TVR's Russian Owner Alexander Smolensky on Future Models: Built in Germany, Corvette Powered, Hybrid Soon

TVR, a car with very little history in the US, has a rich heritage across the pond. And as any true petrol-head knows, the brand has been dead for a couple of years. When the Blackpool company was actually producing cars they were like no other, with their own engines, switchgear, and styling that was other worldly. The cars were not equipped with ABS, traction control, airbags, or automatic gearboxes. It was as if they were marching to different drummer, right into the financial abyss. The company was run into the ground by Peter Wheeler in the late 90’s, by developing in-house engines at all costs, and by stubbornly not utilizing components from the larger car producers, the company soon fell on hard times. This is where the 24 year old Smolensky comes in, after buying the company in 2004. The firm was broken up, and Smolensky kept all the Intellectual Property Rights, while reportedly moving production to Turin. Now it looks like TVR will be coming back from the dead, with Corvette LS Power, produced in the same factory as knockoff Cobras in Germany, and should retail for close to $100,000. There has been discussions that there might be a “Hybrid” version as well. There is an excellent posting by Edward Niedermeyer at TTAC, which details all the plans, with a rather bizarre twist. Want to know more? Read the posting. History has a way of repeating itself with another historic British Sports Car that is destined to become a plastic bodied “Kit-Car, just like the AC Cobra. So, I pose this question to you: Would you line up to buy a “new” TVR with Corvette Power, or would it be essentially a “Kit-Car” with an historic nameplate?