This rare car shown here is one that you certainly won’t come across in the wild all too often, and that’s due to the fact that only 17 or 18 total examples are believed to have ever been built, with this one being photographed by @teaandtappets. This is the 1989 TVR 450 SEAC, a model that was built for one year only from 1988-1989, and for some, considered the ultimate TVR money can buy. TVR is a British automotive manufacturer of high-end sports cars that was founded in 1946 initially as ‘Trevcar Motors’. A man named Trevor Wilkinson was the founder of this company, and at first, Trevcar Motors would start their career doing basic engineering work, that wasn’t always automotive related. One year later in 1947, an auto enthusiast named Jack Pickard joined the company, and following this, the company was subsequently renamed to TVR Engineering. Two years later the company would produce their first ever chassis, and ever since then, TVR has gone on to produce some extremely interesting cars. The 450 SEAC is certainly one of those eye-catching cars, and it serves as the direct successor to TVR’s 420 SEAC of 1986-1988 (37 produced). Unlike the 420 SEAC, which carried a 4.2L TVR Power Rover V8, the 450 SEAC saw an increased engine capacity to 4441 cc (4.4L), which brought the total power output to around 324bhp. The enhancements made to the engine also allowed for this updated model to travel from 0-60mph in just about 4.3 seconds, which is truly a remarkable feat for the 1980s. The 450 SEAC is constructed using a ‘Aramid Composite’ body over a tubular space-frame chassis, and it’s a pure example of the wedge-shaped design era that was quite popular for the time period. The name ‘SEAC’ stands for ‘Special Edition Aramid Composite’, and due to the production costs of the car being high, even more expensive that the previous 420 SEAC, very, very few numbers of these cars were completed by the end of production in 1989. This is one of the ultimate rare TVR cars to own!
How many made? 17 or 18
Engine: 4.5L TVR Power Rover V8 - 324bhp
Debut: 1988
Top Speed: around 175mph
0-60mph: around 4.5 seconds
Photo Credit: @teaandtappets
Research: @rarecarsonly
1989 TVR 450 SEAC
11.02.2025
TVR