So continuing my diatribe on why the Sagaris is a mistake…

I personally have issues with the steering. I think it is over-assisted and lacks feel. In the dry this isn't such a problem and the lightness at least is quite a boon…attack a flick, flack sequence, stay in 3rd gear, both hands on the wheel and use the quickness of the rack to really nail the apexes. The car and the steering work a treat. Complete confidence in the set up, chassis, grip, downforce…the experience is magic. In the wet…I have a radically different opinion. The lack of feel really comes home in the wet. Just north of Rouen over Easter, we were coming home and the heavens opened. Teeming with rain, we were down to below 70kph and although I could feel everything the rear wheels were doing under my seat, every time grip was lost, regained, every aquaplane moment up front, the steering feel was dead.

Again, this is my personal opinion and I seem to be at odds with the majority of the ownership out there. I did find it interesting however, that it would seem Autocar are starting to mention that they also feel TVR have been over assisting the steering in the recent Tuscan 2 convertible report. Is the Sagaris really a pricing mistake? £55k is a lot of money for a TVR. A looked after and sorted pre-cat Griffith can be had for £11k. Is it worth the difference? In France, our neighbour is a chap called Ric. He is a bit of a petrol head. He has an eccentric car collection, from an immaculate XK120 to a strange obsession with pre and post-war Citroen vans and even a 500cc Formula Junior. He runs a manor house complex that he and his wife Lyn have restored and built over the last 12 or so yrs.

One of the lovely things about the complex is the stone courtyard in front of the old Manoir itself, flanked on the other 3 sides by restored barns. I dropped in over Easter and parked outside the Manoir. Immediately upon entering the courtyard, the engine noise bouncing off the surrounding buildings caused the bar inside to empty and all the blokes to come out and see what exotica had just landed. Now, the Manoir has had some interesting and well heeled clients over the years. The prices I heard the various members of our audience muttering were "£100k, easily".

Is the price a mistake then? It depends on your perspective, rationally…probably. However the public -in 2 countries at least- seems to think its price is just fine!

The TVR Sagaris then, is an enigma. Neither track day special, nor GT. Either under-priced or over-priced depending on your perspective and slower at first glance than her predecessors yet massively quicker in reality. I argue that this car is a mistake because it is so, so good, that I can hardly believe TVR intended it to be the car it is. They told us we were getting a track car, yet we obviously have so much more than that. During that 1,400 mile jaunt in France we averaged between 26 and 27mpg! That was from a combination of autoroutes and crawling along in towns and villages, so not just light cruising.

With regards to reliability I have had a mixed experience. I've lost the speed sensor during a midnight thrash up the M1, but that was sorted in two hours over lunch by Hexham Horseless Carriages. I've had issues with the cooling sensors and the oil pressure sensor but both were easily and quickly rectified by Dream Machines in Heathfield. Of greater worry and consequence was the throttle cable snapping recently, stranding myself and the fiancée for two hours. That really wasn't funny, but again credit to Dream Machines and Peter Morgan, their service manager, for receiving the car and returning it to me in under 24hrs, at the weekend. The first owner is still the development driver; new TVR ownership as usual then!

There is one last reason why a TVR Sagaris is a mistake. If you don't want to buy one, don't test drive one! It will be an expensive mistake and you will have a lot of explaining to do to your partner! As mistakes go however…it is the best one I have ever made!