Cerbera Factory Pics - February 1996

[Boatbuoy]

A work colleague - knowing I owned a Tiv - told me he visited the TVR
factory to undertake a case study for his 'A' level Design project in 1996
and asked if I was interested in the photos he took. There are many
pictures and show all elements of the manufacturing process, much of which
has appeared before in various forums, but there are 3 images that show
cars with some form of identity. They are early models so may no longer
exist, but I thought that some one might be interested and maybe their
current/past owners frequent this forum?

The original aubergine/tan brochure car, in storage and a little dusty:


N914 DRN:


N915 DRN:


Regards,
Olly

[matty1275]

they are awesome, would be great if you could up load a few more!!

[SimonKD]

Any chance of putting up some pics of the Cerbera manufacturing processes at all?

Regards
Simon

[steviejasp]

Excellent, thank you for posting these.

[Boatbuoy]

OK, seeing as there's a demand for it I will. But the photos are in a folder on my desk at the office so you will all have to wait until Monday.

[Mr Cerbera]

Brilliant photos. Looking forward to wahtever you can put on.

(P.S. Would you mind if I used some for an article I'm doing for 'SPRINT')

[Tacchino]

Looks a bit like N915 DRN did a James Dean.
Road tax liability date is October 1997.

N914 DRN is possibly still out there somewhere but not on the road since March 2010.
However, it's not taxed or SORNed so quite possible that it's also met its demise but had a better innings.

[kevin63]

SimonKD said:

Any chance of putting up some pics of the Cerbera manufacturing processes at all?

Regards
Simon

[robsco]

Excellent photos, thanks for sharing. It really does warm the cockles of my heart seeing things like this, the excitement and atmosphere in the factory and anyone involved with TVR must have been tremendous during the 90s. I mean, the Griffith, Chimaera and Cerbera... what a line up. They were so close to being world-beaters.

[SimonKD]

kevin63 said:

Thankyou, I do love photos like these. I also love the sprayed on sign in the background saying "This is not the stores!" They must have had quite a bit of stuff go missing.

Kind regards
Simon

[steviejasp]

Interesting that they had the front wings on the same mould as the body. Wonder why they didnt make them separately.

[SimonKD]

steviejasp said:

Interesting that they had the front wings on the same mould as the body. Wonder why they didnt make them separately.

Stength, I wonder or problems in fixing glass fibre wings to the front of the car separately.

[Boatbuoy]

As a designer of fibreglass things myself, I'd suggest it has more to do with cost! Why make lots of mould tools, to make lots of parts that then all have to be assembled when one will do? Strength isn't really an issue with a TVR as the body isn't structural. My industry faces many of the same challenges as TVR did in terms of manufacturing. Little, if anything is jig assembled (as per conventional car assembly) so more parts mean more hand assembly. For that you need skilled or semi skilled workers, which = cost!

[V8 GRF]

Boatbuoy said:

Strength isn't really an issue with a TVR as the body isn't structural.

Not correct. A good deal of the cars ridgidity come from the body, indeed the fact that the car's ID plate is attached to the body rather than the chassis gives some indication of this. The body could almost be described as a fibreglass monocoque with the chassis acting as a sub frame as it does on cars like the Lotus Elan etc.

Thus if the wings where bolt on not only would you look the inherent strength gained from a single moulding but you'd have to start adding additional bracing etc to replace the strength lost which would not only add weight but as you suggest add cost and complexity to the assembly process.

[SimonKD]

V8 GRF said:

Thus if the wings where bolt on not only would you lack the inherent strength gained from a single moulding but you'd have to start adding additional bracing etc to replace the strength lost which would not only add weight but as you suggest add cost and complexity to the assembly process.

The same lines I was thinking on.

Regards
Simon

[BLUETHUNDER]

Wish I could go back in time and grab one of those unmolested examples.

[FarmyardPants]

Jimmy Savile said:

Wish I could go back in time and grab one of those unmolested examples.

[kevin63]

This video shows a bit of the factory, it's probably best viewed with the sound down though, especially if you are having something to eat

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q2PWgsTKv1c&NR=...

[BLUETHUNDER]

FarmyardPants said:

[Obiwonkeyblokey]

robsco said:

anyone involved with TVR must have been tremendous during the 90s.

I was selling TVrs for a main dealer in the halycon days of 1995-1999. This was at a time when we were selling used Griffs and Chims at £2k-£3k more than new list price as demand was so high.
We used to sell two cars to people coming into the showroom, one used car and an order for a new one, with Guaranteed PX on the car they had just bought for delivery in 9-12 months.

One of my favourite memories was being sent to Blackpool on the train to pick up our very first Cerbera Demonstrator and driving it back. It was Raspberry pearl and one of the best days I've ever had. The car hadnt even been on Top Gear at this point and was Phenomenal. Probably why I still own one now.