TVR began building fiberglass sports cars with tubular chassis frames in the 1950s, and they sold most of them as kits to be built at home. The first cars had four cylinder engines but, in the 1960s, TVR offered the Griffith with Ford V8 power and the Tuscan V6, the first of a long line of cars using the 3 liter Ford ‘Essex’ engine. In concept the Tuscan V6, launched in 1969 at 1500 pounds for the do-it-yourself kit, was a niche filler between the four cylinder Vixen and the slow selling Tuscan V8. The chassis and demountable body was a Series Two Manx tail Vixen with Tuscan V8 alloy wheels and brakes, and Fords 3 liter V6 engine (giving 128 bhp) and four speed gearbox optionally over driven on third and top, also had the strengthened Salisbury lock differential of the V8. The only way you could spot one from the outside was the badging and twin exhaust pipes. The delicate corner bumpers, big tapering rear window and Mk II Cortina rear lights were pure Vixen.
In fact, only 101 Tuscans built between 1969 and 1971. Its engine, the unit from the Ford Zodiac 3 liter, didn’t meet North American emission regulations, and TVR couldn’t sell the Tuscan there with dirty power. It was this scenario that gave rise to the TVR 2500 with a clean Triumph straight six engine, but the V6 would live in the improved M Series models.
