Daimler V8 Vixen prototype for sale

[Getsis]

http://www.finn.no/finn/car/used/object?finnkode=3...

It's in Norway but might be of interest to someone.
If it is I can drive it back to the UK for you, just pay the ferry and I'll pay the fuel. I will need to go to TVR Power soon so I could drive it there for you.

It belongs to a guy who is in the same car club as me.

Advert in english
consider selling my TVR Vixen Daimler, Prototype. Body is actually a Vixen S1, but the TVR factory made ​​two prototypes with Daimler SP250 V8 engine to test whether this was something for the U.S. market. My TVR, VX Chassis No. 232F is the second last of the 117 copies that were made ​​by Vixen S1. A further production with Daimler engine was not performed since it focused on the Ford V8 to the amarikanske market.

The car was completely restored in 2003 in England by the famous TVR specialist David Gerald:
- New tube frame
- Fiberglass bodywork overhauled, painted and bolted on the frame (improvement over S1 where fiberglass is molded around the frame)
- New differinsial (Salisbury limited slip)
- New electrical installations
- Ogradering inside

The engine was overhauled by the legendary Russ Carpenter who is the guru SP250 engines and used this engine in their dragstere. He called the overhaul a "rebuild".

The car is not used enough, and I consider, therefore, to sell if I get one for my acceptable price. Reserve is 160,000 NOK, (£16.5K)

Edited by Getsis on Friday 21st October 12:21

[TVRVixenV8]

http://www.carandclassic.co.uk/car/C252221

[Getsis]

TVRVixenV8 said:

http://www.carandclassic.co.uk/car/C252221

It's cheaper on the Norwegian advert !!

[heightswitch]

it seems a very convoluted, heavy and complex way to get 150hp out of a vixen but somehow the car just appeals to the wierdo in me. I think it is also a very period type of transplant.

off the wall...Right up my street. I could have swarn i have seen another one knocking about somewhere though recently!!

N.

[Slow M]

Weirdo.

[dudleybloke]

truely unic!

[quattrophenia]

One day I will have to have an S1/200/400. It's the Cortina lights every time. Agreed, 150 bhp from such a lump up front is rather over engineered (presume that's why they went with the beefier Ford 4.6 for the special ones?), but I'll forgive her. Looks stunning, a true classic, rarer than hens teeth and beautiful to look at.....

[Granturas]

Interesting "prototype", never heared about such a thing, has it got an automatic or manual gearbox?
Klaus

[thegamekeeper]

heightswitch said:

it seems a very convoluted, heavy and complex way to get 150hp out of a vixen but somehow the car just appeals to the wierdo in me. I think it is also a very period type of transplant.

off the wall...Right up my street. I could have swarn i have seen another one knocking about somewhere though recently!!

N.

Strangely I was just about to do a thread on my car when this appeared. You may be a wierdo Neil but you are a "normal weirdo".
I can,t share your view on choice of engine. In late 60,s/ early 70,s engine choice was fairly limited. The crossflow produced 88 bnp, Essex V6 in Tuscan V6 128 bhp, 289 non Hi Po in griff 200/400 195 bhp so 150ish wasn,t too bad giving over 200 bhp/ton in the car. !992-2000 Subaru Impreza 2.5 turbo 154 hp in 1220 kg!!!
The Daimler SP250 engine is quite compact for a V8, sits well back in the chassis and weighs considerably less than a small block Ford. Biggest drawback was that most gearboxes attatched to engine were autos( in Daimler saloon) and the manual box in the Dart was poor to be kind to it. In period many people fitted 3.3 litre Vauxhall Ventura close ratio gearboxes with special bellhousing. The Daimler engine was obviously not as quick as the Ford but it was incredibly respectible in its day. It also didn,t have the "drink problem" the Ford had, the car in my custody did the journey fron John O, Groats to Lands End in a day in 2003 on 2x 12 gallon tanks of fuel, 839 miles = 36mpg, even on a good day the 289 will use at the very least twice that and in reality considerably more.

Dont be too hasty to dismiss it, obviously there are much better engines nowadays but would you really want a modern engine in your classic, turbo diesel vixen anyone?

[heightswitch]

thegamekeeper said:

Strangely I was just about to do a thread on my car when this appeared. You may be a wierdo Neil but you are a "normal weirdo".
I can,t share your view on choice of engine. In late 60,s/ early 70,s engine choice was fairly limited. The crossflow produced 88 bnp, Essex V6 in Tuscan V6 128 bhp, 289 non Hi Po in griff 200/400 195 bhp so 150ish wasn,t too bad giving over 200 bhp/ton in the car. !992-2000 Subaru Impreza 2.5 turbo 154 hp in 1220 kg!!!
The Daimler SP250 engine is quite compact for a V8, sits well back in the chassis and weighs considerably less than a small block Ford. Biggest drawback was that most gearboxes attatched to engine were autos( in Daimler saloon) and the manual box in the Dart was poor to be kind to it. In period many people fitted 3.3 litre Vauxhall Ventura close ratio gearboxes with special bellhousing. The Daimler engine was obviously not as quick as the Ford but it was incredibly respectible in its day. It also didn,t have the "drink problem" the Ford had, the car in my custody did the journey fron John O, Groats to Lands End in a day in 2003 on 2x 12 gallon tanks of fuel, 839 miles = 36mpg, even on a good day the 289 will use at the very least twice that and in reality considerably more.

Dont be too hasty to dismiss it, obviously there are much better engines nowadays but would you really want a modern engine in your classic, turbo diesel vixen anyone?

i know that in their day they also found their way into some very fast slingshots..I would guess that period tuning would be very expensive these days considering the rarity of parts..I wonder what a cooking one would have developed inits day though...probably getting onto somewhere close to a std small block which considering the capacity probably shows a lot about the elegant way British engineers of the day developed a V8.

Is the prototype story correct then Steve? I know various things were tried in S1 Vixens and I know that the Buick engine was certainly transplanted to a couple of cars but I never realised that their was a factory Daimler. Ether way you know my feelings on oddballs.
N.

[GTRene]

quattrophenia said:

One day I will have to have an S1/200/400. It's the Cortina lights every time. Agreed, 150 bhp from such a lump up front is rather over engineered (presume that's why they went with the beefier Ford 4.6 for the special ones?), but I'll forgive her. Looks stunning, a true classic, rarer than hens teeth and beautiful to look at.....

for me too (about the S1 with the Cortina lights)
nice car, also one of my favorite classics.
It only has 150hp with this new internals/engine? ok its a bit more the the rover v8 in the MGB-GT V8 wich had something about 139hp?
and shame (for me ) its RHD ;-)

[thegamekeeper]

heightswitch said:

thegamekeeper said:

Strangely I was just about to do a thread on my car when this appeared. You may be a wierdo Neil but you are a "normal weirdo".
I can,t share your view on choice of engine. In late 60,s/ early 70,s engine choice was fairly limited. The crossflow produced 88 bnp, Essex V6 in Tuscan V6 128 bhp, 289 non Hi Po in griff 200/400 195 bhp so 150ish wasn,t too bad giving over 200 bhp/ton in the car. !992-2000 Subaru Impreza 2.5 turbo 154 hp in 1220 kg!!!
The Daimler SP250 engine is quite compact for a V8, sits well back in the chassis and weighs considerably less than a small block Ford. Biggest drawback was that most gearboxes attatched to engine were autos( in Daimler saloon) and the manual box in the Dart was poor to be kind to it. In period many people fitted 3.3 litre Vauxhall Ventura close ratio gearboxes with special bellhousing. The Daimler engine was obviously not as quick as the Ford but it was incredibly respectible in its day. It also didn,t have the "drink problem" the Ford had, the car in my custody did the journey fron John O, Groats to Lands End in a day in 2003 on 2x 12 gallon tanks of fuel, 839 miles = 36mpg, even on a good day the 289 will use at the very least twice that and in reality considerably more.

Dont be too hasty to dismiss it, obviously there are much better engines nowadays but would you really want a modern engine in your classic, turbo diesel vixen anyone?

i know that in their day they also found their way into some very fast slingshots..I would guess that period tuning would be very expensive these days considering the rarity of parts..I wonder what a cooking one would have developed inits day though...probably getting onto somewhere close to a std small block which considering the capacity probably shows a lot about the elegant way British engineers of the day developed a V8.

Is the prototype story correct then Steve? I know various things were tried in S1 Vixens and I know that the Buick engine was certainly transplanted to a couple of cars but I never realised that their was a factory Daimler. Ether way you know my feelings on oddballs.
N.

No real rarity of parts. David Manners, a Jaguar/Daimler specialist has supplied immediatly any part required for the car I have and being a lover of the V8 engined Daimlers has vowed to remanufacture any parts which become obsolete.

As far as the Vixen being a factory prototype I have no idea. I have never heard of it till recently. I have asked the seller in Norway for documented proof of his claim but have not received any. Perhaps his friend (the OP Getsis ) could help with that. Certainly the car I have was nothing to do with the factory other than Stan Kilcoyne supplying all he parts to modify chassis and fit TR4 diff.

I have an open mind but seems no history pre 1982 when it was 14 years old. Owned by TVR Engineering but registered WWX which is a Leeds registration office issued number? Nice thing though regardless. Price seems to be up and down like a brides nightie, £25000 on one website, £16000 on another. 2 more price reductions like that and I might buy it.

Many people have fitted many things to TVR,s over the years, I even considered fitting a Ferrari Dino engine and box to my Vixen years ago. In the good old days pre Elf and Stupidity when you could wander round scrap yards there was a Fiat Dino complete but with 70,s Fiat bodywork. ran perfectly and very cheap. If only I had bought it and kept it squirreled away.

[GTRene]

in the book TVR vol1 from Graham, there is at least one prototype using the SP250 V8 2,548cc engine.
but that one is not the Vixen S1 but a convertible version of the Grantura Coupe? wich the story says in Chapter 7 page 94 out that book.

[Slow M]

heightswitch said:

i know that in their day they also found their way into some very fast slingshots..I would guess that period tuning would be very expensive these days considering the rarity of parts..I wonder what a cooking one would have developed inits day though...probably getting onto somewhere close to a std small block which considering the capacity probably shows a lot about the elegant way British engineers of the day developed a V8.

Is the prototype story correct then Steve? I know various things were tried in S1 Vixens and I know that the Buick engine was certainly transplanted to a couple of cars but I never realised that their was a factory Daimler. Ether way you know my feelings on oddballs.
N.

(bolding mine) Neil,

Are you familiar with the cylinder head design work of one Zora Arkus Duntov? I think you'll find that this was the style of the time, rather than a uniquely British approach. Turner's and Duntov's designs share some similarities. You may also notice some shared features with Chrysler's FirePower engine of 1951 (a not so standard version below). Also, comparing any modified engine with any production motor is silly.




Best,
B.

[Getsis]

thegamekeeper said:

(the OP Getsis ) could help with that.

I'm not a mate of his, just seen him and the car once at a meeting.

[JR]

thegamekeeper said:

I can,t share your view on choice of engine. In late 60,s/ early 70,s engine choice was fairly limited. The crossflow produced 88 bnp, Essex V6 in Tuscan V6 128 bhp, 289 non Hi Po in griff 200/400 195 bhp so 150ish wasn,t too bad giving over 200 bhp/ton in the car. !992-2000 Subaru Impreza 2.5 turbo 154 hp in 1220 kg!!!
The Daimler SP250 engine is quite compact for a V8, sits well back in the chassis and weighs considerably less than a small block Ford. Biggest drawback was that most gearboxes attatched to engine were autos( in Daimler saloon) and the manual box in the Dart was poor to be kind to it. In period many people fitted 3.3 litre Vauxhall Ventura close ratio gearboxes with special bellhousing. The Daimler engine was obviously not as quick as the Ford but it was incredibly respectible in its day. It also didn,t have the "drink problem" the Ford had, the car in my custody did the journey fron John O, Groats to Lands End in a day in 2003 on 2x 12 gallon tanks of fuel, 839 miles = 36mpg, even on a good day the 289 will use at the very least twice that and in reality considerably more.

I would have thought that from TVR's view the cost of buying the engine from Jaguar Daimler would have been the critical factor.

[thegamekeeper]

I suspect the cost of what was effectively a BL supplied engine was a factor bit there were probably personal preference reasons too. When Martin took over TVR he continued with MGB engines for a while because they were already in production but soon adopted Ford engines almost exclusively throughout his ownership, the exceptions being TR 250 engines forced on him by US legislation and the Triumph 1300 Spitfire engine for 15 miserable failures in an attempt to introduce a cheap entry level model. Maybe this was purely because he got them cheap. TVR ,s were almost exclusivly Ford powered fron 1967 till 1982 when Peter took over and till the introduction of the AJP were almost exclusively BL/Rover powered. The obvious exception being the "S" series cars which were predominantly Ford powered. Interstingly TVR paid less for Rover power units than they did for Ford so when the V8 S was introduced it was actually cheaper to build than the S2 but nobody sells their V6 for more than their V8, so there are obviously many factors influencing choices money being an important one.

[thegamekeeper]

As regards the authenticity of the claim of it being a factory protoype you will have to make up your own mnds. I contacted the seller in Norway and his reply was not very convincing. He said there was no documented proof because the production records were destroyed in the fire. His basis for its provenance was mainly based on discussions with various people. Ben Samuelson (born 1972) confirmed the existence of production. He had spoken to David Geralds who had access to the charred reamains of the factory records. 2 TVR Vixen owners and car club members and Mark Hughes, freelance motoring journalist.

As I say make up your own mind, stunning car whenever and whoever made it