HW TVR Speed 12

PAINT
The model is available in Mauve or British Racing Green. The paint is well applied without any unpainted areas or rough edges although the application was careless as there are places where the paint shouldn't be - the paint in the rear light cluster is black not green or mauve.
5/8



EXTERIOR
Most people get this model confused with the TVR Cerbera Speed 12 and say that the bodywork is completely wrong but this model is based on the TVR Speed 12 which is one of less than ten working prototypes of TVR's 12/7 project. Although the dimensions are large for a 1/18 model the model is to scale as the Speed 12 is a rather large car. However the proportions are incorrect - the front end isn't as bulbous as that of the real car. The front lights are reasonably well done with plastic headlights, foglights and indicators. However the mountings are plastic, not metal and none of front air intakes are perforated although the perforation is simulated. The side repeater is simply a blob of orange paint over a slightly raised surface and the rear lights are painted on to plastic and lack realism while the mounting is incorrectly coloured. The rear diffuser lacks the gap between it and the bodywork which should be present. Still with those many faults, at least the fuel filler cap is present and has some detail.
4/8



INTERIOR
The interior has the correct beam for the centre console separating the driver from the passenger but plenty of fine detail is missing. There is no alcantara effect on the floor or seats, the seatbelts are separate but lack detail and are incorrectly coloured (they are black but should be red - like all Sabelt seatbelts. The pedals are too small and the throttle pedal should be shaped differently from the others, which it is not. Although the interior of the real Speed 12 is rather Spartan, the model's interior is a big let down.
3/8

WHEELS & BRAKES
The tyres are branded correctly but they are shaped like Lego tyres - the edges aren't rounded, but the tread is realistic. The wheels have the right spokes but the wheel nuts should be smaller. The brake disc detail is a big letdown - the brake discs have no detail at all apart from brake calipers that have no detail either. The brake discs do not rotate with the wheels as they are fixed with the calipers.
3/6

ENGINE & UNDERCARRIAGE DETAIL

This is probably the best part about the model but that isn't saying much. The engine bay is quite detailed. The engine is a separate piece and is well detailed. The twelve "trumpets" from the carburettors are located correctly on top of the engine and the camshaft covers are correctly done and have "Speed Twelve" marked on them in the TVR font. Some wiring is present although it is just bundled in to just two pieces of rubbery plastic. Even the flywheel is present on the engine but you'd have to remove it from the model to notice. Hot Wheels paid attention to the fact that the banks of cylinders oppose each other at 90 degrees and this is continued on the model. The engine bay has the carbon-fibre effect simulated by grooves in the plastic and a separate radiator is present also.
As the Speed 12 was made to race, it has no exposed undercarriage detail but rather a flat undertray. The model has the flat undertray correctly rendered and there is some detail simulating the screws connecting the undertray to the bodywork.
7/8

COMPETITION
No other manufacturer makes the model.
6/6

DESIRABILITY
The model's quality is highly suspect and it is easily available.
3/6

OVERALL
In a plain, simple way, this model is a very big disappointment and Hot Wheels could and should have done a lot better. The TVR Speed 12 has one of the most powerful engines of any road car along with very distinctive styling and it had a successful if short racing career and the model certainly doesn't do the real car justice.

Total Score - 31/50

Thanks to Diecast 18 for the use of their pictures.

© 2003 www.DiecastXchange.com All rights reserved