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This Corvette-powered TVR Tuscan Is Music to Our Ears

Introduced in 1999, the TVR Tuscan Speed 6 was an exotic-looking, lightweight and powerful British sportscar. It was built until 2006 in Blackpool and received three different inline-six engines with several updates.
TVR Tuscan with V8 engine 1 photo
Photo: screenshot from YouTube
The larger 4.2-liter units was tweaked to deliver up to 440 hp and 350 lb-ft (475 Nm) of torque at 6,000 rpm, which translated into a 0 to 60 mph (96 km/h) time of only 3.7 seconds. Need we say more?

Sure, maybe it wasn’t the most reliable sportscar out there and its design is not for everyone, but who can ignore a Tuscan among a pack of Jaguars and Aston Martins?

We’re not that crazy about it ourselves, but there’s at least one Tuscan S we’d love to drive. We’re talking about the one built by the folks over at Topcats Racing, who ditched the inline-six mill to replace it with a V8.

And not just any V8, but GM’s 427 cubic inch (7.0-liter) LS7, the same big-block Chevy engine that motivated the previous Corvette Z06. Now available in the 2014 Camaro Z/28, the hand-built LS7 is also available as a crate engine, so you shouldn’t be surprised it found its way into a TVR.

With an output of 505 hp and 470 lb-ft (640 Nm) and a weight of around 2,500 pounds (1,100 kg), this V8 Tuscan can easily join the classic "hybrid" sportscar club, which proudly includes the Iso Grifo and the De Tomaso Pantera.

Click past the jump to hear it roar.

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About the author: Ciprian Florea
Ciprian Florea profile photo

Ask Ciprian about cars and he'll reveal an obsession with classics and an annoyance with modern design cues. Read his articles and you'll understand why his ideal SUV is the 1969 Chevrolet K5 Blazer.
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