linking them to the Jaguar SS cars is pushing it somewhat though, in my eyes. They are what they are but trying to make them something that they are not just devalues their importance. But that's salesmen for you.