TVR

TVR has released some big news about their factory. The folks at TVR say that the 200,000 square foot in Ebbw Vale will soon be echoing to the rumble and crackle of V8 engines as they head towards production. The Welsh Government announced officially yesterday that the site has been acquired and they are moving at high speed to get it ready for TVR. There has also been a mention of ‘facilities’ in the plural instead of just singular. More news is to follow on that. Les Edgar of TVR says the factory is more than ample in size to take care of their current and planned requirements as they expand up to full capacity over the next few years. They intend to make the factory an experience in itself – and once open, they will be encouraging all owners, prospective customers etc. […]

TVR is pleased to announce that after a successful launch at the Goodwood Revival last month, the new TVR Griffith will be on display at the NEC Classic Motor Show in Birmingham on 10-12th November 2017. Supported by the TVR Car Club, the latest bearer of the famous Griffith name will be on display on stand 450 in Prestige Hall 1, alongside examples of its namesake Griffiths from the 1960’s and 1990’s.

Welcoming a new era in its history, TVR has unveiled its all new sports car, the TVR Griffith, at the Goodwood Revival. Revealed to media and visitors, the Griffith is the first new TVR to be launched since the company was resurrected in British hands. The new Griffith stays true to the brand’s rich heritage while employing cutting-edge engineering. The exterior has been designed to be as striking as it is aerodynamically efficient. The timeless sports car silhouette is accented with deep air intakes, generating high levels of downforce and cooling.

Our video this week comes in from Goodwood.  The annual Goodwood Revival is the coming weekend, and the new TVR is due to be unveiled there.  In celebration of that, Goodwood has released the “A History of TVR in 4 Cars”. While obviously using only 4 cars leaves out quite a few remarkable vehicles, this is still an excellent and entertaining history.  

In the year that sees TVR celebrate its 70th anniversary, the company will proudly reveal a new sports car that takes engineering excellence to a new level for the iconic manufacturer. The new TVR, to be unveiled to the public at the Goodwood Revival Earls Court Motor Show, delivers an all-British design with outstanding integrity, rigidity, reliability, and quality. Founded in 1947 by Trevor Wilkinson, the company first developed its own chassis in 1949. Various model launches followed, including the iconic Grantura and the legendary V8 Griffith, which won acclaim during the 1950s and 1960s. It was during this period that TVRs also first began to appear on track, starting a motorsport heritage that continued for several decades, including several factory entries at Le Mans. With too many iconic models to list and a genuinely dedicated following of enthusiasts, the […]

Note: We published an announcement of this A Life in Car Design – Jaguar, Lotus, TVR by Oliver Winterbottom last month, and now our friend John Clancy has contributed this review. In my opinion, the wedge era of the 1970s and 80s was the high point of automotive styling.  In particular, it was the sports cars from that period that really cut the mustard.  Among the British entries into the market, there was one man who was behind more sports car styles than anyone else, Oliver Winterbottom.  This is the autobiography of his career.  From his apprenticeship with William Lyons’ Jaguar in 1961, working for Colin Chapman at Lotus, TVR, General Motors and his period as a consultant in China, this book gives an insight into what it took to get his designs into production [or not] with an authority that can only be relayed […]

TVR, the iconic British sports car maker, has announced that it will be unveiling its long awaited new sports car to the public at the Goodwood Revival on 8-10 September 2017. Created in conjunction with Gordon Murray Design, the 1200 kg car promises incredible 200mph performance and 0-60mph in less than 4 seconds. With the special launch edition car being offered at under £90,000, anticipation and demand for the 400BHP per ton, five-litre, Cosworth developed V8-powered car is already at fever-pitch.

A Life in Car Design by Oliver Winterbottom gives a unique insight into design and project work for a number of leading companies in the motor industry, including Jaguar, Lotus, TVR and General Motors.

This just in from TVR Heritage … “Do you own a TVR? Is it a clean and generally unmodified example as the factory would have supplied? If the answer is yes then we would welcome you to make contact as we will be arranging a professional photoshoot to bolster the TVR graphic archives for some exciting future projects and your car could be the star! “Multiple photos will be taken of each vehicle involved, together with the recording of additional details, including possibly some video and this material will form a key part of a future presentation.

Resurgent British sports car maker, TVR, has announced today that its new production facility will be located in the Ebbw Vale Enterprise Zone in South Wales. The Welsh Government will also invest in the car maker, further enhancing this exciting manufacturing project which represents over £30 million of capital expenditure over the next five years. The contracts to locate the new TVR factory in Wales were signed on the 18th March and the deal was officially announced by Rt. Hon Carwyn Jones, the First Minister of Wales, during a press conference this morning. Currently, TVR is looking at several specific options for the precise location of the factory, the outcome of which will be the subject of a separate announcement in the coming weeks.

I can’t resist stories of the way cars used to be made – back when automobiles weren’t so much produced as crafted. You know, back when every other car that slides off an automated assembly line resembles nothing so much as an over-ripe jellybean. Honestly, it wasn’t that long ago. Our VotW this week goes back to an old Top Gear episode with a much younger Jeremy Clarkson visiting the TVR factory in Blackpool, Lancashire. The video, from 1995, shows a factory that is worlds away from the automotive assembly plants we picture today. TVR was started by Trevor Wilkinson in 1947 in Blackpool. For nearly 60 years the company produced fabulous if ofter quirky sports cars in fits and starts and under various ownership. In 2006, the factory at Blackpool was closed by then-owner and Russian businessman Nikolai Smolensky. […]

The iconic British sports car maker, TVR, has announced that carbon fibre construction options will be available when the car goes on sale in the coming months. TVR will offer a lightweight carbon fibre composite structure to feature on its latest full-production model, thanks to the revolutionary techniques of design legend Gordon Murray, and has confirmed that its initial limited edition production run of cars will feature carbon construction as standard. Famous for his design leads in F1 and on road cars, Gordon Murray has developed an innovative ground effect aero chassis and body package using his innovative iStream® manufacturing methods. iStream® Carbon allows TVR to produce a revolutionary stand-alone tub and shell made from carbon fibre composite at a fraction of the cost that other methods allow.

We just received an email from Les Edgar of TVR with updates on all manner of things. Some of the most interesting details of the upcoming production come when talking of the body and chassis.

Hot on the heels of the news that TVR is to launch an all-new car in 2017, the company has decided that it will start taking deposits for the car from July 7th, 2015. The decision, which has come sooner than originally anticipated, has been made as a direct result of the huge, positive, public reaction generated by announcement that the company will launch the incredible new car. Designed in conjunction with Gordon Murray Design and featuring a Cosworth V8 engine, sports car enthusiasts the world over are lining up to buy what promises to be one of the most exciting new sports cars of the decade. John Chasey, Operations Director of TVR, says: “We’ve been totally blown away by the reaction to the new car. Our phone lines and online enquiry system went into meltdown when the news was […]

The iconic British car brand, TVR, has announced that it will return to the market with an all-new British designed and built sports car. The company, which boasts an outstanding new management team, has developed the new car in collaboration with Gordon Murray Design and Cosworth, each providing much of the core design and engineering capability for the all-new TVR. This incredible project is already well advanced with over a year of development completed so far. TVR will issue more specification details and early images later in 2015, but the car will continue the tradition of a classic British two-seat sports car with a composite ground effect aero chassis and body package using Gordon Murray Design’s innovative iStream® technology. Enthusiasts will also be delighted to know that the car will feature the traditional TVR DNA of a front engine with […]