The TVR Tasmin (later known as the TVR 280i) is a sports car designed by
Oliver Winterbottom (coach) and Ian Jones (chassis) for TVR and built in the United Kingdom by that company from 1980 to 1987. It was the first of TVR's
"Wedge"-series which formed the basis of its 1980's model range. The Tasmin/280i was available as a 2-seater
coupé
A coupe or coupé (, ) is a passenger car with a sloping or truncated rear roofline and two doors.
The term ''coupé'' was first applied to horse-drawn carriages for two passengers without rear-facing seats. It comes from the French past parti ...
, as a 2+2 coupé and as a 2-seater
convertible
A convertible or cabriolet () is a passenger car that can be driven with or without a roof in place. The methods of retracting and storing the roof vary among eras and manufacturers.
A convertible car's design allows an open-air driving expe ...
.
History
![TVR_Tasmin_Rear](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a0/TVR_Tasmin_Rear.jpg)
The Tasmin was the first production car in the world to have both a bonded windscreen and also to incorporate the aerial in the rear screen heater element. As with all TVRs, the running gear was located in a tubular
spaceframe
In architecture and structural engineering, a space frame or space structure ( 3D truss) is a rigid, lightweight, truss-like structure constructed from interlocking struts in a geometric pattern. Space frames can be used to span large areas with ...
steel chassis which was powder coated for extra corrosion resistance. Much of the running gear was sourced from
Ford
Ford commonly refers to:
* Ford Motor Company, an automobile manufacturer founded by Henry Ford
* Ford (crossing), a shallow crossing on a river
Ford may also refer to:
Ford Motor Company
* Henry Ford, founder of the Ford Motor Company
* Ford F ...
s of the period. The suspension and steering was sourced from the
Ford Cortina
The Ford Cortina is a medium-sized family car that was built initially by Ford of Britain, and then Ford of Europe in various guises from 1962 to 1982, and was the United Kingdom's best-selling car of the 1970s.
The Cortina was produced in fi ...
, with
TVR engineered trailing arms at the rear, similar to designs previously used on Lotus models including the early Esprit. Gearboxes were from the
Cortina
Cortina may refer to:
Things
* Cortina (tango), a short piece of music played during a tango dance event
* Ford Cortina, a medium-sized family car built by Ford of Britain from 1962 to 1982
**Lotus Cortina, a 1963–1968 performance variant on the ...
,
Granada
Granada (,, DIN 31635, DIN: ; grc, Ἐλιβύργη, Elibýrgē; la, Illiberis or . ) is the capital city of the province of Granada, in the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia, Spain. Granada is located at the fo ...
, and
Sierra. Brakes were discs all round, with the front units from the
Granada
Granada (,, DIN 31635, DIN: ; grc, Ἐλιβύργη, Elibýrgē; la, Illiberis or . ) is the capital city of the province of Granada, in the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia, Spain. Granada is located at the fo ...
. The differential (and rear brakes) was from the
Jaguar XJ-S
The Jaguar XJ-S (later called XJS) is a luxury grand tourer manufactured and marketed by British car manufacturer Jaguar Cars from 1975 to 1996, in coupé, fixed-profile and full convertible bodystyles. There were three distinct iterations, ...
. Ancillary components were sourced from a variety of mainstream manufacturers so it is possible to identify, for example, Ford Cortina external door handles;
Triumph TR7
The Triumph TR7 is a sports car manufactured in the United Kingdom from September 1974 to October 1981 by British Leyland Motor Corporation (BLMC), which changed its name to British Leyland (BL) in 1975. The car was launched in the United State ...
or
Austin Metro
The Metro is a supermini car, later a city car that was produced by British Leyland (BL) and, later, the Rover Group from 1980 to 1998. It was launched in 1980 as the Austin mini Metro. It was intended to complement and eventually replace the M ...
internal handles; front side/indicator lamps by Lucas with those on later models taken from the
Renault 12
}), the other is the submodel designation TS. Sold as a sedan or a station wagon (TSW), it has a 1.4 litre carburetted C1J (Cléon) engine with and came with either a four- or a five-speed transmission.
Australia
The Renault 12 won Australia's ...
and the
Peugeot 505
The Peugeot 505 is a large family car produced by the French manufacturer Peugeot from 1979 to 1992 in Sochaux, France. It was also manufactured in various other countries including Argentina (by Sevel from 1981 to 1995), China, Thailand (by Yont ...
; rear lamp clusters from the
Ford Capri
The Ford Capri is a fastback coupé built by Ford of Europe, designed by Philip T. Clark, who was also involved in the design of the Ford Mustang. It used the mechanical components from the Mk2 Ford Cortina and was intended as the Euro ...
,
Rover SD1
The Rover SD1 is both the code name and eventual production name given to a series of executive cars built by the Specialist Division (later the ''Jaguar-Rover-Triumph'' division) of British Leyland (BL), under the Rover marque. It was produced ...
or the
Renault Fuego
The Renault Fuego (''Fire'' in Spanish) is a sport hatchback that was manufactured and marketed by Renault from 1980 to 1986, replacing the Renault 15 and 17 coupés of the 1970s.
Marketed in the United States by American Motors Corporatio ...
; boot lid hinges from the
Hillman Imp
The Hillman Imp is a small economy car that was made by the Rootes Group and its successor Chrysler Europe from 1963 until 1976. Revealed on 3 May 1963, after much advance publicity, it was the first British mass-produced car with the engine blo ...
and ex-Jaguar ashtrays (or on later cars the ashtray from the
DeLorean DMC-12). The radiator was taken variously from the Ford Granada Mk2 and the Range Rover; front brakes could be ex-Granada in solid- or vented-disc form or the 4-piston calipers from the BL Princess (also a 'wedge' shaped car). The steering column and its associated switchgear changed over the years too: starting with the TR7 and proceeding through the Rover SD1, very late cars used the installation from the Ford Granada Mk3. The handbrake mechanism was that used on the
Lotus Esprit
The Lotus Esprit is a British sports car that was built by Lotus Cars at their Hethel factory in England between 1976 and 2004. It was among the first of designer Giorgetto Giugiaro's polygonal "folded paper" designs.
Background
In 1970 Tony ...
. The headlamp pods were powered by individual motors lifted from the TR7/ Esprit. The original wheel design was specific to the Tasmin, being produced by Telcast in Telford. Later cars sported wheels from various makers including
OZ. The seats were made by Callow & Maddox Brothers in Coventry, who also supplied other British car makers, hence the Tasmin seats appear similar to those used elsewhere but are in fact vehicle-specific, having a narrow but long base bolster.
The engine was the
Ford 2.8 Cologne V6 with
Bosch fuel injection
Fuel injection is the introduction of fuel in an internal combustion engine, most commonly automotive engines, by the means of an injector. This article focuses on fuel injection in reciprocating piston and Wankel rotary engines.
All comp ...
producing . An
automatic gearbox
An automatic transmission (sometimes abbreviated to auto or AT) is a multi-speed transmission used in internal combustion engine-based motor vehicles that does not require any input from the driver to change forward gears under normal driving c ...
was available, making it the first
TVR to have this as an option. While the styling of the car was by
Oliver Winterbottom
Oliver Carton Winterbottom (24 February 1944 – 6 November 2020) was a British automotive designer who designed cars for Lotus, Jaguar and TVR.
Early years
Winterbottom was born in Ashford, Kent. His father was born in Oldham, Lancashire ...
who had previously styled the
Lotus Elite
The Lotus Elite name has been used for two production vehicles and one concept vehicle developed and manufactured by British automobile manufacturer Lotus Cars. The first generation Elite Type 14 was produced from 1957 until 1963 and the second ...
S2. Beside the
Cologne V6 engine the Tasmin was also available with a 2.0 litre
Ford Pinto
The Ford Pinto is a subcompact car that was manufactured and marketed by Ford Motor Company in North America from 1971 until 1980 model years. The Pinto was the first subcompact vehicle produced by Ford in North America.
The Pinto was marketed ...
. This car, presented in late 1981, was called the Tasmin 200 and was an attempt to make a car cheaper than the standard Tasmin 280i.
It was priced at under £10,000, but with an engine producing only about it wasn't a big success. Only 16 Tasmin 200 coupes and 45 convertibles were made in total.
![280i 3 4 Rear](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fd/280i_3_4_Rear.JPG)
In 1981 a series II car appeared, incorporating various improvements or modifications to the series I. These included a front suspension redesign, returning the tie-rods to the tension mode used by Ford rather than the compression mode into which TVR had initially installed them. This addressed frequent complaints of bump-steer. A bodyshell restyle also altered the proportions of the car (largely by tilting the previously-vertical glass tail panel) so it appeared shorter in the nose and longer at the rear; this coincided with the launch of the convertible/drophead version. In 1984 the Tasmin name was dropped and the car was renamed TVR 280i, although the name remained in use within the TVR factory. Early 350i's were also referred to as the "Tasmin 350i".
TVR's consistently inconsistent badging policy resulted in the cars appearing as Tasmins, Tasmin 280is or just plain 280is as the Tasmin name was dropped.
The 2.8-litre "Cologne" V6 had already been certified for US sales, and thus TVR returned to the US market after a six-year hiatus.
The Tasmin was the last TVR to be exported to the United States, with the last car brought over in 1987, this being a series II 280i. A number of reasons are cited for TVR's withdrawal from the US. These allegedly include a deteriorating relationship with the import agents and the distribution network, warranty problems and liability insurance premiums rising from $160K to over $1M.
The Tasmin did not start out very strongly, with TVR production reaching a low of 121 in 1982. By 1985, yearly production had increased to 472.
In total, 1,167 V6 cars were produced.
Specifications
![Tvr](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/47/Tvr.280i.arp.jpg)
Tasmin 280i
*Engine:
Ford Cologne V6
The original Ford Cologne V6 is a series of 60° cast iron block V6 engines produced continuously by the Ford Motor Company in Cologne, Germany, since 1965. Along with the British Ford Essex V6 engine and the U.S. Buick V6 and GMC Truck V6, t ...
*Engine Capacity: 2792 c.c (2,8 Litres)
*Power Output: (Series 1), (series II)
*Torque Output:
Tasmin 200
*Engine:
Ford Pinto
The Ford Pinto is a subcompact car that was manufactured and marketed by Ford Motor Company in North America from 1971 until 1980 model years. The Pinto was the first subcompact vehicle produced by Ford in North America.
The Pinto was marketed ...
TL20 straight 4
*Engine Capacity: 1993 cc (2.0 L)
*Power Output:
*Torque Output:
Transmission
*Tasmin 200, 280i
**Transmission: 4-spd Ford
manual gearbox
A manual transmission (MT), also known as manual gearbox, standard transmission (in Canada, the United Kingdom, and the United States), or stick shift (in the United States), is a multi-speed motor vehicle transmission system, where gear changes ...
, 5-spd Ford
manual gearbox
A manual transmission (MT), also known as manual gearbox, standard transmission (in Canada, the United Kingdom, and the United States), or stick shift (in the United States), is a multi-speed motor vehicle transmission system, where gear changes ...
, 3-spd Ford
automatic gearbox
An automatic transmission (sometimes abbreviated to auto or AT) is a multi-speed transmission used in internal combustion engine-based motor vehicles that does not require any input from the driver to change forward gears under normal driving c ...
Suspension
*Front:
Double Wishbones
*Rear: Semi trailing arms
Brakes
*Front:
Disc brakes
A disc brake is a type of brake that uses the calipers to squeeze pairs of pads against a disc or a "rotor" to create friction. This action slows the rotation of a shaft, such as a vehicle axle, either to reduce its rotational speed or to hol ...
*Rear: Disc brakes
Chassis/Body
*Chassis: Tubular
spaceframe
In architecture and structural engineering, a space frame or space structure ( 3D truss) is a rigid, lightweight, truss-like structure constructed from interlocking struts in a geometric pattern. Space frames can be used to span large areas with ...
steel chassis
*Body:
Fibreglass
Fiberglass (American English) or fibreglass (Commonwealth English) is a common type of fiber-reinforced plastic using glass fiber. The fibers may be randomly arranged, flattened into a sheet called a chopped strand mat, or woven into glass clo ...
body panels
Performance
Tasmin 280i
*Acceleration 0-: 8.0 seconds, 8.2 seconds (automatic gearbox)
*Top Speed: (Series 1),
Weight
Weight:
Tasmin 200
*Acceleration 0- : 9.0 seconds
*Top Speed:
Weight
*Weight:
References
External links
Hemming Motor News feature on Martin LilleyAutoblog description of similar Ital Design /Alfa Romeo Caimano concept car of 1971*
*
{{TVR road car timeline
Tasmin280
Sports cars
Rear-wheel-drive vehicles
Cars introduced in 1980