Supercar Fest Sale of Iconic and Classic Cars 2023 20th May 2023

83 + buyers premium of 12.5% plus VAT (15% incl VAT) on the first £300,000 of the hammer and 10% plus VAT (12% incl VAT) thereafter In today’s crazy world of ‘hyper-cars’, with manufacturers continuing to indulge their seemingly irresistible need to build the most rapid cars the world has ever seen, the TVR Cerbera Speed 12 would fit right in, however 20 years ago, the idea of a road car weighing 1,100kg with nearly 900bhp wasn’t so much unprecedented as unhinged. ‘Project 7/12’ was originally conceived in the 1990s with the design brief to develop a supercar to rival the McLaren F1 GTR, whilst also producing a true GT road-racer. It debuted at the 1996 Birmingham motor show and, predictably, it caused a sensation. The possibility that it might actually be quicker than the McLaren F1 wasn’t vigorously denied by TVR boss Peter Wheeler though, unlike the F1, the Speed 12 had a development brief that was heavily biased towards a career as a GT1 class endurance racer with the aim of taking it to Le Mans. The 7/12 project tag denoted the proportions of its monster engine, essentially two Cerbera Speed 6 straight-sixes spliced together, utilising a steel block, further developed by TVR’s John Ravenscroft creating a 7.7-litre V12. The story goes that it snapped the input shaft of the 1,000bhp-rated dynamometer and consequently TVR’s engineers were obliged to measure each bank of cylinders separately. This resulted in output figures of 480bhp on each side suggesting a total output of 960bhp, although the figure eventually quoted ‘officially’ by TVR was 800bhp as set up for road use. As a would-be Le Mans GT1 Class entrant, FIA regulations required that the TVR’s mammoth output be pegged back to around 675bhp by the use of air intake restrictors, however, the Speed 12’s competition career was short-lived as, after a few outings in the FIA GT Championship, a sudden rule change to accommodate purpose-built GT1 machines such as the Porsche 911 GT1, and the subsequent withdrawal of the class in other championships, effectively made it obsolete. In late 1999, TVR decided that rather than let their efforts with the Speed 12 go to waste, they would develop a new car to race in the GT2 class of motorsport. Again, with homologation in mind, there was fresh impetus around a road car version - the ultimate TVR would run the full-house 800bhp engine and cost £245,000, and the now-badged ‘Cerbera Speed 12’ was ready in 2000. Its design, which began with the Speed 12 GT, had now evolved over time, and its final style favours the Cerbera, but was essentially a totally separate concept created for racing and is dramatically unique. Deposits for the new road car began to pile up, and the new race car was rolled out too, where it would go on to win several races from 2000 to 2002, the best-known example perhaps being the Scania-sponsored Cerbera Speed 12 race car. Unexpectedly, the road car’s future came to an abrupt end one night when the Boss, Peter Wheeler, took one of the finished prototypes home for the night and, on his return, declared it too powerful and too wild for the road. Production plans were canned, deposits returned, and the remaining prototypes were broken up for spares to service the race cars. Except for one. In August 2003, TVR shocked the automotive world by advertising for sale a Cerbera Speed 12 with the registration ‘W112 BHG’. At that point, a complete car didn’t actually exist so with the racing program now consigned to history, TVR set about creating a true best-of-breed road-going Cerbera Speed 12, putting all their engineering knowledge into it. The completed road car was eventually ready by 2005, having taken a team of three race engineers (headed by Jonny Greenwood) over two years to build and test, piece-by-piece. Rightly, the engine utilised was the 7.7-litre, ‘bucket-head’ V12 - the last example of its type-originally developed by TVR for racing. The team utilised the best components from the race development program, with the express design criteria that W112 BHG should be road-legal. Lot 846 2000 TVR Cerbera Speed 12 The only Cerbera Speed 12 built by TVR specifically for road use, the defining example. An opportunity to own an exceptional and unique motor car, fully sanctioned by the marque and coming from diligent enthusiast-ownership. Registration: W112 BHG Chassis No.: SDLCC14A0YB001521 Estimate: Estimate Upon Request Consignor: Joseph Watts Telephone No: 07779 082707 More Details Lot 846 Bid On Lot 846