TVR Grantura

Featuring a TVR in the pages of MG Enthusiast may be a rare event, but there is method in our madness as the Grantura was offered with an MGA engine, and this 1959 example is now powered by an MGB unit.

This TVR Grantura may only have a tenuous link to MG, but it is nonetheless an indisputable family tie. There is a family tie of another sort behind this particular car which we will get to later, but since TVRmay well be an unknown entity for MG enthusiasts, here is a very brief and highly simplified history of the company.

Founded as Trevcar Motors in Blackpool in 1946 by Trevor Wilkinson, it was originally a general engineering firm. From 1949-1953 the company built three racing specials using their own chassis. This was followed by a run of 20 Sports Saloon chassis from 195355, each finished to the customers’ individual specifications.

A new semi-spaceframe chassis with central backbone was developed from 1955, while TVR produced their own open body for this in 1956 (using two Microplas Mistral nose cones, one being reversed for the tail!), and one of the engine options was the MGA’s 1489cc B-series. A coupé version was unveiled early in 1958. That was followed by the fastback Grantura later that same year (sold as the Jomar Coupé in the USA), which brings us up to the 1959 car in our pictures. Engine options for this included the Ford 100E side valve, the Ford 105E OHV, two different Coventry Climax units, or the MGA’s B-series. However, the engine story of this particular car is a little complicated, so we will hand over to owners Liz and Karl Dickinson to pick up the tale.

Liz: We have friends with TVRs and we were in the market for one of our own, but not as old as the Grantura. For some reason, none of the cars we went to look at was quite right. We wanted a Chimaera, but a lot of them are Cat C or Cat D. I didn’t want a car which had that hanging over it, because they are expensive to repair properly.