1996 Jeremy Clarkson Supercar Drag Race - TVR Cerbera
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- Опубликовано: 19 май 2023
- The famous Jeremy Clarkson supercar drag race in 1996. This video influenced a generation including myself. All the expensive dream cars of the day blow away by the Blackpool rocket.
Jeremy Clarkson "When I first tested this Cerbera I remember thinking it was fast, I mean indecently, staggeringly, face-distortingly fast, but I had no idea it could so do this. Just about the cheapest car here turned out to be the fastest.
© VCI Limited 1996
0:00 Escort Cosworth vs Lotus Esprit
0:40 Main race car specifications
5:40 1 mile drag race
6:19 Results 
Авто/Мото
Man Im glad that 90s electronic horn music is no longer used in video games or dramatized car shows.
The 1990s were fantastic in many ways but TV production has certainly improved for the better
Took annoying to a new level.
lol yeah no kidding!@@Vincentofvega
absolutely!@@MatthewPoxon
We all are.
Jesus. If I hear those trumpets, one more time 😂
🎺 🎺 😂😂
Tun tun ta ta tun tun tuuuuuun
@@sukhdevr3489
😳
😆
I hear no trumpets, just an annoying cheap keyboard
Somewhere there was a producer screaming, "we've paid for the sample and we're going to use it!"
I had to watch this video 3 times, I just couldnt get enough of that amazing computerized orchestra section.
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Yeah, that was amazing!
@@MatthewPoxon pam-pam-papa-pam-pam-paaaaaa LOL
@@Ostin3232😂😂😂
Reminds of Mario kart
That bloody fanfare music!!
Really irritating to say the least!
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It is annoying but it wouldn’t be the same without it either. Tastes have certainly changed over the last almost 3 decades
@@MatthewPoxon I remember watching this in the 90s on vhs. It was annoying then as it is now! Nothing to take away from TVR tho. That was a mighty impressive performance! I’d love to see a rerun today with the same cars to see if the results would be the same 🤔
I've recorded it, and I shall now play it before I enter any of the rooms at work.
Best Carwow ever! This new host is way better too!
🤣🤣🤣
Oh yeah they basically turned themselves into a supercar drag race channel didn't they. A far cry from what they started out as. Not unlike Top Gear.
@@soundseeker63 pretty sure they still do car reviews, just drag races is what people seem to want.
🤣🤣🤣 Matt Clarkson
Carwow's drag races are so boring it's just ridiculous. ELECTRIC VEHICLE VERSUS SUPER SUV 1/4 MILE, WHO WILL WIN? Who gives a shit about those dumb races?
Hilarious, apparently TVR supplied a car with a TVR Tuscan race series engine, gotta love TVR
no, it was most likely just a 4.5.
@@cydonia9342 It wasn't a 4.5 Red Rose spec car. it's well known now that TVR were sneaky and they fitted a race spec engine into the Cerbera. I think the 4.2 Cerb still would have done the business, just not by so much of a margin. The was an article in, 'Evo,' magazine back in the day, and they took a TVR Cerbera over to Germany for a 'straightener' against a Brabus Mercedes. I recall reading it, and the German engineers stood around and sniggered about the unusual intake manifold on the Cerb. One of them was heard to say, "Only the British would make an intake manifold out of sellotape!" Oh how they laughed..........Right up until the TVR proceeded to smash the Brabus to a pulp in every single performance test. It was a delightful result- Mercedes finest pulverised by a car built in a shed in Blackpool by a small eccentric British company! One in the eye for Fritz!
I don't think the 4.5 was around when this was filmed. My bet would be it was a 4.2 but TVR were sometimes a little conservative with things like bhp and torque. I am told that getting an early 4.2 off the line was very difficult. Power had to be fed in otherwise with the weight and power it just spun it's wheels.
It was a pre-production 4.5 on Tuscan induction, which is basically what the production 4.5 got. About 400bhp.
@@Nickthebassist01the Tuscan was a straight 6, not a V8 like the Cerbera. The AJPV8 was also developed a long time before the Speed 6. This rumour has basically been confirmed by ex-TVR people.
That entire drag has the same BHP as a single Koenigsegg Gemera.....how times have changed
The entire lineup is easily more fun and usable than a Gemera though
That is a crazy statistic
@@pgr3290tvr's are fun, when they work!
Actual race cars were faster though due to no being so restricted and safe
Too bad the Gemera is just a shell car at this point. Hardly been driven over 60 mph even by Christian himself
I used to love my TVR Cerbera LM Edition in 1997. Nothing could come close to it on the track, it was a handful but when mastered it was a joy to drive, it was amazing. Then one day I lost it all in a crash, a crash of my Play Station that is!
🤣🤣🤣
The Speed 12 was my favourite car in the game.
The colors Was best
Watching this in 2024 and the Cerbera still looks stunning and embarrasses most sports cars on the road. What a machine.
The Cerbera has aged very well and still reasonable performance by today’s standards.
I wouldn't be so sure about that. Our RS4 Performance is as fast, my 992 GTS, is quicker... but yeah, in its day the TVR was a beast. My late father had one BTW.
Gorgeous British car indeed I love the Cerbera, I wish they had more in the states we need cars like that over here
TVR's are absolute trash. Built quality was terrible.
@tlove2108 not as bad as you're grammar
A little story…..
Caterham didn’t have a factory JPE when this race was arranged 👀
They were really confident though, and arranged to borrow a recently delivered customer car back.
The only trouble was, on the day the owner insisted on driving it himself, leaving the factory driver on the sidelines.
That’s why the car put in such a dismal performance, being the hardest to get off the line 😮
Caterham were not happy bunnies 🐰
That explains why the Caterham performed so poorly. I would have thought I it would have been phenomenal over the first 1/8 mile being so light.
Haha how do you know this? That's a cool piece of trivia.
@@sukhdevr3489
One of my friends worked at Caterham at the time. He was furious with the stubborn and overly confident owner.
Very interesting… I thought the JPE should have been quicker than it was… 👍
@@caterhamsuperlightr81
Everyone thought that 🙊
That trumpet music is so much better with the guitar overlay. Said no-one ever.😂
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Better?
Perfect you mean!😂
Wow, this took me back. I used to get Jezza's yearly VHS and then DVD every year. I loved sitting down to check it out on Christmas day, easily the highlight out of all my presents each year.
Same here, Christmas nightlight was always the new Clarkson VHS and later DVD 👍
As much as I love TVR, and my Chimaera especially, I'd take that gorgeous Vantage anyday!
Yeah to be fair as an avid TVR fan I would take the Vantage as well. Last of the proper hand built Newport Pagnel cars
I've loved that Vantage since I got this VHS for Christmas back in the day. I love when he's sliding it about and says "when you get it just right, it's like a dirty great gokart" 😂
@@nevets5891 Yes I remember that. A Rolls Royce with attitude!
3 of my dream cars right there, Vantage, Cerbera and the 912
Yes, TVR is my favourite but the Aston is an Aston.
Carwow Heritage Edition.
LOL
Same runway as what they used earlier on, ainit? I knew I was not bullshitting myself!
MORE TRUMPETS PLEASE!
🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
THE CLARION CALL! THE TRUMPETS!
It's like I've just turned my Sega Megadrive on😂
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I had this on VHS. Always love the esprit and the TVR
Both British icons 👍
The Cerbera was, by far, TVRs greatest product. Their acceleration wasn't the only astonishing performance. They were amazingly well balanced cars.
It was a fantastic car. Great looking both inside and out. Race engine, full roll cage, space frame chassis with double wishbones all round. Great car and performance for the price.
@@MatthewPoxon - indeed. TVR always made the best of comparatively small resources. They put funding and development where it was most effective for the end product.
I like the Tasmin 280i. 🤷♂️
Well this one infamously had a non-production engine put in for the race. Also notice how the windscreen wipers look ready to fly away when it starts to pick up speed😂
They made fast, fun, great handling sports cars but ultimately they went under because they made Italian supercars seem well built and reliable by comparison.
The Lotus Esprit is, and always has been, my favourite car. I don't care how it performs, I just love it.
The Lotus Esprit is a British icon.
It’s impressive 2 x cars in the test originated from lotus designs…. Even more so because the power output of that lotus could deploy with esprit’s was constrained by available gearboxes at the time.
If they’d be able to spec a more robust gearbox then they’d have been able to sell lots more cars.
@@robertpatrick3350true. I still wonder, when they switched transmissions in the late 80s, why did they choose another French transmission that was going to be the weak point?
And there's always something cool about the 7 surviving for 50 years. Pretty wild.
My word that TVR is underrated 😬 what a machine
I could be wrong, but i believe there were rumors that the TVR wasnt stock.
Fast but it's fiberglass body and rotting chassis make it a badly built machine ....fast but build quality is crap
let it underrated, because you know what happens when it get correctly "rated" ask the japanese about it...
thats why i felt in love with the cerbera since i was a teenager
Same here, this video is one of the main reasons I own a TVR today.
Exactly same reason
I've been looking for this video for years! So happy to have found it. A great line up of past masters. For me, it would have to be the 911 Turbo. Simply sublime.
The 993 911 has aged exceptionally well. Looks epic in Turbo form and painted black on this video. Not as cool as the Bad Boys II 964 though. I would probably take the Vantage, last of the proper Newport Pagnel hand built cars
@@MatthewPoxon that vantage caught my eye too. Loved it's looks in Gran Turismo.
The Vantage is stunning. I bought the 993 Twin Turbo new in 1996 in Porsche Yellow (orangey). It was the fastest car I had owned after having Ferraris and other top sports cars. The most amazing thing was the viscous all-wheel drive: mid-turn (under power), as you felt the rear tires losing some grip, all of the sudden you felt the front tires start pulling you thru the turn. Wonderful car and loved the classic dashboard design.@@MatthewPoxon
@@eastbaystreet1242a brand new 993 Turbo must have incredible back in the day. Performance by today’s standards is good so must have been ridiculous back then.
It was ridiculous, Matthew. It is one of the few cars I miss from that period. The 500E was also sublime. But even though I miss those cars, I don't regret my decisions to sell them because that capital led to far greater financial returns. And amazingly, my current weekender, a 2 tonne S63 Cabrio, is faster than those cars! @@MatthewPoxon
The Cerbera 4.5 remains the fastest car I've ever been in (brother in law had one) and tbh I've not been in many fast cars. But on a day trip in 1999, 150mph was hit often and scarily easily and the sound was intoxicating. One of those cars where you look for tunnels and open the windows.
Having been an TVR enthusiast and owner for many years now I agree the Cerbera feels brutally fast. In terms of figures it doesn’t stack up with some of the modern cars, however it still feels faster. I think it is mainly down to the lack of refinement compared to modern cars, it is essentially a lightweight race car.
Never been in a cerbera but I did get a passenger ride in a v8 Griffith at the classic car show at the NEC, around some local roads the owner said the police didn't really bother them as long as they weren't being total hooligans, so would I like to see what it could do, of course I said yes and before I knew it we were doing 120mph, just this big slug of torque, it was relentless. Loved it.
Why Didn't You Go To Top Speed 195mph? 😈
I bet the bonnet release was conveniently "broken" on the TVR that day... 👀
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Found my new ringtone
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you are a brave man.
Uhgg!! That damn music!!
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😂
I love the whole trumpet song
I am 41 and I can not emphasise how many times I watched this video and how unbelievable these cars were to me. The crazy thing is that I have owned many cars that are a lot faster than these cars. An easy example is that I owned a 996 turbo which doesn’t feel that fast anymore. I owned a McLaren 12c which would be a spaceship to these cars.
We are the same age, this was one of the videos that got me into cars when I was young. These were all Halo cars back then. Crazy how things have moved on in terms of performance. Sounds like you have owned some amazing cars!
A little older but resonates exactly the same. Growing up in an era when sub 6 seconds was frankly exotic, these were all bedroom poster stuff. Test drove a Tuscan once and went pale 😂.
I drive an M5 CS now and even that is being humbled at the lights by Teslas and Polestars.
There’s nothing more to go after in terms of straight line pace now, that pencil’s been sharpened too many times. I’m going to find something old and lightweight with a manual gearbox and leave them to it.
Where's the Shelby Cobra? Where's 0-100-0? Braking, as Clarkson well knows, is very important.
Out of these cars, which would you pick today for pure driving enjoyment?
@@msfasa Aston V8 Vantage for me
Clarkson has always been a Pratt but back them he was at Pratt Zenith! But hat’s off he made Top Gear watchable and this was a daft but entertaining exercise!
Something tells me TVR took a little bit longer to build THAT example!
LOL
They drove it straight back to the factory after the race 😂😂😂😂😂
All 3 cars are amazing in their own ways, so glad I get to watch stuff like this
Agreed. I love the TVR but I think the Aston Vantage is my favourite. The last of the Newport Pagnell hand build Vantages
I am still in love with the Viper
They didn't want the Yankees to have a chance, probably told the driver to ease off the gas, there's no way the Viper was that far behind.
Great looking car
@@MichiganGourmetguyabsolutely. That car should be capable of a low 12 in the quarter, but it got stomped here. Old mate must have shifted to second at 3000rpm then missed 3rd, given up and put it in 4th.
@@Rollin8.0I mean just look at what Top Gear did with Tesla ... this is an entertainment show, not a news show. And to be sure, as an American, I'm good with that - it's a fun show to watch - but I don't really rely on them for facts.
Either they lied or have a weaker "EU" Viper. Their specs are wrong. It's not 415bhp / 0-60 in 4.6s, it's 450 and 4.0. In 1/4 mile, the Porsche would jump ahead and it would be close at the line. I imagine they suck at driving it, which to be fair these early Vipers were unforgiving wolverines and the Euros probably hated it.
Jeremy always complained about cars that don't ride like a Mercedes and shift with one finger. He even compared a blue collar American V8 noise as nothing compared to a Ferrari exhaust, as if those race cars are on every corner in Europe.
I had this on vhs back in the day, loved a Clarkson video. What a guy!
Same here!
The music wast best thing about this whole clip. Excellent trumpets!
LOL I am not sure most agree 🎺🎺🎺
Great compilation, well put together
These were proper petrolhead cars back in the day . Man vs car. Not all the electronic arm chairs they have nower days.
I agree, a breed of raw cars with little to no driver aids that are sadly confined to the past.
TVR giving Gran Turismo throwback vibes 👏👏
Always straight to the TVR dealer on Gran Turismo. 👍
Old School Car tv show, no money and no dislikes
Look at the weather look at the beautiful clouds
I know, back in the 90s, before global warming took over the world, we still had clouds.
Bruh, that TVR is fast as heck even in nowadays standarts... 😐
The performance must have been absolutely insane back in the 1990s
@@MatthewPoxon Absolutely... 💪
I've been a fan of the Cerbera since I first drove one in Gran Turismo, it's corner handling is sublime, best drift car in a stock setup ever, plus those lines are reminiscent of Scarlett Johansson's body.
It is certainly a great looking car 👍
love the lines and handling of the cerbera from GT also.
it reminds me of the swedish indigo 3000 cars that had a similar look as a cerbera.
my Cebera was quick (remember planting the throttle at 40 mph and the whole thing went violently sideways and used to take it up to 140 easliy on my local mad mile, but this particular Cebrea must have been very well turned out by the factory. The Turbo 4 was the real winner and would still look after you to this day if you where lucky and wise enough to choose it. great early day drag race. thanks
Thanks for sharing. Owning a Cerbera back in the day must have been crazy.
Pretty amazing indeed - my money was on the 911 🙂
Yes, "well turned out" indeed. Happens all the time when things aren't closely controlled/monitored. I was in a major Ferrari event, World Championship (sports cars) and one of the drivers with very close connections to Ferrari was handed a car that the factory brought over on race day (so he didn't race his own race car)... guess who won... I bet that car had almost 200hp more than the rest of us (and that's not sour grapes - I was a midfielder with no chance to win in any circumstance).
If I recall correctly the Lotus V8 was severely held back by the Renault 25 Turbo Gearbox since that apparently was the only unit available able to handle the engine while still fitting in the 1970s based Chassis. The engine wasn't even equipped with an Intercooler, and its estimated that the engine was capable of nearly 500hp without the limitations of gearbox and chassis.
I didn’t know that. Sounds like a missed opportunity which is a shame. 500bhp would have been game changing back then.
This was a savage tape back in the day great 😊 memories thanks Matthew TVR taking on the world and dominating
TVR seemed unstoppable at that time. Thanks for the comment and glad you enjoyed it.
It's so cool to see the cars from posters on our wall come to life.
1990s dream car posters!
Music would be more appropriate at the opening of a medieval jousting competition
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I thought I had El Cid playing in another tab...
They're in Britain, and this is their national anthem, you hear it everywhere in London I'm told.
Rough average prices for these super 1996 cars today:
TVR Cerbera - £30k
Porsche 993 Turbo - £220k
Lotus Esprit - £60k
AM V8 Vantage V550 - £200k
Dodge Viper - £60k
Caterham 7 JPE - £60k (est...rare)
Ford Escort RS Cosworth - £70k
That is really interesting, thanks for that. 👍
That TVR for only 40 grand?! What a machine.
Crazy cheap for the performance 👍
@@MatthewPoxonbasically the tesla plaid of its day
That is crazy cheap. If you look at the Viper and the US cost at the time, then convert to pounds at the time, it would be about 38k in pounds based on US pricing, so the fact they say it's 60k pounds, that's quite the mark-up. It's always amazing how much more cars cost in Europe than in the US, which also makes that TVR seem like quite the value.
The Aston was 177k. Adjusted for inflation that's 338k today...
£40k In 1996 Was Still Alot Of Money 😈
A rear wheel drive Cerbera beating an all wheel drive 911 Turbo from a dig? Hard to believe.
I didn’t realise the 911 was 4wd. If there was such a thing a 2wd Turbo would have probably been faster as that Porsche weighs a fair amount at 1.5 tonnes. 2wd would be a fair amount lighter.
yes, it was all wheel drive. I bought mine new in 1996: viscous all wheel drive - so if the rears lost traction, more power was shifted to the fronts in milliseconds. I agree with quick2mack. Something fishy going on in this race. @@MatthewPoxon
TVR Cerbera 1100kg
Porsche 911 Turbo 1500kg 😈
I used to work on the program and Part of the reason for the poor quality soundtrack was because of the budget which was around £30,000 an episode which sounds a lot but was tiny even then . Clarkson et al were rumoured to be on approximately £250 a week but only when the program was on air
Fascinating. This is absolutely awesome and horribly lame at the same time. And then there is the trumpets.
Gotta love the 1990s 🤣🤣
I'm surprised the TVR managed the mile without breaking down.
They are not as unreliable as the press would lead you to believe
My mate had one and it was useless. It was quick when it worked but it honestly was crap. @@MatthewPoxon
Is there realy any need for the trumpets🤣🤣
There is every need for the trumpets - LOL
Love the old school car videos.
Thanks for watching 👍
£177,000 for a Vantage back then was insane
An awful lot of money back in the 1990s!
That was 4 months ago, Jeremy did not age very well. and it happened quickly
Personally I'd take the 911 Turbo in a heartbeat. It's just how the car manages the power even if it doesn't have the best power to weight ratio.
The 933 911 is phenomenal car for its time. Still one of the best looking 911s.
Beetle.
I don't really care if we have cars blowing the doors off these now. This was a great time for car lovers. I miss the 90's so much. The charm of all these is just too good. Just a different era. 😍
Couldn’t agree more. 1990s were a fantastic time for car enthusiasts. These cars were incredible in that era. Thanks for the comment 👍
The lotus espirit has such a timeless design for me, so coollll
100% agree timeless design. Looks like it is going fast just stood still.
that fanfare music 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
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Always loved the Cerbera - great to see a victory! Would be good to see how the mighty McLaren F1 & XJ220 performed against these.... Same era cars!
The McLaren would have decimated them
@@187Blondie for sure, but be good to see by just how much.
XJ220 and McLaren F1 would surely be a fair bit faster especially over a mile drag race. Would be interesting to see.
F40 is one to watch too their acceleration is insane probably one of the fastest things for its hp in the world
@@AmariLambo F40 was a different world of acceleration. Carbon fibre bodied twin turbo V8, pure madness!
I gotta have more trumpeting! 🎼🎶🎵🎉🎊🎊🎉🎺🎺🎺
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Love the song when show up the specs on in every car, I miss this guys of top gear.
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Ok i didnt expect the viper to win, but did the guy just give up in the middle of the race. 😂😂😂
Yeah it is strange why the viper performed so poorly, it should have come good with all that power mid race.
@@MatthewPoxonThe Viper was built for 0-60 and Quarter Mile stuff. By the time the quarter mile was over, the torque curve would’ve fallen a bit flat and the long gearing would’ve taken over. Early Viper’s were well-known to have been geared for 300+mph for emissions reasons.
@@39PSIOnTheDaily That makes sense, thanks.
@@39PSIOnTheDailythe driver was useless. The race was over a standing mile, at the very least it should have gotten off the line like a scalded cat and been near the front of the pack for the first 1/4-1/2 mile before the aero ruined the fun.
@@39PSIOnTheDailythis is 96 and the Viper came out in 92, so it shouldn't be an early model - but maybe it was. Maybe they were running it on 85 octane.
Not sure about that Viper time. Sure, the engine is an inefficient lump, but Carwow drag raced another early example against a 2005 Ford GT a few weeks ago, and it was only 0.3 seconds behind that on the quarter mile.
No no no. American car bad. We must keep up that rhetoric. Even if it means making the guy quit in the middle of the race and engine swapping the TVR.
Modern Tires?
Not 28 year old ones?
The viper I was very surprised by the result. It is a really early one with the 3 spoke wheels but it should have performed better nonetheless. Driver error perhaps.
As a two time (and current) Viper owner, I can assure you that the right driver in a Gen 1 can get faster Mike times than that. Again, clarkson always treated the Viper like dog shit. He had a weird love/hate relationship with it. Ultimately, his pride with all things British would screw over the Viper everytime. But, it’s all entertainment anyways. Right? Except for the damn trumpet. Oof…
@@justinmcroberts4633Which Viper is your favourite? I love the look of the late 90s one or one before the SRT10, I think it's the GTS. I doubt I'll ever see one in England.
The driver of the Viper came out later and Clarkson confirmed that he was asked to stay out of the pedal...He was to come in last
Amazing how a bloke called TreVoR with a few mates in a Blackpool shed was able to take down the world's best marques in high performance motoring. An underdog story if there was ever one.
Trevor was also famed for cheating!
No way this had 50bhp less than the 993 turbo!
The way it was pulling, I’d say it was 150bhp up on the 911.
That TVR was not stock. Fighting Torque 2007 at Wattisham I ran faster 3/4 mile than any standard TVR there that day (70+ of them) in my stock 996 GT3 Mk2. Before the event I was getting my ass handed to me apparently on PIstonheads (in a good banter way) but after the event it was "feck me that GT3 was quicker than we expected". Thread is there to see on Pistonheads if you can work out their rubbish each engine. No way was THAT TVR stock.
The fastest cars are always underestimated
A beetle in running shoes.. 😂
I think a lot of us suspect that the TVR had been "upgraded". It doesn't look like there was any effort made to verify these things on race day. Jeremy and his crew were probably elated to have access to the cars at all.
Ha, sore loser..
In TVR we trust😉🇬🇧
So was the Cerbera the first model to have the AJP8 Engine after using the aluminium buick 350 v8 in the previous models? (great engine)
Near 30 years back too........Impressive stuff.
I can't understand why the caterham isn't ahead during the first seconds, since it's the quickest at 100 mph?
Yeah, I never understood that. Surely should have been quicker over the first 1/8
Probably cause it would have wiped the floor with everything and JC wouldn't want to upset Mr. Wheeler. If I remember right the JPE reached 100 in 8 and half or so and it held the 0-100-0 record by Autocar at 12.5 for many years
The factory didn’t have a JPE when the race was organised.
They borrowed a recently delivered customer car.
On the day, the owner insisted on driving it himself, which did not please the factory.
Fast car yes, but horribly tricky to get that package off the line well.
Very peaky engine and no weight make it virtually impossible for an owner to replicate the record breaking times.
It’s either stratospheric wheelspin, or bogging horribly for ages. The sweet spot is unbelievably small.
@@DontPanicDearI did not know this caterham was made in the 90s. Only really saw it in mid 2000s TG. They probably should've used something else here. Maybe a Lotus Carlton, Ferrari 355.
Pretty sure Peter Wheeler bought JC a few pints for this nearly unbelievable result 🤣
Maybe but Porsche does have more power on paper but weighs 1.5 tonnes vs the just over 1 tonne for the TVR so it is a plausible result.
Boy cars come a long ways over the last few years.
Always loved tvr despite reliability issues there just a uniquely beautiful car.
Uniquely British and eccentric 👍
Only the Yanks could get a poxy 415bhp from an 8 litre V10 engine, what the hell were they playing at!
Not much BHP per litre compared to European cars, it does look good though.
Haha exactly it's a truck or lorry engine I think. Looks the best out of these cars imo.
The rumor was always that the Viper was restricted due to Chrysler’s partnership with Lamborghini at the time. The Oreca Vipers won LeMans without much change to the engine. Those cars were said to make somewhere between 650-750hp. The same type of rumor persisted later when the last Gen Viper made 675 hp. Since Fiat owned Chrysler and Ferrari, they were restricted so as to not be faster than Ferrari’s best for a much lower price.
I had a TOP Ferrari exec hint the same (with a wink) to me. Pretty standard stuff across co-owned brands. How could Lambo or Ferrari have a car that cost 1/4 the price outperforming it... and an American car at that!@@joshpratt110
Try and find a TVR today without wood worm....🤣
Or tin worm😢
Chassis corrosion is the main source of deterioration on TVR
@@dspencer8827 Shame they were awesome cars!
Also had this on VHS, love the example being made using the Escort Cosworth, as a young lad with a Mk2 Astra 1.4 at the time, the Cosworth was so highly regarded and seeing it taking a spanking was mind blowing back then!
People tend to forget that a standard Cossie was a relatively quick car but most of them in the wild were chipped and produced silly power.
Standard cossies are only 220hp, it's quite easy to bump it up another 100hp, then it would be in the mix 🏁
@@toddc6682 220BHP at a time most hot hatches were around 100BHP is still very quick but yes chipped to 300BHP+ which a lot of them were is a different ball game. Clarkson did do a video where he raced all the tuned Cosworths against each other.
This was the mid 90s; they forgot to include an AstraMax van, which would have pissed all over all of them with Gary from Essex at the wheel
Hahahahhaha - so true!
Anyone has these VHS still? They’re GEMS!!!
How the hell did the Viper get beaten by a Caterham?
Would have expected the Caterham to beat it off the line but Viper should have come good mid track.
because its a crap American engine, 8l only producing 415bhp?? little more than 50bhp per litre (and they probably lied, i bet it was less than 400bhp really, it must have been as it was so slow)
@@andy5768Doesn't matter, should have won in the long run. The answer is Brits always have to prove they're the best and TG was biased af back then...
@andy5768 no the viper has proved it merits time and time again. So stop with the stupid "American car can't turn or do anything right" banter. This race was clearly rigged. I didn't expect the viper to win but it was almost like the guy just gave up in the middle of the race. Gen 1 Vipers may be crude but slow is something they're not.
longer gearing and poorer power to weight ratio, it weighs around 1500kg,
The TVR was not stock is what I hear
Not confirmed but it is possible. The Cerbera was one of the fastest production cars of that era with 420BHP and weighing just over a tonne.
@@MatthewPoxon it was awesome. I remember reading about in my dads Autocar magazines when it came out. Praised by the press all around I think.
A real hero car.
Ah yes, Jeremy Clarkson’s “Dock Ock” years
🤣🤣🤣
"This video influenced a generation", they say in the video description. That's true. I've been playing the trumpet ever since🎺🎺🎺
Hahahahhahaha, that proper made me LOL 🎺🎺🤣🤣🤣
I think the only reason the TVR was fastest was it had the added factor of needing to run away from its own hideousness.
A bit harsh on the poor Cerbera 🤣🤣🤣
The cossie was never fast stock.
Surprising to see how slow a standard Cossie is. All the ones I have encountered have had the wick turned up.
Mmmm.
Hot hatches in early Cossie days were 120/130bhp, the the Sierra was ballistic comparatively.
An E28 M5 was only 80bhp more, and those were mighty. Those are also pretty slow today 😢
Love all these cars!!
Agreed all very special 👍
I toured the TVR factory in Blackpool back in 1997 and saw them building the Cerbera. All by hand from the chassis to the carpets and hand sanding the body. Still my favourite car ever and mad that it was only £40k
It is crazy at that price point considering it was a bespoke, hand built car.
Nice to see the Cerbera in the same Rosso Pearl as my Chimera. Rare to see any TVRs up north unfortunately.
Absolutely legendary stuff from my childhood
Same here!
Love the music!
"So the Esprit has just reached puberty. It'll be shaving next."
FANFARE MUSIC
I have a 99 Esprit V8. It does pretty well in this battle. Wonder if they did a few runs if the results would have been the same every time. A bad launch could ruin the whole run and a few of these cars aren't the easiest to launch.
The drag races I have seen on Car Wow they do tend to do multiple runs which is fairer.
Congratulations on the 1999 Esprit, stunning car 👍
I miss the old days and the old sound effects, especially on video games. 🤣🤙🔥 And if anyone has a spare Lotus, let me know.
🤣🤣🤣
The graphic design of the spec stats in the epitome of all things 90ies.
LOL - they are very 1990s
Omg the music for the stats screen lol
🎺🎺🎺🤣🤣
I had this on VHS way back then. That music is seared into my brain😂
Same here! 🤣🤣🤣
That music makes me feel like I just rescued princess peach from browser's castle 🏰 🤣🤣
The TVR Cerbera Speed Eight weighed just 1,100 kg. That is the biggest reason why it kicks so much you know what.
Spot on! The Porsche is around 1600KG, big difference.
This... is Peak Clarkson.
Agreed 👍