The cerbie was TVR’s first time, trying their hand at building a “family car.” As amusing as it sounds, it is the first 2+2 TVR. The rear seats are certainly not Roller or Beamer inspired. More Porker inspired, I must say. Just a little better. But that is absolutely no drawback. You know why? Do you really want to have the privilege of giving your children a heart attack by putting them in the back seat of that car? That car? The lady has to go through one everytime she rides in it anyways, but I don’t think its justified to give your poor children one.. Now, look at the rest of that amazing interior. Try mythical? It is one of the craziest designs in term of interiors, I suppose. But all TVRs are like that. It is a TVR tradition to have an amazing interior like that. After all, with a dashboard which looks like that, nobody’s complaining.

Apart from being TVR’s first attempt at engineering a “family car” the Cerbera is also TVRs first attempt at making their first engine. I’m talking about that sweet AJP V8 mounted to a 5 speed manual gearbox. You see, TVRs of old used V8 engines from Rover which they tuned to suit the “Personality” of their cars. The AJP V8 was one epic creation, I must say. It started out as a 4.2l flat plane V8, and ended in a 4.5l version. The 4.2 churned out 360 bhp stock and the 4.5 did 420 bhp. These numbers may not necessarily sound like much today, but at that time, (1996- 2003), They were magic. What’s more is that all that power was enclosed in a body weighing no more than a basket of soup since it was made of fibreglass. This gave the 4.2 an acceleration time of 4.2 seconds (of course) and the 4.5, somewhere less than 4 seconds. Now, reviews pointed out that the 4.2 was more frantic and revvy while the 4.5 was more sedated, but torquey. There was also a straight 6 offered (called the Speed 6). It was a 4.0 l straight six producing 350 bhp and had quite a reputation for being easier in town and gentle driving compared to the 2 V8s, but unreliable. On the contrary, both the V8s were bullet proof in terms of reliability as long as they were strictly and properly maintained with mostly elecrical and a very few surface mechanical gimmicks. But they were quite strong engines overall and could hit really high miles, before needing a rebuild. While the 4.2 and 4.5 Cerbies topped out at somewhere around 185 mph, the limited edition “Red Rose” did nearly 200 mph. This made its closest competitors at that time, the Lamborghini Diablo and the McLaren F1. The best part was that it did it with so little power compared to them. Amazing.

But all of this aside, the Cerbera is still a TVR, and like a TVR, has its issues. The main concerning one is the chassis. TVR used a powder coated chassis in their cars, but as the cars aged, the powder coating has been known to fall of or flake off, exposing the metal in the chassis and rusting it to bits, with the help of sweet old British weather. Other issues include elecrical gremlins which all TVRs are prone to. Also, expect build quality levels the Germans would scoff at.

But issues aside, The cerbie is definitely a supercar that you can buy and run on a slightly realistic budget for its pedigree. The good news is that, most cerbies on the second hand market have a replaced or rust protected chassis (Generally waxoiled or galvanized) and many electrical issues would have been resolved as well. For quite a few years, the cerbie has been a pretty cheap car to buy second hand (About 12,000 to 20,000 pounds in the UK), but as more and more sought after examples come, they now start at about 20 grand. Still, an absolute bargain for a car capable of nibbling at the heels and destroying almost anything on the road, including the likes of some Ferraris and Porsches in the right skillful hands. The cerbera is one flamboyant supercar that will bring a huge smile to the faces of their lucky owners.

“Keep the passion strong”

For suggestions as well as constructive criticism, shoot me an email at flamboyancegt@gmail.com