RE: No more cars from TVR, says Smolensky
Discussion
Just for those interested, here is pic of the knob in question: http://www.themoscowtimes.com/business/article/smo...
james280779 said:
the world is a much sadder place without TVR's, Love them to bits even if they are often 'in bits'
I thought the later cars were more reliable!! or am i mistaken, also as TVR tend to be the 2nd or 3rd car and get used so little i feel this has something to do with the reliability.great cars with great noises.
300bhp/ton said:
I'm quite surprised nobody has actually done this. Ok Marcos had a stab at it, but there's enough small scale kit car builders about, that I'm staggered no one has seriously tried to step into the market TVR vacated.
I'd have thought there must be a level of 'pride' (I use the term loosely but in context) in the brand/car from those who own them and those who make them as well as the general community of car enthusiasts. Everyone knows what 'a TVR is' and that it's synonymous with driving and the cool factor. That alone would make it a viable project for the aforementioned Dave and Bob's to take on themselves while keeping loyal customers and enthusiasts at their door, quite possibly with cash up front for a car.300bhp/ton said:
I'm quite surprised nobody has actually done this. Ok Marcos had a stab at it, but there's enough small scale kit car builders about, that I'm staggered no one has seriously tried to step into the market TVR vacated.
Because in all honesty, it's a doomed exercise without the history, the Youtube movies, the Tuscan Challenge, Tiff Needell and Jeremy Clarkson sliding cars around an airfield accompanied by the most glorious soundtrack, the Cerbera destroying allcomers in a drag race on prime time TV, the huge amount of column inches spent on dissecting TVR's latest, ever more outrageous product, the annual Le Mans pilgrimage et cetera. The media footprint of the brand has always been disproportionally huge, at least since the Peter Wheeler era came into its own.If you can't make it work on the back of all this, how much of a chance has JBS (Joe Bloggs Sportscars) to succeed?
V8 GRF said:
Podie said:
Is it Smolensky or Smolenski?
SmolenskiOn the main subject - this is business 'Russian way'. How many successful Russian businessmen in Western world we know? I mean those not pumping money out of russian oil/gas/banking sector, but running business sufficiently in accordance to normal business practices?
It is very close to 'ZERO'
The guy obviously wanted to have a profit margin of 100%-150% from each car from day one.
Cyder said:
I think some of you guys are massively underestimating how much it costs to tool up something relatively small, plus any part would then need to be tested (well, it should be!).
Tooling/testing (D+D) cost even for a relatively simple small plastic part could be in the region of £15k.
This. It's easy to say that you 'just buy an engine and body' but there's so many costs involved that wouldn't even cross your mind, which you'd have to consider if you're doing it as a business, not just a one-off. Things like licences for CAD tubes - tens and tens of thousands of pounds per year. Same for licences/support for measuring and machining equipment, and that's before you've tempted people away to use the machines/licences. All these things are crucial nowadays, many suppliers don't/won't work to old fashioned drawings any more!Tooling/testing (D+D) cost even for a relatively simple small plastic part could be in the region of £15k.
And that really is just the very tip of the iceburg - based on what I can see in front of me
The costs would mount at such a scarey rate of knots that your car price would have to spiral to cover all these things, unless you up the amount of vehicles you make, and deal with all the issues associated with it. I'm really sad for TVR as they're stunning cars, and I hope that there will be a way to see a TVR gracing (and cheering up!) a motorshow sometime in the not too distant future. It'll be tough to do it as an independant though.
Vitorio said:
The Hypno-Toad said:
Victor Muller
I hope to god Smolenski doesn't sell the TVR name on the open market, since that t
t Muller might think this would be a nice new project after Saab blew up in his face. The man makes me ashamed to be dutch, fking ttwaffle.However, I would not put it past him to bid for the TVR name as unlike a load of Saab/SWAN creditors, he now has a bit of spare cash.
(Unless of course, the Lativan police can link him to his ex-partners bank fraud....)
TVR have been running on hot air and Press Releases for years now, so wind power is kind of appropriate.
In a way I'm kind of happy to read this, as it is closure of sorts. We all knew TVR were dead but we didn't have a body. And now we do.
In a way I'm kind of happy to read this, as it is closure of sorts. We all knew TVR were dead but we didn't have a body. And now we do.
Edited by JonRB on Wednesday 11th July 10:09
Please step in LNT, based on the life saving injection that they have given to Ginetta. That is what "the Russian" (can't bring myself to type his name) should have done to TVR. As previous posters have said - stick to what the company did best - hand made, low volume, bonkers sports cars (remeber the speed 12 !!!).
Take Ginetta - Long history in low volume cars with some sporting heritage, went through a bad patch in the early 90's, sold off their current models to Dare (G4, G12) and GKD (G33) and re-built the business based on track day cars, kit cars (no longer available, boooo) and one make race series. The G20 was a success on the road and on track which enabled the evolution to the G40 and the expansion to the G50/55 and the resurrection of the (ex Farboud) G60. Now a stable company that has three model that are at home on the track and the road and are seen to be developing young talent through the G20/40 Junior series (loads of brownie points there).
I see Ginetta as the main opposition for a (imaginary) resurrected TVR -
Tamora/T350 4/6 pot vs G40 at c£30k
Tuscan LS V8 vs G55 at c£50k
don't both competing for the G60 mini supercar/911/evora slot at c£90k unless you have something different/new but would probably have to be based on the sagaris/cerbera.
An alternative, as suggested is for an established Kit manufacturer to buy up the moulds etc. Think of an Ultima/Dax/GD engineered chassis underneath a T350/Tuscan/Cerbera shell with a V8 in the nose. These would not be cheap kit cars but for £30k could be a Cobra alternative.
Finally, what happened to the Melling Wildcat, basically a Griffith with either a properly sorted AJP8 or an LS lump sold by the guy who designed the Cerbera engine? Looked a winner but seems to have died a death.
Take Ginetta - Long history in low volume cars with some sporting heritage, went through a bad patch in the early 90's, sold off their current models to Dare (G4, G12) and GKD (G33) and re-built the business based on track day cars, kit cars (no longer available, boooo) and one make race series. The G20 was a success on the road and on track which enabled the evolution to the G40 and the expansion to the G50/55 and the resurrection of the (ex Farboud) G60. Now a stable company that has three model that are at home on the track and the road and are seen to be developing young talent through the G20/40 Junior series (loads of brownie points there).
I see Ginetta as the main opposition for a (imaginary) resurrected TVR -
Tamora/T350 4/6 pot vs G40 at c£30k
Tuscan LS V8 vs G55 at c£50k
don't both competing for the G60 mini supercar/911/evora slot at c£90k unless you have something different/new but would probably have to be based on the sagaris/cerbera.
An alternative, as suggested is for an established Kit manufacturer to buy up the moulds etc. Think of an Ultima/Dax/GD engineered chassis underneath a T350/Tuscan/Cerbera shell with a V8 in the nose. These would not be cheap kit cars but for £30k could be a Cobra alternative.
Finally, what happened to the Melling Wildcat, basically a Griffith with either a properly sorted AJP8 or an LS lump sold by the guy who designed the Cerbera engine? Looked a winner but seems to have died a death.
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