We're always told, aren't we, that use is better for classic cars than being cooped up in a garage. Rubbers perish, joints seize, engines suffer and so on. There's nothing worse for a piece of moving-part, oil-filled machinery than being left stationary for months on end, the logic goes.
There's a parallel to be drawn with the human body, too. No, really. Because as people we know that being active and keeping on the move does benefit our long-term health. An immobilised car is doing itself no good in the same way that a human sat around is, getting stiff and creaky with time. The market may covet low mileage examples, but it could be easily argued that the smart money is bet on an appropriately well used and well-maintained modern classics. Driven, enjoyed and cherished surely has to be preferable to mollycoddled and stored.
Case in point being this 2005 TVR Tuscan 2. It's sat on 112,000 miles, which is double the next highest Tuscan currently in the classifieds, a 2001 car with 56,000 recorded. Clearly in the grand scheme of things a yearly average of 7,500 miles or so is not enormous, but it stands out as fairly thorough use of a pretty uncompromising sports car. The Tuscan II was intended to be a little more user friendly than the original, even if commuting in it was probably not high up TVR's agenda.
Still, that's what one owner did, making this example their everyday transport between 2008 and 2016; what more PH way could there be to get to work than in a Tuscan? Once its time as a daily driver was done, in January 2017, this Tuscan was treated to full engine rebuild at Str8Six, which ought to diminish any fears about Speed Six longevity.
There's reason to be encouraged by the Tuscan's condition, too, the Spectraflair Silver paint still more than presentable after 15 years of exposure to the elements. And although a two-tone interior of Portland and Nimbus Grey never looks the most enticing option, it at least doesn't look too grubby or tatty in a way that light leather so often can after extensive use. From what's sensible to deduce from pictures alone, the Tuscan looks as fresh as any other currently for sale.
Perhaps the thing to be most encouraged by, though, is the Tuscan's selling dealer, a TVR specialist in the north east. Because they claim to have known the car for more than 13 years, having first seen it after just 6,700 miles. It's said that more than £50,000 has been spent in upkeep over the years, and the TVR is "in superb condition due to the expenditure and care lavished upon it". It's encouraging that a dealership is willing to sell it on; even more pleasing to see is a Cerbera with 90,000 miles also for sale there, again known to the specialist for many years. It's reassuring if nothing else that a) TVRs are more than capable of mileages not always associated with them and that b) a specialist has the expertise to keep them in fine fettle and the confidence to market them.
Now, here's where you would expect to read that the Tuscan is drastically cheaper than all others for sale currently on PH. And while its £35k price is relatively affordable against the £50k+ asked for some Tuscan 2s, it is in fact comparable with cars like this one, showing a much lower tacho reading and with a recent service to boot. Tricky, isn't it?
Because on the one hand there's a TVR that's seemingly been doted on its entire life, money spent where required to keep it in good health and looking smart after so much driving. And on the other there's the one that appeals to everything we're conditioned to like in the UK, with low miles and fewer owners and a more subdued colour scheme. Both have their merits, of course, though it's impossible to ignore the Spectraflair stunner. There will be more expenditure down the line, of that there can be no doubt, but what a story to be able to tell when people inevitably ask. And why have a TVR that you would worry about adding miles to? We look forward to seeing it at 150,000...
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