TVR to take deposits in 6 days time ....

[m4tti]

DonkeyApple said:

Frankly, this looks like a bit of a balls up as no one in their right mind is going to shift any funds into an unproven, unknown balance sheet regardless of whether refundable as no funds would be there if the start up doesn't happen. And hearing that staff are suggesting potential customers use a credit card is the other side of moronic.

They've done very well to date but this crucial little bit is as if the old TVR management were in charge.

At least their keeping it historically consistent with the previous management

[JonRB]

T4NGO said:

All the Sag prices are pure fictional guesswork. I am not chomping at the bit for a new TVR. I got the Sag cos I wanted it. It, for me is the best looking TVR ever. I also wanted one for 10 years. The only other TVR I wanted and took ages to get was a Chimaera. So, for the new one it has to be bonkers looking and a 'poster' car, I don't care if it is or isn't light speed capable. Not many cars nowadays would you see on a wall.
So, for me the new TVR would be an addon, not a replacement. I suspect many other Sag owners would still keep their Sag also.
All the armchair experts deciding the prices of sags should have followed their own genius advice a few years ago when they were only going for 28's n 30's. If I'd have known how much mk 1 / 2 escorts would be worth I never would have bangered / raced so many... Or rather just discard them once they looked a bit battered.
Everyone has 20/20 vision in hindsight.

Indeed. The notional value of my Sag has very little real-world relevance to me as I have no intention of selling it. It's like the "value" of your property - entirely meaningless until you either come to sell it or else borrow further against it (equity release).

Having been through the journey of having had my S6 rebuilt with Racing Green's FFF2 head, Syvecs, simplex timing chain, etc., and being very happy with the car, I'm in no hurry to change it. Especially as I have yet more potential to unlock.

I'd want to see, touch, sit in, and test drive any possible replacement before I even countenanced the possibility of a change.

[Lucozade]

AOK said:

At the risk of having abuse hurled at me for being naive / an optimist, I have just received my receipt/confirmation via email. I reckon there must be others (especially as it took me 40 mins to get through) so they might just prefer not announcing it on here.

I used an Amex and they didn't flinch. I have also spoken to Amex and - to summarise - as I have put down a deposit for 'goods', if the goods aren't delivered their payment protection team will be willing to step in and assist.

I mentioned to the lady at TVR that I have a letter of intent with Alfa for the 6C and whether I can release the funds "at any time" towards that purchase, and she said it is not a problem and refunds can be requested at any time and will be processed within 24 hours.

Please proceed with jokes about how likely I am to see my £5k ever again...

Paid the deposit on my credit card.

Yes it's a gamble. So is life.

On a positive note I'm really looking forward to hearing more news on the spec in the future.

Website was slow so it certainly looks like others were placing orders too.

Best of luck to everyone involved in the project to bring back TVR.

[JonRB]

I applaud those of you taking the plunge for doing so - I genuinely wish you well.

Without people like you, the resurgent TVR might not be successful. So hats off to you.

[Jurgen Schmidt]

JonRB said:

I applaud those of you taking the plunge for doing so - I genuinely wish you well.

Without people like you, the resurgent TVR might not be successful. So hats off to you.

Couldn't agree more!

[TYU]

Only took me 25 minutes but eventually through and sorted...

You only live once.... since I let my Tuscan 2S Conv go a couple of months ago I've felt lost so it definitely seemed the right thing to do...

[mattus]

mattus said:

Yup, I'm in the same position.. but fortunately placed only £2.5k on a 0% credit card , and had the same assurance from the card provider.
I may be naïve, but I like the 'style' of the confirmation email and the way they're building up the expectations ....let's see . Nothing ventured nothing gained....but I feel good.
I'm also of the opinion that it's my personal decision, based on a lot of emotion and passion and a little bit of logic ...but also respect other peoples decision not to partake. All the normal arguments,views and debate is (generally) healthy , but for now I'd like to see a bit more enthusiasm for what Les and his company are doing ...IF ONLY TO MAKE ME FEEL BETTER !

have fun
Matt

[julian64]

Lotus E300S said:

DonkeyApple said:

julian64 said:

Well because whats holding the price of saggies up. It must be the fact that its the last TVR produced by the company before it died.

In any other respect its got the same engine as tams, tuscans, and T350s and some cerbs so is no faster. Its got a better chassis for cornering but its no lotus. And its four times the price of almost any other TVR out there perhaps more.

What do you think has been justifying its price over other TVRs?

What do we think will happen if it no longer has the title of last TVR produced?

I think it's more the case that the others are far too cheap and if there is a new TVR and it sells then it'll be the catalyst for these models to move up. The more succesful this new car is and the more it brings new blood into the ownership fold then the more demand for the older models.

Have to agree with Mr DonkeyApple again and the Sag is certainly on a par with a Exige in terms of cornering and I should know as I own both,
Another thing going for it is build numbers around 200 built compared with a Cerbera with 2000+ built, also if you drive a Sagaris back to back with a Cerb the Sagaris is far better in every department.

The Sagaris along with the Typhon are the Blackpool halo cars both built in limited numbers and this alone will keep prices climbing and if not I'm still smiling as I own a Sagaris.

Back to Tvr maybe a factory visit (if one built) for potential customers would help with deposits.

I feel I need to disagree with donkeyapple if only because I agree with him too much. I have been on a number of trackdays with TVRs and lotuses mainly at Brands Hatch which I admit doesn't favour TVR. I can tell you the fastest car on a couple of occasions has been a Tuscan rather than a sagaris, and the fastest car up the straight is usually a Cerb, although this too might be skewed as I tend to go mainly with other Cerbs. I don't think there was much in it and to be honest, and I certainly wouldn't call a saggy better in every respect when it loses ground to a cerb in a straight line. What I do remember on the fairly few occasions that I've seen an exige on track is that TVRs up to an including the saggy tended to lose a fair amount of ground to the exige on the corners, so I am somewhat surprised regarding your statement that a saggy and an exige are the same round corners.

Anyhow, anyone brave enough to have paid their money yet?

[AOK]

TYU said:

Only took me 25 minutes but eventually through and sorted...

You only live once.... since I let my Tuscan 2S Conv go a couple of months ago I've felt lost so it definitely seemed the right thing to do...

TYU, small world... I believe you were the original owner of DZN (TYU when you owned it) which I owned in 2013 and part exchanged for the Red Rose Lightweight Targa that I have now

Great to see we are both considering the 2017 car!

[AOK]

mattus said:

I only got a receipt!

[PuffsBack]

mattus said:

Did Moleskins write this? Surprise it doesn't end with "Orgasmic Living"

[TYU]

Hi AOK...

Yay! That's me..... Gone all weak and old and replaced the TVR with a R8 V10 Spyder, to go with the rest of the garage.. but missing that something that had been in my life for 12 years so I'm well up for some new TVR love... :-)

[PuffsBack]

Hang on found it! - god I know I have been negative about Edgar's venture but please don't let it descend into Moleskins levels of farce



"Fans of British sports cars have been shocked and baffled by the recent news that TVR's corporate slogan is to be changed to 'Orgasmic Living'. Some believe this is a bizarre demonstration that the company's new owner, Russian billionaire Nikolai Smolenski, is not the clever businessman many hoped but may in fact be a pubescent rich kid who learnt English by looking up rude words in the dictionary. To set the record straight, Sniff Petrol spoke to the man himself.

Sniff Petrol: Nikolai, thanks for agreeing to talk to us.

Smolenski: Boobies.

Sniff Petrol: First of all, we have to ask, what's the logic behind your new slogan for TVR?

Smolenski: Stinky bumcakes.

Sniff Petrol: You have to concede that many felt the previous slogan, 'The Spirit Of Driving', was more than adequate.

Smolenski: Poo. Hahahaha!

Sniff Petrol: And the cars themselves; can you reveal any more of your future model plans?

Smolenski: Hairy fannies. [laughs]

Sniff Petrol: So it would be safe to assume that TVR won't abandon its core values of raw performance and sexy styling?

Smolenski: You said sex. [sniggers]

Sniff Petrol: Nikolai, thank you.

Smolenski: Big dog's cock."

[Milky400]

Brilliant.........

[RichB]

I think the response from Les Edgar's TVR to those who have paid a deposit is fine, enthusiastic and just edgy enough to suit TVR. I can't see what this has to do with some old Richard Porter lines?

[bertie]

Sod it, just placed my deposit, you only live once....what could possibly go wrong!

[DonkeyApple]

julian64 said:

I feel I need to disagree with donkeyapple if only because I agree with him too much. I have been on a number of trackdays with TVRs and lotuses mainly at Brands Hatch which I admit doesn't favour TVR. I can tell you the fastest car on a couple of occasions has been a Tuscan rather than a sagaris, and the fastest car up the straight is usually a Cerb, although this too might be skewed as I tend to go mainly with other Cerbs. I don't think there was much in it and to be honest, and I certainly wouldn't call a saggy better in every respect when it loses ground to a cerb in a straight line. What I do remember on the fairly few occasions that I've seen an exige on track is that TVRs up to an including the saggy tended to lose a fair amount of ground to the exige on the corners, so I am somewhat surprised regarding your statement that a saggy and an exige are the same round corners.

Anyhow, anyone brave enough to have paid their money yet?

I must admit that I mainly replied to your post so that we could revert to the decade long normality of disagreeing with each other.

I wonder if the values of Sags and the difficulty of replacing them versus Cerbs and Tuscans leads to owners being more cautious on track days? When I took my car down to Classic Le Mans I drove the three laps round much more like a pussy than I would ever have done in my other Tivs as it dawned on me what a massive ballache smacking it would be in comparison?

But I can't think that there is much in it between any of these cars but the T350 felt much more rigid and planted through corners than any other TVR I'd driven to date and I imagine the Sag is better still?

I don't know about Lotus in comparative terms other than you'd expect them to be faster due to the AstraMax Van principle of simply not caring if you smash it up.

[V8 GRF]

AMDBSTony said:

£5k is a lot more to potentially lose than £2.5k and I still think that it's unfair to give club members an advantage (they may not even own a car) over non members who actually own a TVR!

TVR made the offer to the club, so regardless of what anyone else may think the management obviously place some importance on the fact that someone has committed to the TVRCC and that is their commercial decision to make.

Les Edgar has just called me (14.15) and he told me apart from their website almost crashing and the phone lines being busy none-stop since they opened TVRCC members placing deposits outweigh non-members on a 3:1 basis......

So he thinks that rather justifies their decision to make the TVRCC offer.

[Digger]

So that's 4 deposits placed so far then. . .

[AOK]

V8 GRF said:

Les Edgar has just called me (14.15) and he told me apart from their website almost crashing and the phone lines being busy none-stop since they opened TVRCC members placing deposits outweigh non-members on a 3:1 basis......

Assuming that ratio is accurate and assuming they get 300 deposits (realistic?), that's just shy of £1mil.

I will certainly be downloading their 2015/16 accounts and if there is any less than £1mil of cash equity showing then alarm bells will ring and I'll consider pulling my dipper out.

I can't temporarily use my tenants' deposits to play the stock market (knowledgeably or otherwise) so I think the same should be said for a car manufacturer, ie those funds should sit in a protection scheme of some sort and not be used to 'aid' the running of the business.