TVR Tuscan Speed Six. (Source: Top Gear Online - Roadtest - [June 01 2000])

The sky has now turned a nuclear fall-out shade of black. The rain is lashing down so torrentially that the backstreets of Blackpool are threatening to turn into canals. On a day like this I’d be scared to get behind the wheel of a Renault Kangoo, never mind the TVR Tuscan Speed Six which awaits me.

A few raw facts about the Tuscan are only adding to my apprehension: it boasts 360bhp and 180mph potential; it has no air-bags, no ABS and no traction control. It comes with a handy detachable roof too.

Turning the ignition key provokes a woofle from the excellent superbike-style twin carbon fibre exhaust cans, followed by four litres of straight six engine – sounding as relaxed at idle as a mildly chafing angle grinder.

Even on a dismal day, the Tuscan is a quite hearteningly startling thing to behold, as loud visually as it is aurally. The styling is an evolution of the gorgeous Griffith, only lower, longer and with an even sleeker profile thanks to a lift-out Targa-style roof. Added evil is provided by eight tiny arachnoidally-arranged lamps set in the front wings.

I think I’m doing well as four litres and 24 valves of TVR’s self-built all-aluminium in-line six go into action; 4,000rpm rattles up on the readout before the engine’s race-car-like high-revving set-up makes itself felt.

Although the huge peak power of 360bhp isn’t served up until a foaming 7,000rpm, the back tyres have been spinning so hard from the 4k mark onwards that they’re set to fry. Green, amber then red shift-up lights glow on the dashboard and I grasp for second gear before exactly the same manic sequence happens all over again.

The Speed Six engine’s tractability and the clean-shifting gearbox’s ratios makes the Tuscan an easier car to get along with than any TVR I’ve been in before. 0-60mph in a seemingly insane 4.37 seconds is only a minor part of the story; as our performance figures taken at Millbrook test track will show, the Tuscan is capable of whipping up to 100mph from a standstill long before a Golf GTi has even reached 60mph.

On the move, the suspension’s noticeably soft edge is merely sufficient to eliminate any nervy edginess over typically bumpy British roads. With a tubular steel chassis and a glass fibre bodyshell helping it to weigh in at only 1,100kgs, the Tuscan isn’t a heavy car either. Match this to quick steering and the TVR’s agility becomes more obvious the harder the Tuscan is pushed.

The whole car has a very balanced, connected-together feel to it. The incredibly well-sorted chassis resists all front-end slip and grips hard, with just the slightest nudge of power-on rear slidiness as its thrown at a tricky selection of turns, cambers and surfaces. You’d need the safety of Tiff’s favourite airfield to try anything more lurid.

The simple route back to Blackpool is a quick motorway blat down the M6. After the noise and fireworks of my cross-country hack, this proves to be a return to civility. The Tuscan’s fifth gear ratio is set up for a relaxed cruise and, once again, refinement is much higher than I had expected.

This serves as further evidence that, should you want to use your Tuscan regularly and not merely as a weekend toy, there’s every reason why you should. Refined when you want it to be and a cinch to drive gently, this TVR Tuscan is also able to provide the sort of unforgettable excitement that you’d need to spend twice the asking price to find anywhere else.