Recalling the blistering performance for the Ford V-8-powered Griffiths earlier in the 1960s, TVR decided to make their own in-house V-8 model based on the Grantura/Vixen platform called the Tuscan. In 1969, TVR decided to expand the car’s appeal with a V-6 model, with power still coming from Ford.

The TVR Tuscan V-6 paired the GRP bodywork, front disc brakes, front and rear independent suspension, and tubular chassis of the Vixen with the beefier Salisbury differential that came on the Tuscan V-8. Unlike The Tuscan V-8, the rear brakes were drums and power came from a 3.0-liter Essex V-6.

When TVR introduced the Tuscan V-6 in mid-1969, its purpose was to provide middle ground between the four-cylinder Vixen and the ultra-fast racer in the Tuscan V-8/Griffith 200-400 mould. With a top speed of 125 mph and 0-60 mph in 8.3 seconds, not to mention TVR’s characteristically sharp handling, the Tuscan V-6 was still a properly quick car by the standards of the day. A road test by Car magazine in 1970 praised the excellence of the new Tuscan’s road holding and “sheer cornering power.”

Because of the emissions laws in the United States, the Tuscan V-8 was never officially sold here. A few have made their way across the pond, but only 101 examples were ever built, and most of them were right-hand drive. The Tuscan V-6 was replaced by the Triumph-engined 2500M in 1971.