The Resurrection of TVR?
Autoblog reports preliminary signs of what could be the next phoenix-like rebirth of TVR. After several decades of ups and downs and the “final” shuttering of the Blackpool factory in 2006 after a few years of mismanagement by its new 20-something Russian trust fund baby owner, is a resurgence in the works? Who knows, but as the article points out, the company’s website has been updated for the first time in ages, and rumors have been circulating of a possible sourcing of the GM LS3 V8 engine for new models.
I sincerely hope the company can get its act together and stage a comeback. The whole TVR story, dating back to the company’s inception in 1954, is something of a soap opera, with multiple owners, legendary quality control problems, a complete lack of focus and direction, but the cars… In a strangely appropriate way, the automaker’s gung-ho ethos was echoed in the utter craziness of their vehicles, always lightweight fiberglass with great whacking V8s, V6s or I6s, knife-in-the-back handling and, especially following the release of the Griffith in ’91, styling that defiantly marched to the beat of its own drum.
My pick for the quintessential modern TVR is the Tuscan, featured in this post’s images. The fit and finish may be terrible, the electrics marginal, the handling diabolical, but it looks like absolutely nothing else, and if mastered, is capable of great speed. I love the way it exemplifies its automaker, a firm which, if truly still dead, will leave the automotive landscape with a distinctive void.