Start with what the TVR S Series is: a car with 2.8-L V6 160 bhp, built from 1987 to 1994, in the age of turbocharging and the first electronic engine management. What it meant takes a little longer.
The background
The TVR S series is a line of sports cars manufactured by the British company TVR between 1986 and 1994. It was announced at the 1986 British International Motor Show. The car went into production in less than 12 months, with 150 pre-manufacture orders placed at the motor show before the moulds were even made.
This was Peter Wheeler's first major development since buying the company from Martin Lilley, and the turning point in TVR's fortunes. In total, TVR produced 2,604 S-series cars; 410 of these were the V8S model. The design was the return to a more traditional style, with a strong resemblance to the 1970s M series.
The engineering
The engine is 2.8-L V6 160 bhp; other versions carried different engines, listed in the specification table below. On the scales it comes to 940 -. The layout matters: a front engine drives the rear wheels, the classic proportion — long bonnet, cabin set back — that most people picture when they picture a sports saloon or a grand tourer. The wheelbase is 2286 mm. These are manufacturer figures carried by Wikipedia and Wikidata, not road-test measurements.
Where it sits
In the TVR line-up the TVR S Series has a clear place: the factory was Blackpool, England, United Kingdom. The cars a buyer would have weighed it against include the BMW 5 Series, the Ferrari F40, the Jeep Wrangler. Its TVR stablemates include the TVR 3000S and the TVR 350SE.
Owning one today
There is no federal ownership record for the TVR S Series — 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.