HOME > LOT 182 - 1966 TVR Grantura 1800S

LOT 182 - 1966 TVR Grantura 1800S

LOT 182 - 1966 TVR Grantura 1800S

  • The bid numbers have gone orange - we are close to the reserve
  • One of only 90 cars ever made in RHD
  • Stripped ready for restoration, all parts believed present bar the seats and spare wheel
  • Bodyshell professionally media-blasted
  • Fitted with new chassis constructed on the original TVR jigs by David Gerald
  • In the Berlinetta family for the last 37 years
  • Could be restored for road use or historic motorsports
  • Estimated at £5,000 to £10,000

Winning Amount: £ 8,900.00

User ID: S******3

ABOUT THIS CAR

‘Unless you OWN a TVR 1800s you will never get to know it well – except from the rear.’
TVR sales brochure 1966

 

When most of us think of TVR, we tend to bring to mind the funky plastic bodied sports cars of the nineties, with mad interiors, out there styling, multi-coloured psychedelic paint jobs and the kind of face bending acceleration that could leave you unable to unlock your smart phone.

For attention seekers hankering after one hundred or so decibels of hairy chested drama, you’d be hard pressed to beat these gruff road warriors from Blackpool. However, those in the know would argue that the roots of TVR betray more nuanced ambitions than the basic search for macho power and mucho speed.

When Trevor Wilkinson established Trevcar Motors in Blackpool back in 1949, TVR was more about taking the best aspects of British motoring and creating their vision of the ultimate road going race car - and this is where the Grantura comes in.

Launched in 1958, the Grantura was nothing short of a bare essentials sports racing car for the road. Thanks to its compact dimensions (e.g. an 85.5 inch wheelbase), light weight (787kg) and simple design, it set about forging the image of what TVR was to become.

The Grantura went through a number of styling tweaks throughout its life, along the way turning a wheel in anger at a number of major sportscar events such as the 24 hours of Le Mans and Daytona, and the equally glamorous and demanding Targa Florio.

From September 1963 the Mark III and the later Mark III 1800 cars used BMC B Series engines, either at a 1622cc or 1798cc capacity respectively, although Ford and Coventry Climax units were also available for the earlier Mark III model. The larger capacity engine became standard equipment around September 1963, although this unit also appears to have been available as a customer-specified option prior to that date.

In 1965 the latest version of the car came online as the 1800S with it’s now familiar Manx tail and Ford Cortina ‘ban the bomb’ rear lights. The 1798cc engine remained but the chassis used for the 1800S and all subsequent Granturas was a modified version that, through an alteration to the line of the top chassis rails, allowed more space for the engine to fit in. This was to allow the same chassis to be used as the basis for the new Griffith - a car that sported a V8 engine which was larger both in capacity and (perhaps unsurprisingly) physical dimension.

After a pause in production during late 1965, under Martin Lilley's new ownership and operating now as ‘TVR Engineering’ the 1800S reappeared in early 1966 rebadged as the Mark III 1800S. This was quickly followed by the new Mk IV, the first TVR to benefit directly from Martin Lilley's influence, which featured a longer wheelbase, more luxurious trim and a larger fuel tank.

Exactly when the Mk IV was introduced has caused some head scratching here at Berlinetta towers, as we have on file official FIA documentation c/o the RAC which states that production on the Mk IV began on 2nd February 1966, with the minimum production of 50 identical cars required for appendix J certification being achieved on 5th October that year.  At the same time we also have a period TVR sales price list dated 17th June 1966 which makes mention only of the ‘TVR 1800s’ in the sales line up. Matters are hardly clarified by referring to a letter from TVR to a Mr Dante from Leeds, dated 18th July 1966 enclosing a brochure for their ‘TVR Mk III 1800S’ (letter and brochure also on file).

Either way, it seems that a total of circa 300 of the Mk III, Mk III 1800, 1800S and MkIV Granturas were built, of which 128 were Mk IIIs and 78 were Mk IVs.

This particular car was first registered on 5th January 1966, thus making it one of the last (maybe!) of the 128 Mk III 1800S’s, and one of only 90 built in RHD.

It’s also arguably one of the greatest British sports cars you may not yet have properly registered on your radar.

The engine may be standard ‘B’, but that does bring with it benefits in terms of parts availability and general ease (and cost) of maintenance and with 95bhp in standard form it’s enough to push this relative lightweight along briskly enough and very rapidly for the time, with 60mph coming up in just over 10 seconds and a top speed of 108mph.

As was common at the time, a number of the mechanical components were ‘half-inched’ from other sports cars – various steering and suspension components herald from a, er, Herald (or a Spitfire would do), (not the airplane though), the front uprights are also Herald, the stub axles and wires are TR4 as is the wiper motor, the windscreen is from a Ford Consul, the front side lights are actually rear number plate lights from a Triumph Dolomite, affixed with trim from a Royal Enfield Motorcycle… The list goes on.

This arguably Frankensteinian approach might come across as less than ideal but for any small manufacturer of the time it was essential in terms of costs and R&D time (look at Lotus for example), and the careful selection of the right parts from the right sources, when coupled with TVR’s own high quality chassis and independent suspension all round (at the rear via twin coil over dampers and its own cast aluminium uprights) resulted in a brilliant and beautifully balanced little sports car that’s very practical and easy to maintain today.

Add more power as TVR subsequently did with its fearsome V8 powered Griffith, (NB no other modifications were required) and you have yourself a genuine giant killer, as is evidenced by grids all over the historic racing world today – along with stratospheric values to match.

 

FJF 112D’s early history is patchy, we don’t know a great deal about its life between registration in early January 1966 and October 1977, but we do know that there have been just four registered owners since that date.

A Mr John Henry Smith from Bradford on Avon bought the car on 19th January 1986 from the previous registered owner, a Mr Miles from Chippenham.

The car was acquired by one of the Berlinetta team as his daily driver from Mr Smith on 2nd November 1987 for the princely sum of £1,200 and it has remained in his ownership for the last 37 years.

Amongst a decent amount of ‘post 1986’ paperwork on file we have an MOT failure dated 21st October 1987, just before the car was last sold, detailing (amongst other, more minor items) a cracked front spring, worn steering coupling joint, a ‘chafed and weak’ brake line and two bald rear tyres. The current owner vividly remembers taking his precious new purchase (complete with these faults) along the A4 back from Bradford on Avon to his home in Bristol before setting to work on the car (on the side of the street) and a clean MOT was duly issued just a few weeks and skimmed knuckles later.

At this time our staffer noted a few non-standard items including 60 spoke wire wheels (at a slightly wider than standard 6” width), servo assisted brakes, a battery isolation switch and non-standard high-back bucket seats with racing harnesses, all of which perhaps point to some previous competition history which we cannot at this point confirm but would make for a satisfying detective project for any prospective new owner.

Over the next few years the car was used without major mishap, the only significant bills on file for this period being for a new head and gasket, and for a replacement O/S rear hub casting, purchased 2nd hand from David Gerald in July ’88 after the original failed.

Welding required in November of that year to sort out rust in the sub-frame that’s bonded into the bonnet perhaps foretold further more significant work to come, and by the end of August 1989 FJF 112D was clearly seen as being in need of major restoration work, with estimates towards this end being secured from well-known TVR specialists David Gerald and renowned fiberglass and race car specialists Beaufort Restorations.

After a full inspection at their premises near Sittingbourne in Kent on 10th October 1990, Beaufort prepared a detailed estimate for the complete restoration of the car which totalled £6,744.75 - an encouraging figure in today’s money but at over 5 times the purchase price, clearly enough to give the owner pause for thought.

The next invoice on file relates to the hire of an engine hoist on 15th January 1991, pinpointing a total strip down which was undertaken by the owner at around about this time (photos from this period are held on file), with all parts being carefully labelled and stored.

All of these remain with the car at the point of sale today, with the exception of the high back bucket seats. Being unoriginal to the car as built, not period correct and in very poor condition (see photos) it was decided at the time not to retain them.

The car remained in a stripped but essentially untouched state for the next four years before finally being consigned to Beaufort Restorations in May 1995.

By now the initial plan for a total restoration had been downgraded somewhat to encompass only repair work required to the chassis and body, with the subsequent final bodywork preparation, re-spray, and re-assembly to be carried out at a later date.

Once the body has been removed from the chassis it became clear however that the latter would not be salvageable and a new chassis (constructed using the original jigs from TVR) was duly ordered from David Gerald.

Repair work to the body was confined to rectifying some crazing to the gel coat around the headlights, work to the roof (a non-standard sun-roof having been fitted at some point), and repairs to the N/S sill section and passenger door to rectify minor accident damage sustained during a short but suitably enthusiastic journey from church to reception at a friend’s wedding.

The full breakdown of work carried out at Beaufort restorations between May and September 1995 is as follows:

  • Cut body from chassis.
  • Supply replacement chassis c/o David Gerald.
  • Carry out modifications to chassis bracketry using old chassis as template for correct positioning of engine, gearbox, differential and rear suspension mounts (£1,523 for the chassis, £699.95 for the modifications).
  • Fill in and profile bodywork around the old sun-roof hole.
  • Repair damage to N/S sill and fit replacement passenger door as supplied by the owner.
  • Sandblast chassis to remove silver Hammerite finish (as supplied by David Gerald), paint with 2 coats self-etch primer, 2 coats of 2-pack primer & 3 coats of final colour (light grey).
  • Remount body on new frame and bond in place.
  • Clean down interior of body shell, engine compartment and under wheel arches, spray with stone-chip coating where appropriate and finish in dark green gloss to match existing exterior colour.
  • Remove of all bushes from front and rear suspension, carry out repairs to cracks in both A pillars.
  • Total cost £5,092.63.

FJF 112D was then taken up to specialist fibreglass strippers Vale Paints in Nottinghamshire where the remaining paint and any filler was carefully removed from the shell via media-blasting. The result was (and remains) a fully prepped shell with any and all imperfections exposed to the naked eye, ready for further relatively easy and straightforward preparation and painting.

The car and its components were then placed into short term storage, with the intention that further restoration work would commence as soon as time and funds allowed. As is often the case however, ‘life’ got in the way and whilst this has always struck the owner as an easy and satisfying restoration project, the fact that it has remained as such for nearly 30 years now has caused him to accept that he isn’t ever realistically going to be in a position to return the car to the road, and that it’s high time this project was entrusted to someone who will.

 

As a competition car the TVR Grantura MkIII benefits from being eligible for a wide range of historic racing and, due to its relatively light weight and excellent handling characteristics, it can be very effective when competing against some of its larger engined rivals, especially when, as almost all examples are, it is in the June 1965 homologated Mk III 1800 trim.

As a brief history, whilst the MkIIa is valued due to its eligibility for exclusive events such as Classic Le Mans, the MkIII 1800s is by far the most popular Grantura for pre-1966 historic competition. The main reasons are that (in addition to the obvious benefits of the more powerful 1798cc BMC 'B' engine over the previous 1622cc unit), the 1964 homologation allowed use of a limited slip differential as well as wider, 5” wheel rims over the 4” or 4.5” widths permitted on the earlier 1962/63 Mk III cars.

In June 1965 an extension of the homologation allowed the car to run on even wider wheels (6"). As a result, the June 1965 specification is the ultimate form of the car for use in pre-1966 racing and the one that almost all racing Granturas are built to conform to in historic competition.

FJF 122D was, as previously stated first registered on 5th January 1966, but there may be a little wriggle room here as the car was clearly built in 1965 and the chassis plate confirms that.

The current owner has never considered developing the car for racing but all things considered, and given that cars with later chassis numbers appear to have been granted papers,  it would be well worth making some enquires as to whether the car might qualify.

 

  • Registration Number:       FJF 112D
  • Chassis Number:                65-5-705
  • Engine Number:                  48G528E RS46822

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