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?
TVR's Russian Owner Alexander Smolensky on Future Models: Built in Germany, Corvette Powered, Hybrid Soon
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12 responses to “TVR's Russian Owner Alexander Smolensky on Future Models: Built in Germany, Corvette Powered, Hybrid Soon”
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The company was bought by Nikolai Smolenski. Alexander, his father, probably gave the money, but the company isn't his.
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I have to report a couple of clarifications: According to TTAC, it is Alexander who owns the company, but according to Autoblog, it is in fact Nikoli Smolenski. Ahhh, conflicting accounts. Anyway, Nikoli was the 24 year old, and he claims either a Greek or British citizenship!
Whatever the outcome, TVR is dead. Dead, DEAD…. -
The Sagaris is one of the most amazing pieces of 4-wheel art I've ever seen. Its absolutely terrifying from every angle. Its my ultimate car.
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mine is the Tuscan, as driven in Swordfish…
every night i pray to a just and fair god – that i deserve one and its more important that world peace!
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After finally getting rid of the old designs (Grantura, Tasmin) in the end of the '80s, TVR began to make some seriously beautiful cars with the early-'90s Griffith, Chimaera, and Cerbera, They should have stayed with this formula using other manufacturer's engines (modified if needed). Instead, they spent big money on developing their own engines and the styling began to turn gimmicky – spider eyes, scoops and vents everywhere, and cartoonishly-exaggerated swoopiness. The refinement and reliability of the cars didn't match the elevated prices being asked. No wonder TVR failed. We'll see whether a 'Vette-engined new car is enough to bring this auto-zombie back into the living.
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I remember seeing an older TVR at the Dissmore's parking lot in Pullman, WA in the mid-late 1990s. I had never heard of TVR and had to log on to AOL to figure out what it was. A buddy I worked with was in law school and was trying to figure out how to import a new one to the states. I think he settled for a GTO and a turbo Supra instead. I always respected the independence of TVR as a company but I would probably not ever have purchased one of their vehicles.
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The TVRs of the '90s (particularly the Cerbera) were achingly pretty cars. The later ones? Not so much. As a result, I won't be too broken up when this latest scheme almost certainly falls apart.
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The LNT TVRs always made gorgeous racers.
<img src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/48/TVR_Tuscan_T400R.jpg"> -
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Good reading
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I would jump at a chance at a Sagaris here in the U.S…. Bring it on!
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I like these cars. You really good in exterior and interior design.
Good choice for the colors..
![http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/48/TVR_Tuscan_T400R.jpg">](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/48/TVR_Tuscan_T400R.jpg">){kind=link}
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