TAMORA NEVER DIES? (some text hidden) --NONE--

BY ANDY ENRIGHT

Introductionword count: 91

TVR owners tend to be rabidly partisan types but there's one car that seems singularly unable to get them particularly excited and that model is the Tamora. Perhaps it's the underwhelming styling in comparison to the jaw-dropping shapes boasted by the Griffith, the Cerbera and, latterly, the Tuscan and Sagaris models. Or perhaps because it knew its place as an entry level model, the Tamora never gained a big following. Used examples aren't too hard to find and you won't need much more than middling hot hatch money to snag one.

Modelsword count: 7

Models Covered: (2 dr roadster 3.6 petrol)

Historyword count: 132

Even by today's standards, Shakespeare's Titus Andronicus is a pretty racy read. Rape, mutilation, murder - it's all there in the sort of grotesque detail that would make James Ellroy wince. Tamora, the Queen of the Goths, even ends up unwittingly eating her own sons who'd been baked into a pie. The TVR Tamora, while not quite so murderous in its intent, is still made of rather stern stuff. At its launch at the Birmingham Motor Show in 2000, TVR claimed the Tamora was "less extreme, more accessible, more conservative." Bullish sales figures were bandied about, projections that the Tamora would, ultimately, fail to fulfil. TVR priced the car too close to the far more spectacular Tuscan and by the time the company imploded in 2006, sales had slowed to a trickle.

What You Getword count: 348

Sharing the platform and engine with the entry-level Tuscan, the Tamora targeted cars like the Porsche Boxster S or Mercedes SLK32AMG. Taking up the reins from the modern classic that was the TVR Griffith is a big ask, and the Tamora needed to be good to fill those particular boots. It started at an apparent disadvantage, its Speed Six engine already two cylinders down on the Griffith's thunderous V8, but anybody who's heard a Speed Six used in anger won't worry unduly. The engine is a work of art, a bafflingly magnificent achievement from a company that fifteen years ago wasn't a great deal more technically advanced than the organisation down the road making plastic sand pits. The Tamora's mohair hood flips down to expose a typically inventive TVR cabin to the elements. An analogue speedo and rev counter vie for the driver's attention with a multifunction digital display with winking shift lights and whilst it doesn't rival the Tuscan in terms of sheer design exuberance, it still looks the part. Broad swathes of leather and the trademark TVR metallic pastille controls are very much in evidence as well as a steering wheel with a conspicuous lack of dirigible protection. The starkly elegant pedal set is probably the most noteworthy piece of styling, and alongside the cosmetics there's also function. The Tamora features central locking, electric windows, an electrically operated boot release, electrically adjustable door mirrors and an electric alarm system with engine immobiliser which may well raise a shudder from those with a passing knowledge of past TVR electrical reliability. You also get a removable face stereo and tinted glass, although luxury touches aren't what the Tamora is all about. The folding roof is neatly simple, echoing the design we've become used to in the Griffith and the Chimaera. There's a one-piece removable roof panel which stores neatly in the boot, and a folding rear header rail. Nothing flashy, but it goes up and down easily, although do think twice before you wheel out the pressure washer. Most TVRs are about as waterproof as the General Belgrano.

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