My Sabre now has a different engine. I avoid the use of the word new, as it will be an ongoing process to get it to near that stage. The 2.8 litre Ford V6 bolted straight into the same spot that used to contain the 2.3 litre Ford V6. Externally the motors look identical but that all changes once the foot is placed near the fun pedal. However I digress, as it is too soon to go into that now.

The motor was purchased off Andrew Priest who has a collection of them, half of which were in cars and half scattered around his garage. The 2.8 was a very popular motor in Britain with a long production life and it found its way into many kit cars. Production cars that used it included; the Ford Capri, Granada, Mustang, Sierra; the Reliant Scimitar and TVR. TVR made extensive use of Ford V6 engines from the seventies through into the eighties with the Tasmins Just by coincidence half of the motors that Andrew has happen to be under the bonnets of TVRs, a 1972 Tuscan and a 1983 Tasmin. The Tuscan is being restored in much the same way that Ian Prices Daimler Dart was. In other words a complete rebuild from the ground up. The Tasmin will go through a similar fate at some stage in the future but for now it is mobile.

After driving the Sabre with the new motor I was curious to see how it compared against the TVR Tasmin. For those that don't know TVR comes from the name of TreVoR Wilkinson, the founder of the company. Likewise the name ALMAC comes from the founder of Almac Cars ALex MACdonald. In dollar terms the TVR Tasmin was three times the price of a Toyota Corolla so it would place it at about $120,000 today. My Sabre cost $18,000 finished and on the road with costs to date bringing it up to about $20,000. A purchased fully built up Sabre would cost around $40,000. Both cars are from a similar mechanical era as the Sabre uses mainly 1982 Cortina running gear.

When I approached Andrew he was keen to find out how they compared too. It was a brilliant Spring afternoon with a warm breeze blowing. In fact the best time of year for open top motoring. Arriving at his place the mandatory time was spent gazing under each other's bonnets discussing mechanical similarities. After which it was into the drive test. For those who are curious the route was up Hutt highway 2 over Haywards hill around the Pahatanui inlet and back home via State Highway 1.

Driving Impressions TVR

The first impression once you hop into the Tasmin is that you feel low. (I am actually sitting in a TVR. I am actually going to drive a TVR. YES. Sobriety returns.) The steeply raked huge windscreen finishes just above your head. The seats do not hold you as firmly in place as in the Sabre. The car is designed to be a drivers car with arms in the reach out position with the gearstick to the left and down. The pedals are narrow but nicely spaced apart. There are also three of them. (hmm..) The engine starts easily and the next impression is that it sounds nicer than the Sabre.

Looking at the gearstick I see the top is blank. Is it 4 speed or 5 speed? Should I ask Andrew? Naah. Foot on clutch. (That was the third pedal. Make a mental note to remember that) Foot off clutch. Move seat four inches forward. It is not often that my six foot frame has too move the seat forward but Andrew is six foot five. Try clutch again. A truckie would be proud of this clutch it is heavy but not too heavy. Stall car. Oops. Although the clutch has plenty of travel the point between engage and go is very narrow. (Make a mental note to remember that) Into first gear. No that was reverse gear. Quick thought of sympathy for Andrew who is parked in the Sabre behind me as he saw the reverse lights come on.

Into first and start to turn the small steering wheel. Flex biceps and turn small steering wheel. At slow speeds the steering is very heavy. (Make another mental note) Once onto the open road I applied the loud pedal and things changed. (forget everything) The nose came up and the car accelerated very smoothly and quickly up to the legal speed limit. Once moving in this car everything comes together. The steering is responsive with plenty of feel as to what is happening on the road. The effort to press the clutch is forgotten as the gears flow into each other. This is a very nice car to drive. The engine noise is louder than the Sabre but quite acceptable. The car is geared for European touring and it is necessary to change down a gear when accelerating at anything below 120 kph.

On windy roads the car felt very firm and although I did not push it to anything near its limit it definitely handled very well and it gave me a similar confidence that I had driving the Sabre. With the Tasmin's independent suspension I felt that it would go further. On tighter corners I could feel its extra weight but there was no hesitation from the tyres and the car never once moved out of line. It is a driver's car but in my opinion it needs a bigger steering wheel to make it just that little bit better. Column controls had to be reached for as well and could have been closer to the steering wheel so that the indicators could be flicked easily when going around a corner. In conclusion it was a little faster than the Sabre and the handling in anything other than race conditions would be comparable.

The view outside the car is panoramic. The large windscreen is easily gives a better view when compared to the Sabre's. Keeping in mind that the view out of any roadster is always pretty good I was surprised that I noticed it. The bonnets bulge is clearly visible and breaks up the otherwise flat bonnet very pleasantly. When moving fast the Tasmin is a very nice car to drive.

Exterior TVR

While the two cars were parked the difference in the years of construction are clearly obvious. Although the Tasmin is slightly bigger it looks smaller from all angles. Its 70's wedge shape is now dated but not yet to the point where it could be called classic. When I first saw this car in magazines back in my teenage years, it became one of my dream cars. I never thought that I would one day have a chance to drive one. Alongside its contemporaries such as the TR7, the Lotus Elan and Esprit, and the Scimitar Sabre it could hold its own with its looks. The Capri roadster of the nineties tried this style of shape and failed.

However this is still a great looking car with its long bonnet and short tail it can only ever be called a sports car. The Sabre has not yet begun to date and its ten year old design still looks current. While we were taking pictures if the car I overheard a boy who was buying an ice-cream say to his mother. "Look Mum, A real Dodge Viper." I suspect that he was not referring to the Tasmin although I could be wrong.

After putting the tops up the Tasmin again came second although on both cars the soft-top spoils their lines. These cars were designed to be driven with the tops down.

Interior TVR

In this area the Tasmin is a clear winner with a lot of thought having gone into its design. There is plenty of room in the car from the footwells to the shoulders. I liked the high transmission tunnel and the cockpit like feeling I had while in the car. Apart from the previously mentioned column stalks everything is close at hand. The rich wood-grain dashboard sets this car apart from my Sabre's fake plastic wood.

A minor criticism I have is that the door panels appear unfinished. The velour panels seem to have been fitted to get the car into production quickly with a grab handle to close the door with. A major criticism is the gauges. Although clearly visible through the small steering wheel they are also very small and also highly detailed which makes them quite hard to read. The detail would be great on an engine test bed and would tell the engineer all he needs to know but it is too much for a driver who is only glancing at them from time to time.

And the Winner IS....

At the start of the day I had assumed that the Tasmin would have come out the clear winner with its longer production life and the experience of its designers. The Sabre is more of a GT car than the Tasmin with it's power steering and auto box, while the Tasmin is more of a driver's car but again there is not much in it. The Sabre in manual form would be as fast as the Tasmin due to the car's lighter weight. In short I was extremely impressed in the way the Sabre held it's own against the exotic TVR. A home built car can compete with cars of this ilk.

Would I buy a Tasmin? Not at $120,000. Would I swap the Sabre for the Tasmin? No, I could give relevant reasons for this but they would be suspect due to a bias towards the car I built. If I did not have the Sabre would I buy a second hand Tasmin? Definitely.