Vixens were hand built cars with fiberglass body panels over a tubular frame. The frames tend to rust and leave the owner with a nice looking car but a rusty frame. The frame can be repaired or replaced but it can be a lot of work. Being an S2 means that the body is bolted to the frame, rather than bonded to it like the S1, making repairs much easier. The S2 is also a bit longer making it easier to get in and out of. This Vixen is listed on eBay in Syosset, New York. Bidding is at over $11,000 with reserve not met and 5 days to go. This looks like a really nice car, but you can’t tell until you see the frame. This TVR is from the rust belt, so it will need a close look. The frame might need repair or replacement. It’s more likely a restoration than a survivor, but it is rare.
The interior looks really nice. The 42,000 miles claimed by the seller could be accurate.
It looks like new under the hood. There’s must have been some restoration work done here. The paint on the exhaust pipes isn’t even burned. This is an 88 HP 1.6 liter Ford Cortina engine.
This end looks nice as well. On the S2 the round Cortina tail lights were replaced with these from the Cortina Mark ll. The big question, of course, is the frame. This Vixen could be a great fun driver, but because less than 500 were built, perhaps it will go to a collection. What do you think it might be bid up to?
Interesting that it’s in Syosset – that’s where Jack Griffith first started putting Ford 289 engines in TVR’s and making a car that was considerably faster than the Cobra!
Beautiful TVR and I love the 1600 Ford mtr.but being a rust belt car I worry what the frame looks like.
Awful “Styling” anemic performance, second only to the TR7 in un-drivability. The chassis handled the wheelbase oddly: practically over-square it was happier going sideways. When one would come into the shop we’d draw straws and the loser had to test drive it. With a 289 they were very fast, which was good because you got to squirm out, slam the door and not look back sooner. At least with a Cortina, you got a useable trunk. Horrid little things – proof again the Americans will buy anything British.
Gee, if we were completely rational about our transportation appliances we’d probably all drive old Mercedes diesels, and what boring and safe world that would be!!
It is far easier to fix a frame on a TVR than the body on any porsche. All you need is a good MIG welder and a sawmill, Sand blast everything, rust proof it, repaint it and you have a fun car. Safe as new but than again that is not saying much.
It will be time consuming to break it apart to get to what needs fixing but so much easier than you might think. As for looks the early TVR’s had a look that only a mother could love and then only if she was blind.
Well…. Perhaps they are better looking than a Cheetah.
Ah, well NOW you’re talking about one of the truly great pretenders. Never a production car, wonderfully eccentric race car, handles like it looks. I would LOVE to have one. A TVR Griffin, Tasmin, whatever… middle management club racers paradise. I’m not coming from an owners point of view, I used to fix these monsters; and we can be rational: just don’t buy lousy cars because they’re odd.
I would have thought that the Cheetah would be the one car that someone might rank below most other cars in handling. The Cheetah has a wide track relative to its wheelbase, and that and its flexible frame made for pretty squirrily handling. It was not a successful race car and died an early death. Look at many high performance cars and race cars like F1 cars and they have a long wheelbase-to-track ratio, which makes for high speed stability, and the wide, stick tires help keep it on the road/track.
Since one could probably eat off of anything in that engine bay, and in his write-up, he said “used sparingly” or words to that effect, that the underside is pristine as well. I suspect that someone went, looked at it (even underneath) with an expert and bought it then and there. I actually find the styling intriguing, but way too small for my 6’3″ frame. I tried my darndest to get into a Griffith at the Chicago Auto Show when they first were presented….laughable. Although I have managed to get into and drive a first gen Europa. Loved it. Oh yeah, I’ve also seen Cheetahs race at Road America back in the day….zowie !