After roughly a decade on the sidelines, British sports car maker TVR is reportedly planning a blitz of four new production models for 2017. But is the company really back to stay, or is this just wishful thinking on the part of new backers and old fans?
One encouraging sign is that the first-year production run of TVR’s new V8-powered, rear-wheel drive sports car is apparently sold out. Granted, that only amounts to 250 cars, but they were spoken in just about two months, according to Auto Express.
TVR began taking deposits in June, in response to strong customer interest, director John Chasey told the magazine. By the end of August, 250 customers had plunked down the requisite 5,000 pounds (about $7,600) to reserve a car. Order books are still open, but customers making reservations now won’t get their cars until 2018 at the earliest.
The reborn carmaker promises an “all-new British designed and built sports car,” and it’s reportedly recruited some serious talent to bring the car to production. Powertrains will be developed by legendary race-engineering firm Cosworth, McLaren F1 designer Gordon Murray will apparently provide some design input.
The first new TVR will be a traditional front-engined two-seater. With a burly V8, rear-wheel drive, and a composite body, it should be just like the cars TVR used to build. This model is expected to be followed by three others, which will appear around the same time.
The company will reportedly use something called “iStream manufacturing” to reduce the footprint of the production process, without compromising design elements of the cars. There’s still no word on exactly where TVR will build its new models, other than that it will be somewhere in Britain.
TVR has always been a favorite of car fans, but its products’ lack of refinement eventually made it hard for the tiny firm to compete with other manufacturers. The company was sold to Russian businessman Nikolai Smolensk in 2004, and after unsuccessful attempts to keep it afloat, TVR was shuttered in 2013. The rights to the TVR name and existing models were purchased by British businessman Les Edgar that same year.
