Manchester Classic Car Show Infamous TVR surfaces in a sea of classic prototypes
one-offs, concept cars and development models emerge at packed Eventcity show
Prototype cars – some recently restored, others only just dragged out from long-term storage – made for an informal theme at the Manchester Classic Car Show, which expanded into yet more halls at the Trafford Centre’s Eventcity complex.
TVR Speed 12
After more than 10 years buried under piles of rubbish, first behind TVR’S Bristol Avenue factory, then in a warehouse at specialist Track V Road’s workshops after it purchased the contents of Peter Wheeler’s ‘TVR graveyard,’ the spectacular Speed 12 supercar is back on the show circuit ahead of a full restoration.
‘It was TVR’S big step towards building a Le Mans racer and a roadgoing hypercar,’ said TVR Car Club show organiser Newton Holmes. ‘It was great in a straight line, but it wouldn’t go round corners, and became a development car instead.’
Restoration is going to be a challenge because there are no engine spares – Speed 12 had a oneoff V12 made from a pair of Speed Six engines sharing a common crank in a unique steel block, which no longer exists. ‘We never found out truly how powerful it was – TVR’S dyno couldn’t cope with 1000bhp, so Wheeler just submitted the figures for two Speed Sixes to the FIA, estimating the power at 980bhp,’ said Holmes.
Sunbeam-lotus
The car that became the first Talbot Sunbeam-lotus reappeared at Manchester following years in a collection of the Hethel-engineered rally homologation specials.
‘It was the prototype, originally just a 1.6S, taken off the production line at Linwood by competitions manager Des O’dell,’ said Ian Gerrard of the Sunbeam Lotus Owners’ Club. ‘In effect, it’s the very first Sunbeamlotus, although lots of things used on this car were changed for production. If you look at the photos of the launch car at the Turin Motor Show, you’ll see it has this car’s Exacton wheels. The production cars were supposed to get those, but they got Avons instead.
‘Because it was used for testing, they didn’t want to give the game away by putting Lotus badges on it, so O’dell differentiated it by painting this blue stripe down the side and making up the 2.2S badge. It’s a bit rusty, but the owner keeps it that way – he likes his cars original.’
MG YB
The restoration of the very first MG YB, the one that took pride of place on the firm’s stand at the 1952 London Motor Show, has just been completed. It was previously seen as a barn-find at the first Practical Classics Restoration Show.
‘I found it on ebay – I was just looking for MGS. I already have a couple of them,’ said owner Keith Buckley. ‘I saw how significant it was, having read an article confirming it still existed, although there were no photos of it. I thought my chances of owning it were remote, but put a bid on it anyway.’
Buckley said the car has an odd design quirk, being the first. It was based on a YA and used its sparewheel well, but the YB had 15-inch wheels. ‘The spare needs its tyre deflated it order to fit it in! It’s got a YA wiring loom too,’ he said.
It was all in one piece, but everything was rotten. It’s had new sills and several body parts remanufactured, including the door bottoms. This is its original colour – someone had repainted it brown.
‘It’s got a great party trick, by the way – built-in jacks,’ said Buckley.