Background
Founded in Blackpool in the late 1940s by Trevor Wilkinson, TVR took its title from Wilkinson's first name: TreVoR. By the 1980s, TVR had suffered a series of financial calamities and undergone several changes of ownership; it was then that the company was acquired by TVR enthusiast Peter Wheeler, a chemical engineer with links to the oil industry. Wheeler moved the firm away from the Ford V6 engine that had become its mainstay power unit, and returned to large-capacity V8s, choosing the readily available Rover engine. TVR eventually moved on from modifying the Rover V8, and at the start of the 1990s made the bold move to produce its own engine, the AJP8, which took its name from the initials of those responsible for its design and development: Al Melling, John Ravenscroft and Peter Wheeler. The new engine was intended for the Griffith and Chimaera models, but development took longer than expected and the AJP8 eventually made its debut in 1996 in the Cerbera coupé and Tuscan race car.
With the introduction of the much-acclaimed Griffith in 1991, TVR established the look that would characterise its offerings for the next decade. Seeking a power unit that would be cheaper to produce and maintain than the new V8, Wheeler subsequently commissioned the design of an inline six-cylinder derivative: the AJP6. This engine, designed initially by Melling, was significantly altered before final production by TVR's John Ravenscroft, became known as the 'Speed Six'. The 'Speed Six' would be used to power every TVR model of the 1990s, though the AJP8 remained an option for the Cerbera.
In July 2004 the Russian billionaire Nikolay Smolensky bought TVR from Peter Wheeler. Less than two years later, falling demand saw weekly production decrease from 12 to 3-4 cars. One of the very last TVRs built, this Swordfish Tuscan left the factory in April 2005. The 2nd generation Tuscan was introduced in 1999, and was initially available as either a fixed-head coupé or Targa-type convertible; only towards the end of the production was as a full convertible offered. The 'Speed Six' engine was available in either 3.6 or 4.0 litres capacity for the Tuscan.
