RE: TVR Sold - CONFIRMED

[dinkel]

gerjo said:

Tuscan 450 bhp!

RHP



Rusians are used to getting fooled . . . or maybe the jouros had some vodka.

www.postimees.ee/160204/online_uudised/126714.php?&Y=2004&M=1
Noorim miljardär on 22 aastane Nikolai Smolenski, kes on SBS-AGRO ja OVK pankade asutaja Aleksandr Smolenski poeg. Tema varandust hinnatakse 2,9 miljardile rublale.

"Norways 22 year old miljardair Nikolai Smolenski of SBS-AGRO and his bro Aleksandr make 2,9 m a year"
Something like that . . . I guess.

[Marlon]

Still, maybe with some new blood they'll be good enough to feature in the Autocar "Best Drivers Car" contest next year; 20 cars, not a single TVR in sight...

P.S. The Noble M400 won it!

[bertie]

sixspeed said:

Wonder how long before they move production to a new factory a few thousand miles away to take advantage of cheaper labour... -andy-

You've got to bet on a move to somewhere like Romania, givent the labour cost involved in the cars it's exactly what I'd do if I were in his position.

[sagalout]

Remember when, was it Daewoo or Proton bought Lotus, and Bugatti bought Lotus and lots of others had a go.

Sorry ,but it would seem unlikely that a big Russian investor would want to leave TVR running in it's present "cottage industry" format.

Expect a watering down of product, outside sourced engine, transmission (could be Holden/or the new Chevvy or Ford product of course. Depends upon who would be interested in supplying at the right price.

Can't help recalling other Eastern Bloc autos
Wartburg
FSO
Moskvitch
Lada (ok so the little 4x4 was canny)
that big black thing that the politicians use...
Skoda
any others you can recall
It's not April the first is it?

[GCerbera]

V8 Archie said:

Anyone else see the possibilty of a proper budget for Le Mans next year?

Hopefully they will get the house in order before they start on the window display.

[bona8-2]

Oh dear you profits of doom!

[plotloss]

Unless they do a Noble and have the chassis and body assembled in a low labour rate country with the actual car assembly in the UK I cant see how it would work.

More than half of TVR's appeal is that they are British, ship 'em off to somewhere like Romania and all the romance is lost...

[reliant_fr]

Back(home)in the USSR

[bertie]

plotloss said:

Unless they do a Noble and have the chassis and body assembled in a low labour rate country with the actual car assembly in the UK I cant see how it would work. More than half of TVR's appeal is that they are British, ship 'em off to somewhere like Romania and all the romance is lost...

Don't disagree, but given the cost of employing people in the UK, and given the governments insistance on making it ever more expensive, it's very difficult to continue any manufacturing industry in the UK.

[andymadmak]

trefor said:

Let's hope this is a change for the better from a quality and safety features viewpoint. I do hope TVR continues to be 'British' and the brand is not diluted. Might as well buy a Corvette otherwise ...

Or a Marcos TSO..................

Andy

[thirsty]

Batty S4C said:

ahh knackers. no more british brusier to be proud of... oh well, hope the buisness does well...

Another British car company that is no longer British...

[and]

maybe with someone elses money to play with rather than his own PW will take a few more risks and dish up even more exciting models for petrol heads

[winnits]

Sad. Part of the appeal is that they are British owned and built. Stick a foreigner at the wheel and you've lost it...

[RichardD]

Don said:

Going to invest in new technology? TVRs with ABS, traction control, stability management, airbags, active safety systems, galvanised chassis. TVRs which cost 25% - 50% more to pay for all of that.

Indeed. If I want lots of technology I'll try and stick an x-box up me *rse, but I don't so I won't.

If TVR's gain weight or get more expensive I'll loose interest. It will be time for a US V8 engined Cobra replica .

[Witchfinder]

bona8-2 said:

Oh dear you profits [sic] of doom!

A Freudian slip there? A drive for profits may well spell a watering-down of product. Doom indeed in the eyes of many.