RE: PH Blog: the spirit of TVR

[edo]

billzeebub said:

Twincam16 said:

Surely the closest thing you can get to a new TVR is David Gerald's new CWR Titan. Deliberately designed to follow on from TVR (he would have bought the rights to the name had Smolensky kept hold of it with the intention of slapping it on wind turbines), it features TVR-derived chassis and suspension, it looks like a TVR (think a cross between a Grantura and a V8S), it has a huge 6.2-litre Chevrolet V8 and it costs £60k, which sounds like a lot but is realistically what you'd pay for a TVR these days were they still going.

He is building an initial run of six next year, then they'll be build-to-order after that. He's keeping production capacity deliberately small in order to avoid running into the problems so many low-volume car producers do - ie overambition and overcapacity.

I like it:



Also - 'Titan' - well it's a whole lot more 'TVR'-sounding than 'SLS AMG'.

http://www.cwrcars.com/showroom/index.php/news

That looks absolutely sensational..feature please?!..

Front (esp below the lights) is a mess.

[theno23]

In a few years we'll start to see Aston V8 Vantages with Bamford Rose engine mods up for sale - those would be much more like a TVR, and cheaper than an SLS AMG.

[Garlick]

ZesPak said:

Can someone mail Garlic? Their site has been defaced.

Me? I'm no longer allowed to own a TVR...

[tomoleeds]

even at £150,000 its beyond most people,except chris harris

[IanO]

Would a Nissan 370Z not be a closer TVR match - RWD, Manual Gearbox, Coupe and Convertible with a 6 cyl puting out roughly the same BHP as the speed six engine?

[Bobo W]

edo said:

billzeebub said:

Twincam16 said:

Surely the closest thing you can get to a new TVR is David Gerald's new CWR Titan. Deliberately designed to follow on from TVR (he would have bought the rights to the name had Smolensky kept hold of it with the intention of slapping it on wind turbines), it features TVR-derived chassis and suspension, it looks like a TVR (think a cross between a Grantura and a V8S), it has a huge 6.2-litre Chevrolet V8 and it costs £60k, which sounds like a lot but is realistically what you'd pay for a TVR these days were they still going.

He is building an initial run of six next year, then they'll be build-to-order after that. He's keeping production capacity deliberately small in order to avoid running into the problems so many low-volume car producers do - ie overambition and overcapacity.

I like it:



Also - 'Titan' - well it's a whole lot more 'TVR'-sounding than 'SLS AMG'.

http://www.cwrcars.com/showroom/index.php/news

That looks absolutely sensational..feature please?!..

Front (esp below the lights) is a mess.

Don't like rear lights either, well not in comparison to the what I assume is the pre-production car on their website which are more in keeping with the old skool Griffith / Tuscan

[Beefmeister]

edo said:

billzeebub said:

Twincam16 said:

Surely the closest thing you can get to a new TVR is David Gerald's new CWR Titan. Deliberately designed to follow on from TVR (he would have bought the rights to the name had Smolensky kept hold of it with the intention of slapping it on wind turbines), it features TVR-derived chassis and suspension, it looks like a TVR (think a cross between a Grantura and a V8S), it has a huge 6.2-litre Chevrolet V8 and it costs £60k, which sounds like a lot but is realistically what you'd pay for a TVR these days were they still going.

He is building an initial run of six next year, then they'll be build-to-order after that. He's keeping production capacity deliberately small in order to avoid running into the problems so many low-volume car producers do - ie overambition and overcapacity.

I like it:



Also - 'Titan' - well it's a whole lot more 'TVR'-sounding than 'SLS AMG'.

http://www.cwrcars.com/showroom/index.php/news

That looks absolutely sensational..feature please?!..

Front (esp below the lights) is a mess.

Exactly. It looks fantastic til you get to the front:



Typical kit-car looks around that cheap looking front bumper. Such a shame, just employing a designer to a month or two would sort that front end out no end.

[cavebloke]

edo said:

Front (esp below the lights) is a mess.

Yeah, when you look on the website there are a lot of rear 3/4 shots which are very reminiscent of TVRs of old but the front is a bit of a dogs dinner (worse even than Ned's efforts with the Chimaera!)

[baguaman]

I think i kinda understand what alex is trying to say.. i have owned cerberas, then ferraris, now tourismo mc shift.. and i still miss the tvr ..or i miss some aspects of the tvr .. i miss the pops and bangs on the overun.. the smell of petrol(safe not yet on fire smell) in the cabin.. i miss the fear on the motorway slip road..although i never did understand how people totalled there cerberas from this position.. so maybe he is just saying that he can feel the engine..that it doesnt feel silky smooth it has retained some rawness. maybe he is trying to say the acceleration reminds him of the good old cerbera days.. if there is any truth in what he is saying it certainly requires investigation and i would certainly consider buying one under the 80k mark god knows how many years we have to wait for them to drop to that level..

problem is anyway on another subject...is that every one has gone all kinda quiet on the roads..use any acceleration and you feel like a social pariah..so the question is are we still living in a world where DRIVING like you are in a TVR is acceptable..!!?

[MarJay]

Next he'll be slating the MX5, saying the E36M3 was an abomination and disrespecting Landy owners...

[edo]

Beefmeister said:

edo said:

billzeebub said:

Twincam16 said:

Surely the closest thing you can get to a new TVR is David Gerald's new CWR Titan. Deliberately designed to follow on from TVR (he would have bought the rights to the name had Smolensky kept hold of it with the intention of slapping it on wind turbines), it features TVR-derived chassis and suspension, it looks like a TVR (think a cross between a Grantura and a V8S), it has a huge 6.2-litre Chevrolet V8 and it costs £60k, which sounds like a lot but is realistically what you'd pay for a TVR these days were they still going.

He is building an initial run of six next year, then they'll be build-to-order after that. He's keeping production capacity deliberately small in order to avoid running into the problems so many low-volume car producers do - ie overambition and overcapacity.

I like it:



Also - 'Titan' - well it's a whole lot more 'TVR'-sounding than 'SLS AMG'.

http://www.cwrcars.com/showroom/index.php/news

That looks absolutely sensational..feature please?!..

Front (esp below the lights) is a mess.

Exactly. It looks fantastic til you get to the front:



Typical kit-car looks around that cheap looking front bumper. Such a shame, just employing a designer to a month or two would sort that front end out no end.

It is also £70,000 which means it has bugger all chance of success, for a make with no history, in a dated looking body, even if it does have a nice engine.

New, 70k gets you into some very special machinery.

[Hellbound]

I guess we're going to have a weekly TVR story. By the end of 2013 I'll probably know the history of every one of those damned cars, as well as the names of each factory worker.




OR...I could choose to ignore it all.

[JLJ11]

my 993 is in the shop so borrowed a 2002 Tuscan speed 6 for the weekend. Wow.. what an terrible terrible car, yet i really still want one. I could find no comparison to an SLS which ive also spent a decent amount of time in other than the fact that if u floor them both when going around a corner it gets a little interesting. Having never driven a TVR or even sat in one i wasnt in a position to understand why people loved them. Im a lot further down that road now. You can just see the ideas the the designers had being tried out all over the car. from the door release to the bizarre electric windows. Its epic in every way except build quality and chassis but i can sort of overlook for all the other quirks. It wanders all over the road over 100mph, weight transfer is scary despite having a hard ride. Did they ever sort that out on later versions? With that power delivery and the many unique features i would def love to have one if it actually drove well. (one other random question. how the hell do u get out if the battery fails? couldnt find a manual door or window release!)

[Martin 480 Turbo]

"Of course, all this comes at a distinctly un-Tiv-like price: £176,925. It's steep, I know. But a delivery mileage example in the PH Classifieds has already shaved £20,000 off that, and year-old coupes are now dropping close to the £100,000 mark, suggesting that the prices of these beasts might fall to more reasonable levels in a few years' time. OK, so they'll never be shed money, but they might at least become accessible to many of us."

I'd love to have some of the weed you are smoking.

[Tib]

darkmark07 said:

You should stop relying on 'bloke down the pub' and Clarkson for your opinions

Edited by darkmark07 on Monday 10th December 14:40

So they are in fact bastions of reliability then? Nay, a paragon of practicality?

Christ if so sign me up.

[em177]

Martin 480 Turbo said:

"Of course, all this comes at a distinctly un-Tiv-like price: £176,925. It's steep, I know. But a delivery mileage example in the PH Classifieds has already shaved £20,000 off that, and year-old coupes are now dropping close to the £100,000 mark, suggesting that the prices of these beasts might fall to more reasonable levels in a few years' time. OK, so they'll never be shed money, but they might at least become accessible to many of us."

I'd love to have some of the weed you are smoking.

+ forty seven thousand three hundred and sixty two.

I'm sorry but I'm sure there are people on here who could knock up a better article in their lunch break. (who proof reads this stuff?!)

[300bhp/ton]

Tib said:

darkmark07 said:

You should stop relying on 'bloke down the pub' and Clarkson for your opinions

Edited by darkmark07 on Monday 10th December 14:40

So they are in fact bastions of reliability then? Nay, a paragon of practicality?

Christ if so sign me up.

Well they are as practical as any other 2 seater sports car. How or why do you think they aren't?

In terms of reliability, well any RV8 engined one should be pretty good. They are known for electrical gremlins, but tbh most are likely sorted long ago and they really don't have much electronic on them anyhow.

The engine is the same as a Land Rover, or MGB, or TR8 or SD1 or many other cars. Gearboxes are either Rover or Tremac, brakes I think are Ford in origin. In fact non of the oil bits are TVR own really and all hail from mainstream models.

Sure they might be a little fickle and will likely always suffer niggles, but that hardly makes them unreliable.

[MX7]

Is it a full moon?

[Scrof]

Wow. Well, I think 'struck a nerve' is an understatement.

I'll be brief, as it's clear that I'm not the most popular chap on this thread at the moment! The article was meant to say, in a nutshell 'I drove an SLS Roadster. It made me feel like TVRs do. Isn't it great that there are still new cars that can do this?' If you think I'm wrong,, then that's fair enough - but this was purely an opinion piece, and in no way a comparison, twin test or any other type of analytical missive. And while I am clearly very much in the minority, I stand by my opinions and will continue to be a fan of the SLS, just as much as I am a fan of TVRs!

[NorfolkSteve]

AMG SLS: Weight 1620kg, length 4638mm width 1939mm Power to weight 348 bhp/ton, price £176K, F. ugly generic germanic sportscar styling inside and out, too big, too wide and too heavy for anything other than the autobahn or a race circuit...

Or:

TVR Tuscan: Weight 1150kg, length 4235mm, width 1810, 348 bhp/ton with engine upgrade (and 5 year warrenty - don't get one of those with the AMG) less than 20K miles for £15K +£10K engine upgrade - one of the most unique and elegantly styled cars ever + £151K spare to spend on addressing short comings of handling and electrics

Oh, and no one thinks your a tw@t with too much money who bought the flashiest car in the Mercedes brochure.

Is the AMG in the spirit of TVR? I don't think so, not even near...