When it comes to remembering some of the best British sports car brands of all time, the most common thing is that names like Aston Martin, McLaren, Jaguar or Lotus appear. It is very likely that the TVR firm can go unnoticed despite the fact that it became the third largest manufacturer of specialized sports cars in the world.
Founded in 1946, TVR began by manufacturing custom vehicles but in the mid-1960s it became one of the most successful sports brands in Great Britain, reaching its peak in the 1980s and 1990s. times an ambitious project was completed that gave rise to the spectacular Cerbera Speed ​​12.
In addition to being the flashiest production TVR ever built, it became one of the wildest supercars to date. It should be remembered that, during the first half of the 1990s, the McLaren F1 reached the pinnacle in this segment, being considered probably the best street car in history up to then.
Many of the world’s largest manufacturers set out to make an alternative that could dethrone F1 and TVR was also among them. At first, this brand began its project with the name 7/12, initially intended for competition, with a view to the FIA ​​GT Championship and the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
The first concept version made its public debut at the 1996 Birmingham Motor Show. A couple of years later, it was renamed the Speed ​​12 and competed in the British GT Championship. Soon, the brand left racing in the background and decided to take it as a base to develop one of the most impressive road supercars in the world.
This is how, in the year 2000, the so-called Cerbera Speed ​​12 was completed, equipped with a carbon fiber-kevlar body. Its low height and a large presence of air intakes were maintained, which maintained all the character of a racing car but in a vehicle designed for the streets.
The company was confident that it had finally managed to surpass the McLaren F1, revealing that the Speed ​​12 was more powerful and faster thanks to an engine developed specifically for this model. With a 7.7-liter V12 engine and a power of 811 hp, it was capable of accelerating from 0 to 100 km/h in less than 3 seconds and could roll at a top speed of 386 km/h.
TVR received numerous orders and came to manufacture four units of the Cerbera Speed ​​12 but it was the owner of the firm, Peter Wheeler, who finally decided to cancel the project. And it is that, after driving the car on public roads, he came to the conclusion that it was too powerful and impossible to control on the open road, so the manufactured units ended up being dismantled and their components were used in the field of competition .
Shortly after, one of these street units was rebuilt to raise funds and sold to a private collector, so there is only one example of this supercar that never reached mass production and sale. If you want to know more details about this extraordinary vehicle, you just have to take a look at the video that accompanies this article.
