The Cerebral Speed 12 is the meanest TVR ever on the road. This one-of-a-kind Cerebra with a 7.7-liter V-12 engine and more than 800 horsepower was made for racing in the GT1 racing championship. It may be driven on the street. It doesn’t weigh more than 2200 pounds. This car, the only one left, will be sold at auction in May at Silverstone Auctions. When it came out in 1996, the TVR Cerebra was a fast sports car with a fiberglass body similar to the UK’s Chevrolet Corvette or Dodge Viper. The Cerebra made 450 horsepower in its standard form. It also didn’t have important driver aids like traction control and brakes that don’t lock up. What should we make of this one-off that nearly doubles its output if the Cerebral is “equal parts scary and awesome”? The Speed 12 was made by combining two of TVR’s inline-six engines to make a 7.7-liter V-12 engine that could fit inside a Kevlar and carbon fiber body that weighed about the same as an early Mazda Miata. Dangerous? It’s the same as using hand grenades to play cricket. But you can now own Speed 12, the only one left alive. Even though Blackpool-based TVR is known for manufacturing strange cars, the Speed 12 was more than that. Instead, it was made to compete with cars like the McLaren F1, the Porsche 911 GT1, and the Mercedes-Benz CLK GTR. These are three of the most famous road cars ever made, and they were all designed to win at Le Mans. TVR’s strategy for the GT1 class was more like a board with a nail driven in it than a racing scalpel. A few bumps were along the road when making this English-bred crazy dog. First, the FIA put intake restrictors on the Speed 12’s big engine. This cut the power to 675 horsepower. Porsche and Mercedes-Benz had much more money for research and development than the small TVR. In this case, the German “Goliaths” beat “David.” Even though the Speed 12 won a few races in the UK, it could never compete as planned at Le Mans. TVR said, “No problem.” “If we can’t make the fastest race car in the world, let’s make the most dangerous road car.” The dyno went off when the engineers installed a free version of the 7.7-liter V-12 engine. Power was found to be somewhere between 800 and 900 horsepower. Peter Wheeler, a chemical engineer who got rich during the North Sea oil boom in the UK, ran TVR at the time. Wheeler had a personality that was bigger than life. Once, when his dog chewed the prototype body shell of the Chimera, he appreciated the holes that were made so much that they were added to the final model. He had a strong personality and was a good driver, but he couldn’t handle the Speed 12. After driving the prototype, Wheeler decided that the Cerebral Speed 12 was too crazy for the road, so the program to make the automobile was cancelled. The parts for the Speed 12’s little racing were taken from cars that were used on the road, and that was that. In 2003, there was just one prototype shell left. Therefore TVR chose to sell it. Wheeler looked at the buyer himself. The Cerebral Speed 12 is currently for sale at Silverstone Auctions. It is looking for a new owner who thinks, “That sounds fine and normal,” when they hear that the design of a car was inspired by a dog attacking the bodywork.
