TVR T350c

2001 TVR T350c

Offered by Iconic Auctioneers | Northamptonshire, U.K. | May 2024

Photo – Iconic Auctioneers

The T350 was the final model introduced by TVR before Peter Wheeler sold the company to Russian Nikolay Smolensky. It went on sale in 2002 and was sold alongside the car it was based on, the Tamora, until 2006.

Two variants were offered, the T350c (coupe) or the T350t (targa). Power is provided by a 3.6-liter inline-six that was rated at 350 horsepower. It could hit 60 in 4.4 seconds and topped out at around 190 mph.

Just 460 of these were produced (390 of which were coupes), and they were really the last of the TVR models. Only about 215 cars would be produced after the T350 ended production. This was the first T350 built and was used as a motor show display car, a press car, and TVR’s own car for three years before being sold. It now has an estimate of $37,000-$44,000. Click here for more info.

TVR T440R

2002 TVR T440R

Offered by Iconic Auctioneers | Northamptonshire, England | May 2024

Photo – Iconic Auctioneers

Peter Wheeler bought TVR in 1981 and transitioned the company from wedge-shaped sports cars into a company producing cars that reflected the era… and an era of that no one really saw coming. Cars of the early 90s begat some wild supercars by the year 2000.

The T440R was the second of two prototypes of a car that TVR hoped to homologate so they could race it at Le Mans. The first prototype was destroyed by the factory, leaving this as the sole example. It was initially powered by a 440-horsepower engine (hence the name) but has been restored with a 4.4-liter inline-six.

This car is a good representation of the final stretch of the Wheeler era at TVR: aspirational, wild, and rare. It now has an estimate of $240,000-$285,000. More info can be found here.

Group A Peugeot 309 GTi

1987 Peugeot 309 GTi 16V Group A

Offered by Iconic Auctioneers | Stoneleigh Park, U.K. | February 2024

Photo – Iconic Auctioneers

The 309 was a boxy, boring small three- or five-door hatchback sold by Peugeot between 1985 and 1994. The French have a long history of making the most of boring cars, and Peugeot did that here, selling a GTi version, which was a hot-ish hatch.

The road car shared its powertrain with the 205 GTi, one of France’s best hot hatches. It had a 1.9-liter inline-four making 158 horsepower. Not bad. This car was built in 1988 as a Group A rally car for the British Rally Championship. Peugeot then ran the car themselves for 1989 and 1990.

Come 1991, the Peugeot team boss wanted to showcase a young driver, future WRC champion Richard Burns, and entered him in the WRC RAC Rally, where he and his co-driver finished 16th as the top two-wheel-drive car.

The car remained in storage with Peugeot until 1998, at which point it was sold to a privateer. Burns found out about the car and acquired it for his own collection. Now it’s being sold from said collection with an estimate of $88,000-$100,000. More info can be found here.

Chevron B31

1975 Chevron B31

Offered by Iconic Auctioneers | Stoneleigh Park, U.K. | February 2024

Photo – Iconic Auctioneers

Chevron‘s B31 was a sports prototype race car that initially competed in the 1975 European 2-Litre Championship. It was an evolution of the 1973 B26 and was actually entered in high-level competition through 1990. Which is an insanely long time to keep a race car around.

This car previously was fitted with a Cosworth DFV but has since been taken back to its as-designed 2.0-liter Hart DOHC inline-four that was rated at 290 horsepower. It has a Hewland five-speed manual gearbox and fiberglass body work.

It is the fifth of six B31s built in 1975. It has a Martini livery and won a historic championship in 2013. It now has an estimate of $125,000-$150,000. Click here for more info.

Ultima GTR

2005 Ultima GTR

Offered by Iconic Auctioneers | Birmingham U.K. | November 11, 2023

Photo – Iconic Auctioneers

Ultima Sports was founded in 1983 by Lee Noble in England. Most of the cars they have produced since have been sold in component (kit) form. You buy the fiberglass body and tubular space frame chassis, then you go find a powerplant to stuff behind the driver.

The GTR was offered between 1999 and 2016, with cars sold in both kit form and as full turn-key cars constructed by the factory. This example is powered by a 6.3-liter Chevrolet V8 that apparently makes 600 horsepower. It’s also got a Porsche G50 transaxle. It’s a rocket ship.

In fact, a 720-horsepower GTR set many production car acceleration records. After 2016, the GTR was replaced by the Ultima Evolution. This car has an estimate of $43,000-$49,000. More info can be found here.

MG XPower SV-R

2004 MG XPower SV-R

Offered by Iconic Auctioneers | Birmingham, U.K. | November 11, 2023

Photo – Iconic Auctioneers

This is the ultimate MG. It was offered during the last few years of MG as a British, somewhat independent, manufacturer before the company was acquired by Nanjing Auto in China from the British holding company that held onto the firm after BMW divested itself of anything “Rover.”

The XPower SV was a sports car launched as a concept in 2001 before McLaren F1 exterior designer Peter Stevens revised it for production, which started in 2003. MG collapsed in 2005, so just 82 examples of the XPower ended up being built between the SV and SV-R versions. Apparently 42 of them were SV-Rs.

The car is based on the chassis of the Qvale Mangusta, which is weird. In SV-R form, the car is powered by a Roush-tuned 5.0-liter V8 rated at 385 horsepower, which has to make it the most powerful production MG of all time. Sixty arrived in 4.9 seconds on the way to a 175-mph top end. Manual or automatic gearboxes could be had.

This manual-transmission car has 10,000 miles and a pre-sale estimate of $66,000-$79,000. More info can be found here.

TVR Vixen

1969 TVR Vixen S2

Offered by Iconic Auctioneers | Silverstone, U.K. | August 26, 2023

Photo – Iconic Auctioneers

Well look at that, Silverstone Auctions changed their name. Now they are “Iconic Auctioneers,” which is a tad self congratulatory. But anyway, they are still offering some pretty cool cars, including this TVR Vixen.

All early TVRs pretty much look the same, and the Vixen was the company’s four-cylinder (and later six-cylinder) car. It replaced the similar-looking Grantura in 1967 and was offered across four series and a few sub-models. V8-powered cars were called the Tuscan.

This S2 is one of 438 such cars built and is powered by a 1.6-liter Ford Kent crossflow inline-four. The body is fiberglass and the whole package is pretty light. They’re quick, but not quite as insane as a Tuscan. This one has been owned by the same guy for 50 years and should sell for between $22,000-$30,000. Click here for more info.

Update: Sold $20,144.