TVR White Elephant 5.0 V8 Prototype

The White Elephant, known as "Nelly", is a one-off TVR prototype built in 1988 as a personal experimental car and daily driver for chairman Peter Wheeler. It sits between the angular SEAC-era wedges and the rounder Griffith, and its foam-carved body anticipated methods TVR later adopted in production.

Power comes from a 5.0-litre Holden V8 of Group A VL SS lineage, said to have been given to Wheeler by Tom Walkinshaw. The page estimates 440 bhp, and the engine drives the rear wheels through a Borg-Warner T5 five-speed manual and a Salisbury limited-slip differential. The chassis is a widened SEAC-spec tubular spaceframe, with AP Racing four-pot brakes. The grey Connolly interior has a recess for Wheeler's dog and hidden compartments for shotguns.

The car was retired in 1989, rescued in 2004 and restored over nine years to 2013. It shows 51,000 miles. The current dealer has rebuilt the differential, refreshed the suspension, serviced the engine and recalibrated the idle control. A large history file of invoices, photographs and magazine features comes with it. The price is on application.