The TVR Cerbera began life in the early summer of 1993 as a styling exercise by TVR's team of designers, led by Damian McTaggert and Nick Coughlan who were very quickly given the go-ahead to start building full scale models. They sculpted the car out of full-size blocks of foam rather than being constrained by the two dimensions of a paper sketch or the dehumanising aspects of design by computer.

A handsome Grand Tourer began to take shape and it was easy to see that the car would be a winner so a running prototype was prepared for the 1993 London Motor Show. Unencumbered by endless committees, TVR was able to complete the prototype in record time and the Cerbera was unveiled at the show. It was greeted with tremendous acclaim . Orders flooded in, 276 of them at the 1994 Birmingham Motor Show alone.

Since then, almost every aspect of the car has been improved. Originally, the Cerbera was designed to be powered by the TVR Power Rover based engines but it was decided that TVR's own engine, the AJP8, would be a more suitable power plant. The Cerbera was the first roadgoing TVR to feature the AJP8 engine.

The AJP8 engine is quite remarkable in design in that it owes more to the current trend in racing engines than to anything that has ever been seen before in a road car. In other words, instead of basing a race engine on an existing road engine, TVR have developed an engine for the Cerbera out of a race engine. The result is that the AJP8 has many features in it which would be more commonly found on an F1 engine. Examples of these are its extremely sophisticated water circulation system, its lubrication system which delivers oil at high pressure to the engine and at low pressure to the crankshaft and a block so rigid that it can be used as a stressed member. An all alloy engine with its 4.2 litres arranged in a 75 degree Vee, the AJP8 engine has more torque in its various specifications than any other normally aspirated petrol engine of equivalent size and weight.

At 121 kg, the engine is indeed lighter than the V8 F1 and F3000 engines with which it shares so many features. Many AJP8 engine components are of extremely high quality such as the pistons and connecting rods which are forged and the camshafts which are rifle bored and are made of solid billet EN40B steel. The net result is that the AJP8 has already passed an extraordinarily gruelling test with flying colours: one early development engine did more than the equivalent of a Le Mans race distance without missing a beat, let alone having as much as the plugs out and was still as strong at the end as it was at the beginning.

Although sharing styling cues with the Chimaera, the Cerbera is a completely new car with new brakes, chassis, suspension and a different construction method. Introduced in response to overwhelming customer demand for a 2+2, the Cerbera sees TVR return to a market sector that it has not inhabited since 1985.

With the Cerbera's brand new interior, TVR have discarded conventional thinking and have created a dashboard binnacle in which all the instruments are right in front of the driver. The clock and the fuel gauge, visible through the steering wheel, and a fresh air vent are situated under the steering column and are adjustable for reach and rake with it. Mounted on the steering wheel are controls for the main beam, windscreen washers and wipers as well as the horn.

The Cerbera is more than a normal 2+2 in that, in terms of the configuration of its seating arrangement, it would be better described as a 3+1. The front passenger seat is able to slide forward further than normal, thereby freeing a substantial amount of extra legroom for the passenger sitting directly behind.

Attention has been paid to the ease of access to the rear seats which in too many 2+2s is unnecessarily difficult. Therefore, the Cerbera's doors are long enough to make getting into the back seats much easier.

The Cerbera is a car with a dual role. On the one hand, it is an extremely competent grand tourer that can be used for either a journey across a continent or across town while on the other hand, it has the performance of a supercar with handling to match.

Cerbera is pronounced Sir - burr - uh and is derived from the mythological beast, Cerberus, who was the brother of the Chimaera. In addition, in Italian, a cerbera is a frightening, fierce woman.