The TVR M Series#3000M, Taimar, and 3000S is a car from TVR, built from 1972 to 1979, as the oil crises and the first emissions rules rewired the industry. Under the bonnet: Ford Kent 1.6L I4.
The background
The TVR M series is a line of sports cars built by automaker TVR between 1972 and 1979. The series replaced the outgoing TVR Vixen and Tuscan models, and is characterized by a common chassis and shared body style. As with other TVR models before and since, the M-series cars use a front mid-engine, rear-wheel drive layout and body-on-frame construction. The bodies themselves were built from glass-reinforced plastic (GRP). The era of the M series is commonly associated with Martin Lilley who, together with his father, took ownership of the company on 30 November 1965. The M series was regarded by contemporary reviewers as being loud and fast and having excellent roadholding.
This came at the expense of unusual ergonomics, and heating and ventilation systems that were sometimes problematic. The series includes the 1600M, 2500M, 3000M, 3000S, and Taimar, as well as turbocharged versions of the 3000M, 3000S, and Taimar. The first model to start production was the 2500M in March 1972, after being built as a prototype in 1971. A small number of 5.0 L Ford V8-powered cars were finished or converted by the TVR North America importer; these were sold as the 5000M. A total of 2,465 M-series cars were built over the nine years of production. Because of the hand-built and low-volume nature of TVR production, there are many small and often-undocumented variations between cars of the same model that arise due to component availability and minor changes in the build process. The American market was financially very important to TVR, and Gerry Sagerman oversaw import and distribution of the
The engineering
Power comes from Ford Kent 1.6L I4; other versions carried different engines, listed in the specification table below. It weighs 1972 lb - 2250 lb. The layout matters: the engine sits behind the driver and ahead of the rear axle, which puts the mass in the middle of the car and is why mid-engined cars change direction the way they do. These are manufacturer figures carried by Wikipedia and Wikidata, not road-test measurements.
Where it sits
Its family tree is legible: it took over from the TVR Vixen / TVR Tuscan (1967); its successor was the TVR Tasmin; assembly was at Blackpool, England, United Kingdom. Its contemporaries in the catalogue — the Renault 5, the Volkswagen Passat, the Lancia Stratos — show what else the money bought that year. Its TVR stablemates include the TVR 3000S and the TVR 350SE.
What it costs now
There is no federal ownership record for the TVR M Series#3000M, Taimar, and 3000S — it predates the complaint database or was never sold in the United States — so MotorJury publishes no running-cost figure for it. For a car of this age the price is set by the collector market and the condition of the individual example, not by a formula.