TSO GT2 Impressions
Club member Nick Wadey gives us his impressions of the Marcos TSO GT2.
Marcos - Still The Great British Sportscar.
Marcos TSO GT2
On the Friday of the CMI Rally 2005, Marcos Engineering
were kind enough to bring along the brand new Marcos TSO GT2 for members of the
club to cast a critical eye over. Along with the car came Chiara and Shaun, PR and
top Engineer respectively, who spent a good 3 hours with the 15 or so of us who
were at the hotel on that day. Both were friendly and helpful, with Chiara providing
brochure packs and selling current Marcos Engineering regalia, as well as dealing
with the financial side of the questions and Shaun providing the technical knowledge
with
enthusiasm and a certain amount of diplomacy.
Shaun told us that the main priorities with the TSO were
to have top quality and reliability, something that has shaken Marcos' obvious rivals
over recent years. This approach shows in the car, even though this is the only
one on the road and has been used/abused for numerous media and public test drives
as well as being the development hack for trying out various new things. (see footnote)
Externally, there were mixed
reactions as to how "Marcos'y" it looks, which I tend to agree with - there has
been much discussion on the Marcos Forum and Pistonheads about the design influences,
with TVR being the obvious one, but many also saw hints of Aston Martin as well. Maybe the styling isn't as radical as previous Marcos, but as Shaun explained, they
have to move forward. I guess from a business angle they can't afford to be too
radical with what is basically the relaunch of the Marque, so are playing safe with
a design that is contemporary but not too outrageous (maybe that will come with
later models once the money starts to come in?)
Personally, I certainly wouldn't
kick it out of bed, the rear 3/4 styling is quite pleasing - however the front is
a little bland and doesn't really shout "MARCOS" at me as I think it should - after
all, we want to be noticed by standing out from the crowd, which I don't think the
new design does from that angle.
Shutlines are improved over Marcii of old, and the body
is now mainly bolted in place, instead of being bonded direct to the chassis. General
fit and finish all over the car seems to be very good, mostly appearing quite solid
from what I could see.
The interior is very nicely trimmed to my untrained eye,
with decent leather and stitching. Design is modern, although I thought the instrument
binnacle and column surround still look a little cheap. Switch gear is mainly off-the-shelf
after market componentry, not having the mass production look of say using Ford
items, but equally not showing the styling touches of TVR bespoke items. In here
there are hints of designer Damian McTaggarts TVR past, with the electric door release
switches being mounted on the transmission tunnel, much to the consternation of
several who got in to try the seats, and then couldn't work out how to escape again!!
The driving position felt quite snug and the seats supportive,
with the general posture not feeling too far removed from my Mantula. Currently,
legroom is adjusted by the old-fashioned way of actually moving the seat, instead
of the traditional Marcos moveable pedal treatment. This does mean that taller folks
will not necessarily fit as well as they do in older Marcos', but Shaun did say
that they were developing a new moveable pedal box again (apparently there are technical
difficulties due the servo assistance)
And so to the oily bits - no complaints about the engine,
I've always been a Chevrolet fan, and this LS6 generation of the venerable Chevy
small block is tried and tested in GM products all over the world, as well as providing
oodles of grunt and a great soundtrack (normally... - I wasn't too sure if I like
the note that Marcos have given it from what I heard - maybe I'll have to go for
a test drive and have a proper listen!!)
Also, I can't really comment on the work that Prodrive have
done on the chassis, as this was only a static inspection - what we could see of
it looked sound enough, with the basic old Marcos design still showing through,
but the generally positive press reports seem to indicate that it's pretty good!
Overall, I was left with a positive impression of the car
and the company under Tony Stelliga, despite earlier setbacks with the arrangements for a Factory visit.
Like many others, I hope there will be a racing version competing in GT and Le Mans
in the near future. Having a good old V8 should tempt a few potential buyers in
the British sportscar market away from certain others makes, so long may the Marcos
brand continue.
Footnote: Marcos Engineering were in the process of trialling a new exhaust outlet design, slashing the pipes to follow the contours of the rear bumper, but this had proven a bit too severe with the hot gases scorching the paintwork around the outlets. A further design was due to be fitted shortly to prevent that.