This is easily one of the rarest cars we have ever had in our shop and we are very pleased to have it here to finish off its restoration. This is a one-off prototype known as a TVR Tina. This car is one of only two TVR Tinas ever built, and is the only convertible version made. This car was built in Italy by Fizzore-Fiore, and when first released, it had a different front nose that was much rounder. This design element was short-lived and the car was updated with the nose you see now.
This car first appeared on the TVR stand at the Turin Motor Show in 1966. It’s based on the Hillman Imp and features a full steel body which is very unusual for TVR. The idea was to eventually mass-produce these cars with fiberglass bodies, but the project never took off.
This car has been brought in for us to finish off the restoration. The restoration was started several years ago after the car was invited to the Pebble Beach Concours, but sadly slowed to a stop when the owner became ill and passed away. The current owner is very keen on finishing the restoration and showing it himself at events across the country.
The restoration as it has been brought to us has been very nicely done, but sadly many parts have been lost over the years. Being that this is a one-off build, many of these parts will need to be handmade from various photos and drawings we have. This is a really cool project that we’re very excited to be part of.
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What a superb project. If you need any help, then contact The IMP Club, who I feel sure will be happy to assist, especially if Imp parts are required. Our Spares Contact is BoB Allan ([email protected]) The other known Tina was restored by Practical Classics and Imp Club members were heavily involved in sourcing parts to complete the car. Until recently I owned a Nymph which is a fibreglass Beach Buggy styled Imp which was great fun. So Good luck with the restoration.
Thanks, Colin! We will definitely keep that in mind. Especially the Bob Allan contact. We just came across an old article with some fantastic images of the original Tina marketing brochures: http://www.imps4ever.info/specials/tvrtina.html. This is a really unique opportunity for us.
Nice article – is the car still owned by Jonathon Till? I’m Gregor Marshal, son of Gerry Marshall and it was my sister Tina the car is named after and we are restoring her car, the Coupe version. Please fell free to get in touch or pass my details on, as I’m sure we could all probably help each other.
Many thanks.
Gregor, yes as you probably know now that the car is still owned by my husband Jonathon Till – please pass on comment.
The Tina is very much a mini Trident, the Trident having been designed by Trevor Fiore as well. And it was Fissore, not Fizzore who built TVR prototypes, including the Trident. Fiore was in fact just plain old Trevor Frost but he thought the Italian for Frost would look better on the page. I had a Trident Venturer V 6 for two years as my daily driver. It was utterly reliable and much admired. The TVR prototypes were eventually sold to Johnathon Bagnall-Oakley, who had an example of every specialist British Sportscar at one time. BTW, Frost also penned the Elva-BMW GT 160. I once followed one out of Silverstone and there we were going the back way out of Silverstone, two of the World’s rarest cars by complete coincidence.