Buying advice please!
Discussion
Basil Brush said:
... I remember watching the 5th Gear (?) comparison they did between a 996 Turbo, 360 Modena and the black Tuscan S back when they were current. Mike Brewer's face when he set off in the Tuscan said it all!
Google searches are failing me, would love to watch that video...If you like open top sportscar driving , with that budget you could buy a Tuscan Convertible but not mine 
https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...
Prettiest TVR ( with the roof off)
I don't think experiences with a factory Tuscan MK1s are relevant to MK2s/MK3s & Convertibles .... So many improvements in reliability and finish . But always fun to improve them even more .
https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...
Prettiest TVR ( with the roof off)
I don't think experiences with a factory Tuscan MK1s are relevant to MK2s/MK3s & Convertibles .... So many improvements in reliability and finish . But always fun to improve them even more .
Edited by The Three D Mucketeer on Tuesday 19th November 13:34
Basil Brush said:
... I remember watching the 5th Gear (?) comparison they did between a 996 Turbo, 360 Modena and the black Tuscan S back when they were current. Mike Brewer's face when he set off in the Tuscan said it all!
Yes - I often thought I was going to die too..................blueg33 said:
Basil Brush said:
... I remember watching the 5th Gear (?) comparison they did between a 996 Turbo, 360 Modena and the black Tuscan S back when they were current. Mike Brewer's face when he set off in the Tuscan said it all!
Yes - I often thought I was going to die too..................Basil Brush said:
blueg33 said:
Basil Brush said:
... I remember watching the 5th Gear (?) comparison they did between a 996 Turbo, 360 Modena and the black Tuscan S back when they were current. Mike Brewer's face when he set off in the Tuscan said it all!
Yes - I often thought I was going to die too..................But the gearbox must have failed requiring it to need rebuilding in the first place.
Out of interest what was the cost for that and when.
I assume a Ferrari service centre was responsible for the work.
I remember sourcing a set of Brembo brakes for my Tvr, the spec originally fitted to BMW 7 series
I cross referenced them to find they were also fitted to Ferrari 348 Modena cars, if my memory serves me correct.
Mine came with the Brembo name.
Completely re furbished and cost £500 all in including discs and pads.
The exact same caliper but with the Ferrari name stamped into them second hand on the Internet came in at £1500 for one and in poor condition and only one available on the World Wide Web. This was nearly 10 years ago.
Picture taken a good 8 years ago.
I often drove and instructed members of the public in a 360.
Nice car, not much torque but pretty quick once it got revving. I have to agree I thought the interior let it down and was rather boring.
I also instruct in a TVR TAMORA.
The difference in how peoples emotions are after driving each car said a huge amount.
Often people felt slightly underwhelmed after the Ferrari where as the Tvr with its sound, speed and brutal feel left them shaking, fear mostly but all came out of that car suggesting they wanted one.
I have no doubt the Ferrari is a better car but the Tvr provoked there emotions far more.
I can’t answer as to why that is but it just is.
Also out of interest how long ago did you own your Tuscan and how original was it.
Many top line Tvr now have been developed and fettled to a point no Tvr direct from the factory ever was.
The beauty of Tvr is you can do that and not at huge cost compared to other marks which cost an utter fortune to develop.
Remember Tvr admitted way back when “ we build the cars, it’s up to you to finish it” and that’s exactly what owners have been doing for decades.
Greedydog.
The best advice is to contact companies like Amore Tvr, Miles at HPC Classics, St8six, James Agger and other top line dealers who sell some of the best cars on the market and pick their brains, test drive one or two, enquire about service/ repair costs including labour charges which tend to be at least half the hourly rate of even BMW main dealers let alone specialist cars like Ferrari or Porsche.
Given the fact most Tvr are now occasional use or summer cars and based on your budget there’s no reason why you can’t get a Tvr that will be usable and reliable as any 20 year old Supercar would be.
Mostly enjoy the experience of looking snd getting to know them and see where your heart then lands.
Out of interest what was the cost for that and when.
I assume a Ferrari service centre was responsible for the work.
I remember sourcing a set of Brembo brakes for my Tvr, the spec originally fitted to BMW 7 series
I cross referenced them to find they were also fitted to Ferrari 348 Modena cars, if my memory serves me correct.
Mine came with the Brembo name.
Completely re furbished and cost £500 all in including discs and pads.
The exact same caliper but with the Ferrari name stamped into them second hand on the Internet came in at £1500 for one and in poor condition and only one available on the World Wide Web. This was nearly 10 years ago.
Picture taken a good 8 years ago.
I often drove and instructed members of the public in a 360.
Nice car, not much torque but pretty quick once it got revving. I have to agree I thought the interior let it down and was rather boring.
I also instruct in a TVR TAMORA.
The difference in how peoples emotions are after driving each car said a huge amount.
Often people felt slightly underwhelmed after the Ferrari where as the Tvr with its sound, speed and brutal feel left them shaking, fear mostly but all came out of that car suggesting they wanted one.
I have no doubt the Ferrari is a better car but the Tvr provoked there emotions far more.
I can’t answer as to why that is but it just is.
Also out of interest how long ago did you own your Tuscan and how original was it.
Many top line Tvr now have been developed and fettled to a point no Tvr direct from the factory ever was.
The beauty of Tvr is you can do that and not at huge cost compared to other marks which cost an utter fortune to develop.
Remember Tvr admitted way back when “ we build the cars, it’s up to you to finish it” and that’s exactly what owners have been doing for decades.
Greedydog.
The best advice is to contact companies like Amore Tvr, Miles at HPC Classics, St8six, James Agger and other top line dealers who sell some of the best cars on the market and pick their brains, test drive one or two, enquire about service/ repair costs including labour charges which tend to be at least half the hourly rate of even BMW main dealers let alone specialist cars like Ferrari or Porsche.
Given the fact most Tvr are now occasional use or summer cars and based on your budget there’s no reason why you can’t get a Tvr that will be usable and reliable as any 20 year old Supercar would be.
Mostly enjoy the experience of looking snd getting to know them and see where your heart then lands.
Edited by BritishTvr450 on Wednesday 20th November 07:17
Edited by BritishTvr450 on Wednesday 20th November 08:05
BritishTvr450 said:
But the gearbox must have failed requiring it to need rebuilding in the first place.
Out of interest what was the cost for that and when.
I assume a Ferrari service centre was responsible for the work.
I remember sourcing a set of Brembo brakes for my Tvr, the spec originally fitted to BMW 7 series
I cross referenced them to find they were also fitted to Ferrari 348 Modena cars, if my memory serves me correct.
Mine came with the Brembo name.
Completely re furbished and cost £500 all in including discs and pads.
The exact same caliper but with the Ferrari name stamped into them second hand on the Internet came in at £1500 for one and in poor condition and only one available on the World Wide Web. This was nearly 10 years ago.
Picture taken a good 8 years ago.
I often drove and instructed members of the public in a 360.
Nice car, not much torque but pretty quick once it got revving. I have to agree I thought the interior let it down and was rather boring.
I also instruct in a TVR TAMORA.
The difference in how peoples emotions are after driving each car said a huge amount.
Often people felt slightly underwhelmed after the Ferrari where as the Tvr with its sound, speed and brutal feel left them shaking, fear mostly but all came out of that car suggesting they wanted one.
I have no doubt the Ferrari is a better car but the Tvr provoked there emotions far more.
I can’t answer as to why that is but it just is.
Also out of interest how long ago did you own your Tuscan and how original was it.
Many top line Tvr now have been developed and fettled to a point no Tvr direct from the factory ever was.
The beauty of Tvr is you can do that and not at huge cost compared to other marks which cost an utter fortune to develop.
Remember Tvr admitted way back when “ we build the cars, it’s up to you to finish it” and that’s exactly what owners have been doing for decades.
Greedydog.
The best advice is to contact companies like Amore Tvr, Miles at HPC Classics, St8six, James Agger and other top line dealers who sell some of the best cars on the market and pick their brains, test drive one or two, enquire about service/ repair costs including labour charges which tend to be at least half the hourly rate of even BMW main dealers let alone specialist cars like Ferrari or Porsche.
Given the fact most Tvr are now occasional use or summer cars and based on your budget there’s no reason why you can’t get a Tvr that will be usable and reliable as any 20 year old Supercar would be.
Mostly enjoy the experience of looking snd getting to know them and see where your heart then lands.
It was a slight synchro crunch, I had a warranty so had it done under that. Work was done by a well regarded Indy. They had an F50 and a Dino in the workshop when they did my car. The guy that did the work was let go. Supervision was poor and he used the wrong tool. Out of interest what was the cost for that and when.
I assume a Ferrari service centre was responsible for the work.
I remember sourcing a set of Brembo brakes for my Tvr, the spec originally fitted to BMW 7 series
I cross referenced them to find they were also fitted to Ferrari 348 Modena cars, if my memory serves me correct.
Mine came with the Brembo name.
Completely re furbished and cost £500 all in including discs and pads.
The exact same caliper but with the Ferrari name stamped into them second hand on the Internet came in at £1500 for one and in poor condition and only one available on the World Wide Web. This was nearly 10 years ago.
Picture taken a good 8 years ago.
I often drove and instructed members of the public in a 360.
Nice car, not much torque but pretty quick once it got revving. I have to agree I thought the interior let it down and was rather boring.
I also instruct in a TVR TAMORA.
The difference in how peoples emotions are after driving each car said a huge amount.
Often people felt slightly underwhelmed after the Ferrari where as the Tvr with its sound, speed and brutal feel left them shaking, fear mostly but all came out of that car suggesting they wanted one.
I have no doubt the Ferrari is a better car but the Tvr provoked there emotions far more.
I can’t answer as to why that is but it just is.
Also out of interest how long ago did you own your Tuscan and how original was it.
Many top line Tvr now have been developed and fettled to a point no Tvr direct from the factory ever was.
The beauty of Tvr is you can do that and not at huge cost compared to other marks which cost an utter fortune to develop.
Remember Tvr admitted way back when “ we build the cars, it’s up to you to finish it” and that’s exactly what owners have been doing for decades.
Greedydog.
The best advice is to contact companies like Amore Tvr, Miles at HPC Classics, St8six, James Agger and other top line dealers who sell some of the best cars on the market and pick their brains, test drive one or two, enquire about service/ repair costs including labour charges which tend to be at least half the hourly rate of even BMW main dealers let alone specialist cars like Ferrari or Porsche.
Given the fact most Tvr are now occasional use or summer cars and based on your budget there’s no reason why you can’t get a Tvr that will be usable and reliable as any 20 year old Supercar would be.
Mostly enjoy the experience of looking snd getting to know them and see where your heart then lands.
Edited by BritishTvr450 on Wednesday 20th November 07:17
Edited by BritishTvr450 on Wednesday 20th November 08:05
T5 gearboxes fail and are known to have synchro issues on 5th. How much to replace one?
Like I said. I enjoyed my Tuscan but I enjoy the Ferrari more and it’s less of a worry.
Tamora is one of the better handling TVR’s for sure. The problem with TVR’s is that there are many solutions to the many problems and you never really know which one will work on your car.
As for noise, put a capristo on the 360 and it’s one of the best sounding cars you can get. My decatted Tuscan was so loud I had to push it down the lane for early morning starts because it set off car alarms.
I’m not suggesting the op avoids a Tuscan, I am suggesting he goes in “eyes open “. It’s a very different proposition to a Porsche or a Ferrari of a similar vintage.
Edited by blueg33 on Wednesday 20th November 22:34
blueg33 said:
It was a slight synchro crunch, I had a warranty so had it done under that. Work was done by a well regarded Indy. They had an F50 and a Dino in the workshop when they did my car. The guy that did the work was let go. Supervision was poor and he used the wrong tool.
T5 gearboxes fail and are known to have synchro issues on 5th. How much to replace one?
Like I said. I enjoyed my Tuscan but I enjoy the Ferrari more and it’s less of a worry.
Tamora is one of the better handling TVR’s for sure. The problem with TVR’s is that there are many solutions to the many problems and you never really know which one will work on your car.
As for noise, put a capristo on the 360 and it’s one of the best sounding cars you can get. My decatted Tuscan was so loud I had to push it down the lane for early morning starts because it set off car alarms.
I’m not suggesting the op avoids a Tuscan, I am suggesting he goes in “eyes open “. It’s a very different proposition to a Porsche or a Ferrari of a similar vintage.
Less than £2k for a full T5 rebuild. So unless you damage your TVR gearbox by driving the car into a tree, there's no way a gearbox issue would land anyone with a 5 figure bill, so I agree, a similar age Ferrari is a very different proposition. T5 gearboxes fail and are known to have synchro issues on 5th. How much to replace one?
Like I said. I enjoyed my Tuscan but I enjoy the Ferrari more and it’s less of a worry.
Tamora is one of the better handling TVR’s for sure. The problem with TVR’s is that there are many solutions to the many problems and you never really know which one will work on your car.
As for noise, put a capristo on the 360 and it’s one of the best sounding cars you can get. My decatted Tuscan was so loud I had to push it down the lane for early morning starts because it set off car alarms.
I’m not suggesting the op avoids a Tuscan, I am suggesting he goes in “eyes open “. It’s a very different proposition to a Porsche or a Ferrari of a similar vintage.
Edited by blueg33 on Wednesday 20th November 22:34
Basil Brush said:
blueg33 said:
It was a slight synchro crunch, I had a warranty so had it done under that. Work was done by a well regarded Indy. They had an F50 and a Dino in the workshop when they did my car. The guy that did the work was let go. Supervision was poor and he used the wrong tool.
T5 gearboxes fail and are known to have synchro issues on 5th. How much to replace one?
Like I said. I enjoyed my Tuscan but I enjoy the Ferrari more and it’s less of a worry.
Tamora is one of the better handling TVR’s for sure. The problem with TVR’s is that there are many solutions to the many problems and you never really know which one will work on your car.
As for noise, put a capristo on the 360 and it’s one of the best sounding cars you can get. My decatted Tuscan was so loud I had to push it down the lane for early morning starts because it set off car alarms.
I’m not suggesting the op avoids a Tuscan, I am suggesting he goes in “eyes open “. It’s a very different proposition to a Porsche or a Ferrari of a similar vintage.
Less than £2k for a full T5 rebuild. So unless you damage your TVR gearbox by driving the car into a tree, there's no way a gearbox issue would land anyone with a 5 figure bill, so I agree, a similar age Ferrari is a very different proposition. T5 gearboxes fail and are known to have synchro issues on 5th. How much to replace one?
Like I said. I enjoyed my Tuscan but I enjoy the Ferrari more and it’s less of a worry.
Tamora is one of the better handling TVR’s for sure. The problem with TVR’s is that there are many solutions to the many problems and you never really know which one will work on your car.
As for noise, put a capristo on the 360 and it’s one of the best sounding cars you can get. My decatted Tuscan was so loud I had to push it down the lane for early morning starts because it set off car alarms.
I’m not suggesting the op avoids a Tuscan, I am suggesting he goes in “eyes open “. It’s a very different proposition to a Porsche or a Ferrari of a similar vintage.
Edited by blueg33 on Wednesday 20th November 22:34
blueg33 said:
Basil Brush said:
blueg33 said:
It was a slight synchro crunch, I had a warranty so had it done under that. Work was done by a well regarded Indy. They had an F50 and a Dino in the workshop when they did my car. The guy that did the work was let go. Supervision was poor and he used the wrong tool.
T5 gearboxes fail and are known to have synchro issues on 5th. How much to replace one?
Like I said. I enjoyed my Tuscan but I enjoy the Ferrari more and it’s less of a worry.
Tamora is one of the better handling TVR’s for sure. The problem with TVR’s is that there are many solutions to the many problems and you never really know which one will work on your car.
As for noise, put a capristo on the 360 and it’s one of the best sounding cars you can get. My decatted Tuscan was so loud I had to push it down the lane for early morning starts because it set off car alarms.
I’m not suggesting the op avoids a Tuscan, I am suggesting he goes in “eyes open “. It’s a very different proposition to a Porsche or a Ferrari of a similar vintage.
Less than £2k for a full T5 rebuild. So unless you damage your TVR gearbox by driving the car into a tree, there's no way a gearbox issue would land anyone with a 5 figure bill, so I agree, a similar age Ferrari is a very different proposition. T5 gearboxes fail and are known to have synchro issues on 5th. How much to replace one?
Like I said. I enjoyed my Tuscan but I enjoy the Ferrari more and it’s less of a worry.
Tamora is one of the better handling TVR’s for sure. The problem with TVR’s is that there are many solutions to the many problems and you never really know which one will work on your car.
As for noise, put a capristo on the 360 and it’s one of the best sounding cars you can get. My decatted Tuscan was so loud I had to push it down the lane for early morning starts because it set off car alarms.
I’m not suggesting the op avoids a Tuscan, I am suggesting he goes in “eyes open “. It’s a very different proposition to a Porsche or a Ferrari of a similar vintage.
Edited by blueg33 on Wednesday 20th November 22:34
Gladers01 said:
Last time i had a T5 gearbox rebuild on the Tamora due to the 5th gear synchro problem it would have cost less than an £1k but fortunately was covered under warranty whereas the 911/996 tiptronic box cost just shy of £5k to rebuild. How much would the Ferrari box have cost to rebuild if you had to pay yourself? Must agree the 360 does sound glorious on full chat!
I have a replacement rebuilt box - it cost £5k cash but warranted, plus about £1,300 labour to remove, investigate old box and install new, plus some sundries like gearbox bushes.I had a new clutch, flywheel, thrust bearing which pushed the price up.
blueg33 said:
I have a replacement rebuilt box - it cost £5k cash but warranted, plus about £1,300 labour to remove, investigate old box and install new, plus some sundries like gearbox bushes.
I had a new clutch, flywheel, thrust bearing which pushed the price up.
Last time i had a full clutch fitted it was £1500 on a Tuscan, also remember buying an '03 Tuscan Mk1 at 10 years old and the new price back in the day was £45k so the 360 would have cost more than double this? with 15000 made compared to 1500 Tuscans, both unique supercars in their own way and not to be run on a shoestring budget! I had a new clutch, flywheel, thrust bearing which pushed the price up.
If you're considering a tuscan I don't know of anything else as an alternative especially for the price. I wanted one ever since the Swordfish film but mortgages and kids meant I couldn't quite get there, until last year when I finally picked up my mk1 tuscan, I was not disappointed! If you want it to it will drive like it looks...monstrous! But equally happy cruising along. My advice would be to reach out for someone to take you out in one and give you some pointers on what to look out for but they are 20 plus years old so unless you're spending big most will need some sort of fettling, that's part of the fun in my opinion. Puts a smile on my face every time I open the garage door and you'll find yourself going on a detour on every opportunity just to prolong the drive! There's a good review on youtube, from a couple of years ago, I think the channel is called number 27
Some good advice above but like any car, there's good and bad ones.
I've had my mk1 Tuscan for 14 years now and I never usually keep a car for more than 3 years. It has never left me stranded but in that time, I have replaced the fuel tank, and fuel lines at the same time, and had the gearbox refurbished due to a crunching 5th gear. Neither were huge bills in the grand scheme of things. I have always had the chassis checked when serviced and have kept on top of that, so it remains in good condition. I have also replaced the door and roof seals as they tend to get a little soft over time.
Other than the above, it's been general maintenance. It has just been in for a service which was £650 and it has passed it's MOT without any advisories.
There are quite a few cars out there now which have been restored with refurbished chassis, rebuilt engines, and retrims, so £50k should get you the best mk1 there is plus some change, or a very good mk2. Clutches tend to last around 12k miles or so, and check that the suspension has been upgraded. Most will have now been replaces with Gaz or Nitron shocks now as the originals weren't the best. Check the fuel line also, as these can corrode resulting in disaster.
I've had my mk1 Tuscan for 14 years now and I never usually keep a car for more than 3 years. It has never left me stranded but in that time, I have replaced the fuel tank, and fuel lines at the same time, and had the gearbox refurbished due to a crunching 5th gear. Neither were huge bills in the grand scheme of things. I have always had the chassis checked when serviced and have kept on top of that, so it remains in good condition. I have also replaced the door and roof seals as they tend to get a little soft over time.
Other than the above, it's been general maintenance. It has just been in for a service which was £650 and it has passed it's MOT without any advisories.
There are quite a few cars out there now which have been restored with refurbished chassis, rebuilt engines, and retrims, so £50k should get you the best mk1 there is plus some change, or a very good mk2. Clutches tend to last around 12k miles or so, and check that the suspension has been upgraded. Most will have now been replaces with Gaz or Nitron shocks now as the originals weren't the best. Check the fuel line also, as these can corrode resulting in disaster.
Basil Brush said:
If you are only getting 12k on a clutch then I think there may be an issue. Mine was getting twice that even when used as a daily commuting in stop-start traffic.
My last clutch did around 45k before it came out of the car. I have just had it rebult as its out of the car but to be fair looked good stillLet off some steam Bennett said:
Basil Brush said:
If you are only getting 12k on a clutch then I think there may be an issue. Mine was getting twice that even when used as a daily commuting in stop-start traffic.
My last clutch did around 45k before it came out of the car. I have just had it rebuilt as its out of the car but to be fair looked good stillWhat happened to the Op? Hope these warts and all stories haven't put him off
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