The British sports car maker TVR is staging a comeback, with four new models planned for 2017.
Having not produced any cars for nearly ten years, the TVR name has faded into obscurity. Founded and based in Blackpool, it for a while produced some of most recognisable sports cars to come from our shores.
TVR’s past range of small, hand-built coupe and convertibles had little in the way of any sort of luxury or safety kit. But their lightweight build, aggressive aerodynamic designs and powerful engines gave them blistering straight-line performance which could outclass many (much more expensive) supercars.
When TVR was bought in 2004 by a young Russian businessman, Nikolay Smolensky, he couldn’t reverse declining sales. Production was ceased in late 2006 and several attempts by Smolensky to restart the company were thwarted.
Eventually, ownership of TVR was bought in 2013 by a British company led by entrepreneur Les Edgar.
Now plans from the current owners to bring TVR cars back in style have been revealed. Two models have been designed already, one of which has already been previewed via sketches published online. As many as four distinct models are planned out for the company’s re-launch set for 2017.
To create this new range of cars, TVR is getting development input from the consultancy Gordon Murray Design and the engine specialists Cosworth.
Gordon Murray is famous for helping to design several Formula One cars, including the McLaren cars which Ayrton Senna won his three drivers’ titles in. Murray also designed the McLaren F1 road car, famed for its record-breaking top speed of 240mph.
Cosworth is famed for supplying engines to numerous Formula One teams over the past five decades. Over 170 F1 races have been won by cars with a Cosworth engine in the sport’s past.
Les Edgar commented: “From the outset we only wanted to work with the best partners in the business, and both Gordon Murray’s and Cosworth’s track records within motor sport and high performance car design and engineering speaks for themselves.”
The return of TVR is bound to intrigue many driving enthusiasts in Britain for a couple reasons. It will be one of the few car manufacturers operating in Britain that is also solely British owned. Also, in Gordon Murray and Cosworth, TVR is teaming up with two names famed for their rich and British motor sport heritage and this could boost the new cars’ nostalgic appeal even further.
