The TVR Grantura was introduced in 1958, and went on to be produced in four different series. Founded by Trevor Wilkinson, the TVR name came from abbreviating his first name, though he left the company in 1962 and it has since changed ownership a number of times. Like the very few cars produced by TVR before it, the Grantura was based on a fiberglass body mounted on a tubular steel backbone chassis, with suspension, brakes, and engines derived from a range of sources. Initially intended to be fitted with the Coventry Climax FWA engine, engine choice was up to the purchaser and many were fitted with BMC or Ford engines instead. By the time the second series came out, most were fitted with BMC engines from the MGA from new but the other engines were theoretically still options. For both the first and second series, the suspension was based a trailing link setup from the VW Beetle, with the car looking short and very wide for its wheelbase, The subsequent series however was lengthened and the suspension redeveloped to one derived primarily from Triumph components. This example of a TVR Grantura originally came with a Coventry Climax engine, which was a fairly rare option for the Series 2 cars and likely spoke to it serving as a race car when new. At some point in its past, likely due to engine failure, the engine was replaced with the unusual choice of a Fiat OSCA engine and gearbox. The OSCA engine was developed by the Maserati brothers after they left the company they founded and sold, which bore their name. This engine design was then built by Fiat, where it was used in the 1500S and 1600S models of spider and coupe. The twin cam 4 cylinder engine was a lightweight high performance engine and generally serves as a good replacement for the now missing and hard to replace Coventry Climax engine. When I bought this car, it was obvious that although it had passed through several sets of hands in the recent past, it hadn’t ever truly been sorted out and made to run reliably. As a result a lot of work was put into getting the car to run as it should. After a lot of sorting, it now starts and runs as it should but there is still a lot of work that can be done to improve the car and its finish, but for the moment, it’s at least usable. The suspension is fairly primitive, especially when compared to later TVRs and the ride is a bit harsh and loud, as is common for fiberglass cars of this era with little or no sound insulation.