“Clearance will be minimal and the nose spoiler will crunch regularly, but other compromises may intrude more,” wrote Cropley. “Such as the bellowing engine, the minimal padding of the buckets, the restrictions of the harness and the difficulty of getting in and out of a cabin with a fat chassis tube running diagonally across its door aperture. But for some owners, these things will be nothing but encouragement.”
Five months later, we collared development driver John Kent at Croft. “The engine is a jewel, refined and tractable through the rev range, but it really comes alive above 5000rpm,” he said.
“It feels staggeringly fast. As for the rest of the car, we’re clearly at the bottom of a very steep learning curve. But the basics are absolutely spot on.”
By this point, TVR had a major problem: the GT1 class was done and dusted, manufacturers having exploited regulatory loopholes to create prototype-level cars, sending costs through the roof.
TVR was undeterred, though, and at the 1999 British motor show presented the road-ready but GT2-compliant version, now weighing 1100kg and costing £160,000 but getting 880bhp from that V12. “It’s going to be extremely hairy,” acknowledged Wheeler.
Too hairy, perhaps? Long-time Formula 1 driver Martin Brundle certainly seemed to think so after a shakedown at Croft.