At $19,500, Is This V8-Swapped 1986 TVR 280i A British Steal?
There’s a long history of stuffing Ford V8s into tiny TVRs, and while today’s Nice Price or No Dice 280i isn’t quite the classic we might expect, it still hews to that historical precedent. Let’s decide if we follow its pricing.
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Yesterday’s 1977 Datsun 200SX was such an amazing time capsule of a car that one might fully expect Lee Majors and Farrah Fawcett to pop out of it and offer up a cold can of Fresca. At $12,000, the Datsun’s price wasn’t quite so old school, nor did it prove acceptable to the 74 percent of you who dinged it with a No Dice loss.
TVR, the on-again, off-again British sports car builder, was founded in 1946 by Trevor Wilkinson. The company’s title was taken from the first, fourth, and last letters of Trevor’s first name. I guess it was pure luck that his parents didn’t name him Augustus, or today, we might be contemplating the ASS 280i. Instead, this 1986 TVR 280i offers less scatology and more of a rare look at what the plucky car maker was up to in the eighties, strangely enough, more than two decades after Trevor Wilkinson left the company.
Actually, this is way more than just a look at TVR of the era, as, according to the ad, the car has been thoroughly restored, updated, and renewed. Part of that process was replacing the car’s original fuel-injected Cologne 2.8 V6 (hence the 280i moniker) with a 5.0 V8 from a Mustang GT. Behind that is a Ford AOD four-speed automatic. The seller says that it was just recently rebuilt and is still under warranty.
Other changes include a steering rack from a Mustang II rather than a Cortina, a new top, supposedly straight from Jolly Olde, refinished basketweave alloys fitted with fresh tires, and new carpet throughout.
This line of TVR started life as the Tasmin in 1980. Designed by Oliver Winterbottom, a stylist who never met an angle he didn’t like, it wasn’t hugely well received at the time of its launch. The design was massaged over its life, and the name changed to reflect the engine size. Over the years since, it has gained fans for being so abashedly representative of forward-looking ’80s style rather than the retro designs from TVR that would follow.
This one benefits from the less in-your-face end caps of the Euro models rather than the standard-fitted U.S. rubber baby buggy bumpers. The paint is claimed to have cost $15K alone and looks terrific. That’s been adorned with new decals, including a 280i badge on the boot lid, which we all know is a lie. The fiberglass bodywork underneath also appears without flaw.
The cabin, which on these cars is tighter than a Scotsman’s wallet, features new upholstery and refreshed wood on the dash. One very interesting feature of these cars is the Surrey top. That’s a convertible roof that has been built in two sections—a soft folding rear part and a hard “Targa” section over the seats. The middle section can be removed separately from the rear section, giving the car three positions—closed, Targa, or full convertible. This was a pretty innovative solution and one that was copied by a handful of other small manufacturers.
While mileage is probably less important on a car that has seen a major restoration and motor replacement, we should note that this TVR has a mere 39,450 on the clock. It also has a clean title and wears California plates with what appear to be 2024 tags despite the likelihood that it would never pass a smog test here. If it is a California-compliant car, that’s all the better.
But could its price tag be better? The seller is asking $19,500 for this TVR, which is about double what these cars go for in unrestored but decent shape and still powered by the V6. This car obviously offers more in both its condition and build, but is it worth twice the going rate as a result?
What do you say? Is this V8-powered and seemingly turn-key TVR worth that $19,500 asking? Or is that just asking way too much of the little car?
You decide!
Los Angeles, California, Craigslist, or go here if the ad disappears.
H/T to Don R. for the hookup!
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