Out of the graveyard – the ex-motor show TVR S4 once given Royal assent
Assigned to TVR royalty and driven by the future King, this last-off-the-line S4 dodged an angle grinder to live free with enthusiasts, who recall its eventful life story
1994 – TVR’S Blackpool factory builds the last S4
The last TVR S4 to be built, registration M518 RCW, marked more than just the transition from one model to the next. It was the last of a long line of Ford-engined TVRS, making way for a short-lived Rover V8-engined S-series followed by a new generation of Rover-powered TVRS spearheaded by the Griffith and Chimaera.
It was completed in October 1994 for the Birmingham Motor Show later that month. Recalls Ben Samuelson, the company’s marketing boss during Peter Wheeler’s ownership, ‘I can see it now on its Starmist Green number plates, because we painted the number plates to match.’ The car’s current owner, Nigel Bromley, thinks he may have visited the show, ‘I would almost certainly have stood by the rope and dreamt about owning a TVR one day.’ The S4 appeared in publicity pictures and was used by Wheeler’s wife Vicki; TVR aficionados still know it as ‘Vicki’s S4’. It was often seen at track days and race weekends for the TVR Tuscan Challenge, and was featured in Steve Heath’s TVR S-series bible.
Cerbera owners Fred and Gill Heddell knew the Wheelers well, which came in handy after an unfortunate event during a TVR track day at Donington Park. The Princes William and Harry were there and were given the chance to drive M518 RCW around the paddock guided by Peter Wheeler. At the time William would have been about 14 and Harry just 12. ‘They did slalom courses and manoeuvrability tests,’ Fred remembers. ‘We weren’t allowed to watch and only saw what they were doing from a distance.’ During the lunch interval the two princes were given hot laps in a pair of new Cerberas before the track was re-opened for owners to drive their own cars.
That was when disaster struck. ‘Gill crashed our Cerbera into the pit wall,’ says Fred. ‘It was fairly badly damaged so it went back to the dealer on a truck and we were lent M518 RCW to go home in. We had it until the end of the week when we picked up our new Griff and delivered the S4 back at the Tuscan race meeting on the Saturday. Gill bragged all week that the last bum that sat in the driver’s seat was Royal.’
M518 RCW clearly made an impression on Prince William, because some time later he said in an interview with The Sunday Times that if he could have any car it would be a TVR.
2003 Languishing in TVR’S ‘graveyard’
As TVR’S model range evolved, M518 RCW became less and less relevant to the company’s activities. Eventually it was taken out of regular use and stored in the ‘graveyard’ behind the Blackpool factory where prototypes and special cars ended up over the years – at least, the lucky ones did. Ben Samuelson recalls,
‘TVR was incredibly unsentimental, from Peter downwards. There was no museum, no old cars. Many concept cars and prototypes were disposed of. The second they weren’t useful they got cut up.’
The S4 did survive but by 2003 it was covered in scratches, and parts had been stripped off it for TVR customers as needed. The original wheels had gone and one of the removable roof panels had been donated to a car in Germany. With part of the roof missing, water had got inside, rotting the carpets and causing the veneer to lift from the dashboard. On top of that, a cat and her kittens had taken up residence in the boot.
Slowly the car was restored, probably with a view to selling it on. There was some attention to the paintwork and the dashboard was refinished in body colour. ‘It’s the only car that has a factory-made dash in body colour, though other people have fitted them since,’ says Nigel. A set of later Griffith wheels was also fitted, along with a new steering wheel.
Martyn Griffiths buys it in 2006
Wheeler sold the company to Nikolai Smolenski in 2004 but retained ownership of the factory site, and by 2006 it was clear that TVR would have to relocate. Martyn Griffiths worked for a company called Multipart, which helped to move much of TVR’S stock of parts and cars into a storage unit at Crick in Northamptonshire. Martyn explains, ‘That’s how this car came to be at Crick. Along with a few lads from TVR I had the job of sorting out all the mess, including 60 to 70 cars. It was in the warehouse and somebody came along and said the legal issues were sorted and asked if I’d like to buy it. I owned a Grantura MKI in my apprentice days, and a 1972 Vixen that had been restored by Ian Bannister, a great car fitted with a removable tow bracket so Ian could take stuff with him when he went camping/racing. I thought it might be nice to have a more modern TVR, so I took it on.’
Being so close to the TVR action Martyn knew about the car’s special history. The S was in good condition, apart from the hood. ‘They have two panels which lift out and one was missing. I managed to find one in a scrapyard in Cheshire. I cleaned the car up underneath, painted the chassis and suspension, but I didn’t really do any major work on it.’ Martyn sold the S4 after a couple of years, and bought a V8 Chimaera that had also been one of the post-sale stock of cars.
2009 – Steve Soulsby buys the S4 for £5800
‘I really liked the TVR S shape,’ says the car’s second owner outside of the factory, Steve Soulsby. ‘I’d been to see a few that were described as immaculate, but were awful. I spoke to Martyn the morning this came up for sale and said I’d pay the asking price. It wasn’t immaculate but it was pretty good.’ One of the roof panels needed recovering, which Steve had done by a coachtrimmer, and the engine ran roughly when cold. ‘A fellow enthusiast sent me an original TVR diagnostic tool. I adjusted the mechanical tappets and put in the thicker oil needed by these older-design engines.’
After that he needed to do little beyond normal maintenance during his four years with the car, and avoided the temptation to do any major modifications. ‘I was mindful of the fact that it was the last one,’ he says. ‘It’s not like you can change anything without devaluing it.’ When he fancied a change he part-exchanged it with TVR specialist Fernhurst Motor Co for a Griffith. Today he runs a T350.
2013 – Nigel Bromley looks for an S3, but buys the S4
Says next owner Nigel Bromley, ‘I was definitely going to buy an S3 and wasn’t going to look at anything else. I decided I wanted a flat colour because it makes stone chips easier to repair – it had to be red or dark blue. I looked for months and started to get disheartened, then this appeared at Fernhurst – wrong colour, not an S3, way more than my budget, but I had a tingle. I thought, “that’s the one”, and my wife said it looked lovely.’
Nigel took the train south to Fernhurst in Surrey. ‘They were brilliant – it was on the ramp, so I was able to have a really good look underneath. The whole car
‘I was mindful that it was the last one. It’s not like you can change anything without devaluing it’
‘I drove it home in horrific rain. I didn’t know the car and was frightened of it sliding around. Terrifying’
was mechanically solid and the outriggers were great. The engine hadn’t dropped on the engine mounts, a common problem and a pig to fix. The bodywork was scabby but it was all stuff I felt capable of doing.’
Then Nigel looked at the car’s history. ‘It was intoxicating. I’d been a fan of TVR all my life and to have a car connected with Peter Wheeler was very exciting. I went for a test drive, and the next minute we’d shaken hands and I’d bought it. I picked it up three weeks later and drove it back in the most horrific rain, all the way, three and a half hours of it hammering down. I didn’t know the car and was frightened of it sliding around. It was terrifying.”
Safely home, Nigel set about improving the bodywork. ‘The bonnet was terrible – it had stone chips and three massive star cracks. It cost about £900 to have that done eight years ago. It had a horrible stick-on lozenge badge, which I replaced with a metal one.’ Low-profile tyres had been fitted, which Nigel swapped for Bridgestones in the correct size, improving the handling and appearance. Then he had the windscreen replaced, a job that took a whole day. ‘These cars are never square,’ he explains.
‘The interior was tired. The seats came out and I used the Gliptone process, where you clean, feed and repaint the leather. It’s amazing the difference when you feed the leather, which a lot of people don’t do. The centre console has a scar that all Ss have – you take one of the roof panels off and the other one falls down on its end. If you see one without that it’s either had a new transmission tunnel or never had the roof off.’
The latter is unlikely, Nigel says, ‘TVR law is that you don’t drive with the roof on unless the storm has a name.’ The roof panels were a struggle to fit, ‘Normally the panels just go click-click and they’re done. With these it’s a 15-minute fight. They don’t fit each other and they don’t fit the car. So I bought a Surrey roof in the end – like a tent material with an aluminium mechanism. It folds down into a long thin tube that can sit behind the seats.’
The folding rear section of roof was tidied up using Renovo hood restorer, but it had shrunk while the car was in storage, so Nigel had it replaced. Then last year the rear of the car was resprayed.
‘I’m really pleased with its appearance now because it looks tidy and cared for, but it’s not so perfect I’m frightened to charge off round the Alps in it.’ As well as numerous foreign and domestic road trips and show appearances, the S4 has provided novel prom transport for Nigel’s daughter and been immortalised on a mug produced by the TVR Car Club’s S group, S Club Heaven. ‘I know half a dozen S owners who own other TVRS as well, and they say they’re never selling their S. They do get under your skin.’