TVR changes hands

[Robbo SPS]

Latest statement from TVR:

We can confirm that a 100% shareholding in UK car-maker TVR has been purchased today. The new owner is Nikolai Smolenski.

Plans for the future are to continue trading, invest heavily in new technology and production methods, and hence enhance the TVR brand to become a global player.

There will be no large-scale restructuring and new managerial appointments will be made in due course. Peter Wheeler, previous owner, will remain on board as a senior consultant.

http://www.tvr-eng.co.uk/news_new_owner.htm

[hgb]

I read that and don't know whether to or to . Time will tell...

[opposite locker]

Read it and weep:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/lancashire/3931155.stm

[opposite locker]

sorry I didn't notice the other thread on this. Close this one if you want. My excuse is that I'm in a state of shock.

[hgb]

This might be extremly good news. TVR hasn't been doing very well recently. Some fresh money might do wonders. As for Smolenski's age of only 23, well Martin Lilley was still youger when he took over the company. Here's the official word: http://www.tvr-eng.co.uk/news_tvr_purchase.htm

[Matt Harper]

Read it and weep:

Get over it. They're crap cars anyway. Garage queens - invariably owned by w**k*rs who like them because they make a loud noise.

[Steve Pyro]

.. invariably owned by w**k*rs who like them because they make a loud noise.

Sounds pretty much like my cobra then  




.....I DO like the noise though (and I reckon TVRs are glorified kit cars)

[Ron Jeremy]

now its motorsport

what next??

One does wonder, at 24, where one get all that money, if there's any spare throw a few quid over here.
 

[Brad Zarse]

>>Get over it. They're crap cars anyway. Garage queens - invariably owned by w**k*rs who like them because they make a loud noise.>>

Same Mould as Corvettes come out of then.

Corvettes - Fast cars that handle like shite around corners - designed to go long, straight distances.

TVR's - Intensely British cars, handle well, with Big V8 Engines - may not be the best made cars in the world - but better than ANY yank mobile any day.

Give me a choice between a New Corvette And a New TVR - Its not even a competition - TVR Wins hands down....

[SteveZarse]

TVR Wins hands down....

Now there's a phrase you don't hear very often! (except occasionally in the TVR Challenge Cup)

That said, I agree whole-heartedly with your post Brad. Your standard TVR may be hideously unreliable, and have worse build quality than a Land Rover, but they're still fantastic cars to drive which is why they're so popular.

Corvette my arse!

[Brad Zarse]

Steve - If you speak to my Dad at any point, please do not mention unreliablity on TVRs - we are just about to buy a Chimerea!! - And I REALLY want him to buy it - so shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

[SteveZarse]

 

[Ron Jeremy]

Real Men drive TVR – but only tin tops

Regency dandys, martial arts instructors, graphic designers, and financial advisors flounce around in soft-top Mercs/Porsche/TVR/BMW

Spivs drive tin top Merc/Porsche/BMW/Audi

Corvettes – no idea

BMW Mini – Architects

[Matt Harper]

Same Mould as Corvettes come out of then.

Corvettes - Fast cars that handle like sh**te around corners - designed to go long, straight distances.

TVR's - Intensely British cars, handle well, with Big V8 Engines - may not be the best made cars in the world - but better than ANY yank mobile any day.

Give me a choice between a New Corvette And a New TVR - Its not even a competition - TVR Wins hands down....

Spoken like a true ignoramus. When was the last time, I wonder, that you actually drove a Corvette? You might want to compare lateral g performance of the current C5 with any TVR, before you launch into an uninformed, hysterical defence of a car that looks like it was designed by schoolboys and is built by blacksmiths. The only decent thing about TVR is the AJP engine - and even this is flawed by some fairly fundamental design inadequacies. Most seriously, almost all TVR models are aerodynamically unstable. Front end lift on every Chimera I have driven at speed is ridiculous - that said, most are not driven hard, because they rattle, scuttle shake and oversteer so much that pushing it is all too much like hard work.
I respect your patriotic feelings, when the true British sportscar industry has disappeared down the toilet, but your comparison is surely based on those feelings alone. I have a lot of first hand experience with TVR (the company) and it's products, since the late 80's
TVR have never had access to the development money to design and build a car that even approaches the technical superiority of the Chevy Corvette. GM manufacture(d) - C5 production came to an end earlier this month - many, many thousands of coupes, verts, fhc's and Zo6's - all reliable 175+mph, highly sophisticated but affordable super-cars. The development budget for C5 alone could have bought TVR 100 times over.
Finally - though not all that relevant, I suppose, compare the Corvettes road racing pedigree with that of TVR and ask yourself, "I wonder which is the better sportscar, from an overall performance point of view?"
TVR's suck. Always have. Now that they're in new ownership, things might change - but deep down, we all know they won't.  

[Andy Zarse]

Hold on a minute there Chomski!!! He was only bemoaning the loss of British ownership and havin' a bit of a pop.

Matt, I know you're a big Vette fan and I have never criticised your somewhat vulgar choice of wheels previously. But I think you're being a bit too kind to the Vette and a tadge harsh on the Trev.

Firstly, the Vette, to the eyes of most Europeans, looks frankly hideous and tasteless. That's because it is! It appears on the outside to be a hybrid between a sixties Jap GT on steroids and a giant penis-shaped vibrator. What the many committees who designed it were thinking will forever remain a mystery to me. As for the interior, unless you're a big fan of shiny black plastic column stalks, faux leatherette dash finishes and ten different beeping noises (including one to tell the driver he's selected first gear), then I can't really see what there is to recommend it. Like alsmost all other US built vehicles, one does wonder if they've ever heard of build quality, I refer to both the low quality of the exterior and interior finishes and also to body alignment and wobbley panel gaps. Whilst GM (bless their cynical penny pinching cold hearts) have managed to give the C5 a bit of roadholding these days, I understand thatb the handling (as opposed to roadholding) is certainly not amongst the best. It's been descibed as "inert and lacking driver involvement and feedback". I'd love to see you have a pop on a wet road against a Sub WRX! It would be laughable! Except for the aircon which I guess, like most Yanky car, is superb, the Vette is about as desirable in my book as a regular Buick Regal. I mean pushrods in the engine fer chrissakes! Not even a Regal still has pushrods does it?? I can't think of any other country where they still make car engines with pushrods. At least the Vette has eventually moved away from running on cart springs, which belong in the 16th centruy.

 That said, I can see why they sell in the States. Apple pie and Mom patriotism and the fact that they're rather cheap.

And as and when I have time, I'll post something defending the highly flawed TVR. Perfect they ain't but if GM had used even 1% of the wit and vim that has driven TVR these past few years, then we'd all be driving them.

Hope this helps.

PS I know so much about cars, I'm just about to buy a Chrysler Crossfire.