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TVR Tina - The Story
When
Martin Lilley bought TVR in '60s Dad was working for him at the Barnet Motor Company. Martin was looking to make a success
of TVR and had an idea in late 1965 for a small 2+2 convertible with the engine, floorpan, transmission
wheel trims and most of the mechanicals based on a Hillman Imp Sport. He commissioned Trevor Fiore to
design the all steel body and it was built in Italy by Fissore first shown at
the 1966 Turin Motor Show.
A
name was needed urgently and could not be decided, but as Dad was running the Barnet Motor Company and doing very
well in various TVRs Martin decided to name this pretty little car after Dad's daughter Tina, hence the TVR Tina. The
story was always that they got some Ford Cortina badges and chopped the “cor” off! Also the name fitted
in well with TVRs model range, as at the time the very attractive TVR Trident was the focus and you could see the family resemblance
in the two cars.
At
the Motor Show the front of the Tina came under criticism from all corners as it would not have gotten past the American regulations
and this really was the target audience to make the car profitable. The Tina
went back to Fissore for modification, where it joined its uncompleted fixed-head coupé sister.
Martin
Lilley wanted the convertible and coupe TVR Tinas to appear at the October 1966 London Motor show, as having them there
would show TVR as a company in good health and on the move.
The TVR Tinas were the stars of the show and customers offered to leave
blank cheques and after the show the telephone rang constantly at TVR's factory at the time. There
was no way tha the TVR Factory at Hoo Hill could cope with the production required for such a large market and if
it was to be sold for a low price it would have to be produced in quantity and production would need to be outsourced.
Just
the coupe was shown at the Turin Motor Show of 1967 and TVR said that production would commence in early 1968, each car
priced £998.00, all taxes included.
Rootes,
Jensen and Aston-Martin were all approached to help with production and Rootes definitely had the capacity, but the Tina
would have been an alternative to the Alpine...but this was never brought up and there were other problems. The bodyshell was to be fabricated out of fibreglass and then bonded to the steel Imp subframe and this
wasn't practical and a metal body would be too heavy for the planned engine. Jensen
was asked next (as experienced body builders) but they doubted that the Tina would sell in the numbers required to be as profitable
as it needed to be. If the Tina would become a volume item then the USA would have to be the major market and Jensen felt that
the Tina would not go down well in America. Aston Martin was also approached
but it had its own financial problems and was discounted.
This
extract is taken from Cars & Car Conversions 1967 (vol. 10), January (no. 8), in their editorial called 'It's all happening...'
on p.377:
"On the desk the other day - a press release in three languages from TVR Engineering Ltd. to tell us that production
of the TVR Tina will start in January. This is 2x2 GT car with the body by Fizzore-Fiore and engine by the Sunbeam Imp, producing
55 b.h.p. and giving the car a top speed, they say, of 100 m.p.h. plus 40 m.p.g."
Just
the coupe was shown at the Turin Motor Show of 1967. TVR said that production
would commence in early 1968, each car priced £998.00, all taxes included.
Unfortunately it was all to no avail and was not to happen. There were various reasons, costs being the main and production capacity another and therefore the TVR
Tina never reached production. In some ways it had served its purpose as a show
stealer and shown TVR as a company going places
On
the other hand it is also a case of might have been. If Rootes, Jensen and Aston
Martin had of been more enthusiastic the coupe might have been just as successful as some of it’s contemporaries (i.e.
the Fiat 850). If Rootes would have been willing to provide some of the funding
in addition to the drivetrain the chances are that Jensen would have put the car into production on a contract basis. Of course
Chrysler had now entered the picture (having bought Rootes-shares) and they weren't favorable to the idea.
Martin
Lilley decided to abandon the project that had consumed over £15,000 and concentrate on his other TVR designs.
The TVR Tinas today
At the moment little is known as to what happened to the convertible and
coupe prototypes after the motor shows, they probably just languished in a corner of the TVR factory. What we do know
is that the convertible ended up in America where it is today and the coupe, well, that is another story!
The convertible recently underwent a full restoration and sits alongside many other classic and rare cars
in a private collection in California.
See pictures below:-
.../continued
As for the coupe, we know that it was registered as a road car in about 1970
and was used on the road for a period of time. It then seems the car went on holiday and spent some time in Italy at
the Fissore factory and then ended up in Blackpool (after covering 10,700 miles in toatal) until
1989, when Dad (Gerry Marshall) acquired it from the factory so that he could restore it for Tina.
The TVR Tina, along with two Hillman Imps, were stored in a friend of Dad's
car collection for many years, up until September 2004, when Spadge Hopkins of Cottage Classics collected the car on Dad's behalf with a view to restoring it. Unfortunately
with Dad's passing in April 2005 this was never started and the car then passed to Tina.
Tina has now had time think about what to do with the TVR and it had been
collected by the new restorer and he is hoping to have the car ready for the summer for Tina to finally be able to drive the
car named after her.
30th January 2007 - TVR Tina
I've just had a very excited phonecall from my sister Tina, the TVR Tina
has been collected and a plan has been put into place. She is off to see the car on Sunday and wants me to go along
too, I can't wait!!
I will keep you posted.
TVR Tina - 4th February
Why do we love cars so much?! Up at 7:30am on a Sunday morning does
not seem like fun to me, but it has to be done, as I have to be in just east of Bury St.Edmunds by 10am. I've looked
out the window and can't actually see anything, firstly because of the ice on the window and secondly because of the pea soup
fog, so much for global warming!!
Off I set, not much enjoyment in this drive but at least the roads were
clear, if not the visibility. The fog made it quite hard to make out signs and remember places, so I did get a little
lost trying to find the tiny village where the rendezvous was to take place but I got there just after 10:20am to be greeted
by running around nephews, a spotless TVR Tasmin and, at last, my first glimpse of the TVR Tina in the flesh since 1989, wow.
It was very cold and there was some snow falling, but you'll see from the
pictures that there is a lot of work to be done but the car seems solid and pretty original, plus according to the speedo
she has only done 10,700 miles, not bad for a 41 year old car!!
I'm sure you can imagine it was quite an emotional thing to see the car
again and both Tina and I were very excited, Tina more so as I'm sure you can imagine.
Right, I've said enough, plus as this is Tina's project I don't want to
shout about it, as I'm sure plenty of others will. I hope you enjoy the photos below and I'll update on the cars
progress over the coming months, she should be ready for the summer.
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| TVR Tina Front |
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| TVR Tina near side |
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| TVR Tina near side |
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| TVR Tina Rear |
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| TVR Tina boot |
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| TVR Tina side view |
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| TVR Tina dash |
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| TVR Tina underside |
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| TVR Tina rear compartment |
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| TVR Tina driver window |
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| TVR Tina engine |
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| Original colour - Gold |
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1st July 2007 - Interesting
I had a very interesting e-mail from Peter Scott. He went to the TVR
factory in Blackpool in June 1978 to see how his new TVR was coming on and in the corner he spotted something blue and dusty,
the TVR Tina!!
Peter had very kindly given me permission to display the picture on
the website, so please see below. As you can see the Tina is covered in dust, so must have been there
for some time.
4th September 2007 - Quick update
A quick update on the Tina, as I know it's been quiet recently.
It's coming on really well, the bodywork is nearly ready for painting, the interior has been sourced
along with all the mechanicals and they now need re-furbing, so it's getting there slowly.
December 2007 - Update
Please find below the latest pictures of the TVR Tina from when Tina went to see the car in December.
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| TVR Tina Front |
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| Front Compartment |
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| Floor - Inside |
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| Rear Floor - Inside |
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| Roof |
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| Underside - 1 |
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| Underside - 2 |
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| Engine Bay |
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