This is a TVR Tuscan Speed Six that was built in the year 2000 as the new halo car for the famed British sports car marque – and importantly it would be powered by their own in-house developed engine – the Speed Six.
The wild styling of the Tuscan Speed Six caused a sensation when it debuted in 1999 as TVR’s all-new car for an all-new millennium. The car’s appearance alongside John Travolta, Hugh Jackman, and Halle Berry in the 2001 film Swordfish was the first time most Americans would see it.
Fast Facts: The TVR Tuscan Speed Six
- The TVR Tuscan Speed Six launched in 1999 with wild styling, a lightweight fiberglass body, and the in-house 4.0 liter Speed Six engine. It replaced the Griffith, sat above the Chimaera, and delivered intense driver involvement through a lightweight chassis, double wishbones, coilovers, and the absence of electronic driver aids.
- Early cars produced ~360 bhp, with later 3.6 liter and uprated S and Red Rose versions reaching 390 bhp. The model quickly gained attention for its pace, aggressive styling, and appearance in the film Swordfish, which introduced the car to a wider American audience.
- Production continued through 2006, including the Mk2 update in 2004 that brought revised styling, interior changes, and updated suspension geometry. Early Speed Six engines developed a reputation for valve train and lubrication issues, but specialists and later factory revisions improved reliability in rebuilt units.
- The example shown here is a 2000 Mk1 model finished in silver SpectraFlair with a right-hand-drive cabin trimmed in navy and gray leather. It has GAZ coilovers, 18 inch wheels, four-wheel discs, and a 4.0 liter Speed Six paired with a five-speed manual and LSD. Imported to the US in 2025, it carries a clean Montana title.
History Speedrun: The TVR Tuscan Speed Six
The wild tale of the TVR Tuscan Speed Six started in the late 1990s when the Blackpool-based marque was moving away from Rover-derived V8s and committing to its own engine program. TVR had spent decades building lightweight, brutally quick sports cars with charismatic styling and handling that required genuine skill, but founder Peter Wheeler wanted a truly in-house TVR engine to round out the package.
Above Video: This is a period-review of the TVR Tuscan Speed Six by a young Richard Hammond, before he rose to international fame as a Top Gear presenter.
This desire for a unique TVR engine would lead to the AJP V8 powerplant for the TVR Cerbera and, perhaps more importantly, the new Speed Six straight-six engine. The Tuscan would be the first TVR designed entirely around the Speed Six mill, bringing in a new era of styling, engineering, and performance right at the turn of the century.
Development of the Tuscan began as TVR realized they needed a successor for the aging Griffith, while also preparing a future replacement path for the Chimaera. Wheeler and head designer Damian McTaggart steered the new project toward a more vastly dramatic form, with an long front end, multiple intake apertures, a sculpted rear, and a removable targa-style roof panel that slid into the trunk when not in use.
The car looked otherworldly next to more conventional rivals like the Porsche 911 or Jaguar XK8. TVR believed that this futuristic styling and the extreme driver involvement required to drive it at the limit would set the car apart in a market that was slowly becoming more refined, luxurious, and more electronically governed.
The Tuscan debuted in 1999 with the 4.0 liter Speed Six engine as its initial power unit. The double overhead cam engine used an alloy block and head, dry-sump lubrication, and individual throttle butterflies – racing-inspired engineering choices not often seen in production cars at the time. The first 4.0 liter cars produced 360 bhp, with the later 3.6 liter variant developing 350 bhp.
Higher-output packages, including the Red Rose tune and the Tuscan S specification, pushed power toward the 380 to 390 bhp range. A 5-speed manual gearbox and rear-wheel drive kept the formula familiar, and the combination of low mass, high revs, and dramatic torque delivery gave the Tuscan its signature character (and its razor-sharp road manners).
On the road, the car quickly earned a reputation for enormous pace and minimal filtering. Reviews from the period praised its straight-line performance, steering feel, and sense of occasion, noting that the Tuscan felt more like a road-legal racer than a grand tourer – a description that likely made hearts swell with pride back at the factory in Blackpool.
Above Video: This is a recent review of the TVR Tuscan Speed Six by Jay Leno – as you can see he’s quite a fan of it.
TVR’s suspension engineering included double wishbones, coilovers, and no electronic intervention whatsoever, which all combined to create a car that rewarded skilled drivers but demanded full attention. It was not built with electronic safety systems that would step in to save your bacon if you overcooked it.
The Tuscan picked up worldwide fame thanks to its appearance in the film Swordfish in 2001, where its striking shape introduced the car to a global audience alongside critically acclaimed performances by John Travolta, Hugh Jackman, Halle Berry, Don Cheadle, Vinnie Jones, and Sam Shepard.
TVR benefited greatly from the film’s exposure, but the company was already operating with limited production capacity, and the Tuscan remained a low-volume hand-built sports car – it was never a mass-market product.
In 2001 TVR launched the Tuscan S, this was an uprated variant with more power and sharper suspension tuning. The 4.0 liter engine in S specification delivered 390 bhp, pushing the performance envelope out even further. Sub 4-second 0 to 60 mph times were commonly quoted in road tests of the time, though the figures varied based on gearing, tune, road conditions, and perhaps most importantly, on driver skill.
Later, the Red Rose upgrade offered an adjustable suspension setup, bigger brakes, and a more aggressive engine tune – it’s widely considered to be the quickest and most desirable Tuscan Speed Six variant today.
There were some reliability concerns surrounding the early Speed Six engines which soon became part of the Tuscan’s tale – valve train wear and lubrication issues affected some first-generation units, prompting numerous rebuilds and upgrades from TVR dealers and independent specialists. Later factory engineering revisions, and high-quality rebuilds by Speed Six experts, addressed these weaknesses and solved the underlying problems.
The Tuscan received a significant (and final) major update in 2004 with the arrival of the Tuscan Mk2. This car had styling changes that softened some of the original car’s more bold features, the cabin was reworked, and the chassis engineering was further refined.
This is a TVR Tuscan Speed Six that was built in the year 2000 as the new halo car for the famed British sports car marque – and importantly it would be powered by their own in-house developed engine – the Speed Six.
Mechanical updates focused on making the car more approachable without altering the fundamental platform or Speed Six engine options. The Tuscan S Mk2 became the flagship car, continuing the model’s tradition of high power output, show-stopping styling, and handling that demanded the driver’s full attention.
Production ran until 2006, during a turbulent period for TVR marked by financial problems, ownership changes, and shifting market strategy. By the time the company wound down operations in Blackpool, the Tuscan had become one of its most recognizable models of the era. Total production figures are difficult to confirm due to TVR’s (relaxed) record-keeping practices, but estimates typically place the number around 1,677 examples across all variants.
The USA Road Registered Tuscan Speed Six Shown Here
This 2000 TVR Tuscan Speed Six is a Mk1 example finished in silver SpectraFlair and imported to the United States by the seller in 2025 and road registered out of Montana under an LLC – a common practice for exotics.
It’s one of 1,677 cars built during the model’s 1999 to 2006 production run, as you would expect it has its original fiberglass body over a the backbone tubular steel chassis, with removable targa roof and rear window panels and electric door poppers integrated into the mirror housings.
It rides on gray 18 inch alloy wheels fitted with Toyo Proxes T1 Sport tires dated to 2016 and 2017. Suspension is handled by double wishbones and GAZ adjustable coilovers front and back, while braking is provided by four-wheel discs with yellow front calipers.
The cabin is right-hand drive and trimmed in navy blue and gray leather across the seats, dashboard, console, and door panels. Equipment includes air conditioning, power windows, a Personal steering wheel, an aftermarket shift knob, and a Pioneer Carrozzeria head unit connected to a trunk-mounted 12 disc CD changer.
The cabin is right-hand drive and trimmed in navy blue and gray leather across the seats, dashboard, console, and door panels. Equipment includes air conditioning, power windows, a Personal steering wheel, an aftermarket shift knob, and a Pioneer Carrozzeria head unit connected to a trunk-mounted 12 disc CD changer.
The digital odometer shows 35,000 miles, with roughly 300 added by the seller. Power comes from TVR’s 4.0 liter Speed Six, an alloy, dry-sump inline-six mounted in a front-mid position. The engine benefits from an uprated starter installed in 2018, a replacement aluminum radiator with dual puller fans, and catalytic converters fitted in 2019.
Output is routed to the rear wheels through a 5-speed manual gearbox and a limited-slip differential. The car is now being offered for sale out of Pennsylvania with partial service records and a clean Montana title. If you’d like to read more or place a bid you can visit the listing here.
Images courtesy of Bring a Trailer
Articles that Ben Branch has written have been covered on CNN, Popular Mechanics, Smithsonian Magazine, Road & Track Magazine, the official Pinterest blog, the official eBay Motors blog, BuzzFeed, Autoweek Magazine, Wired Magazine, Autoblog, Gear Patrol, Jalopnik, The Verge, and many more.
Silodrome was founded by Ben back in 2010, in the years since the site has grown to become a world leader in the alternative and vintage motoring sector, with well over a million monthly readers from around the world and many hundreds of thousands of followers on social media.
