TVR does not build many cars like the TVR Tasmin: a 2-dr coupé / 2-dr convertible with 2.0 , built from 1980 to 1987 in the age of turbocharging and the first electronic engine management. Its designer of record is Oliver Winterbottom.
How it came about
The TVR Tasmin (later known as the TVR 280i) is a sports car designed by Oliver Winterbottom (coach) and Ian Jones (chassis) for TVR and built in the United Kingdom by that company from 1980 to 1987. It was the first of TVR's "Wedge"-series which formed the basis of its 1980s model range. The Tasmin/280i was available as a 2-seater coupé, as a 2+2 coupé and as a 2-seater convertible.
The hardware
Under the skin sits 2.0 other versions carried different engines, listed in the specification table below. The gearbox is a 4/5-spd MT / 3-spd AT. 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. These are manufacturer figures carried by Wikipedia and Wikidata, not road-test measurements.
Family and rivals
Where it sits in TVR's history is not in doubt: the TVR 3000M/Taimar came before it; the TVR 350i followed it; it was built at Blackpool, England, United Kingdom. On a showroom list of its day it stood against the Dodge Ram, the Audi Quattro, the DeLorean Motor Company DeLorean DMC-12. Its TVR stablemates include the TVR 3000S and the TVR 350SE.
The money
There is no federal ownership record for the TVR Tasmin — 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.