TVR Confirms 'Vette Power For New Roadster
TVR's owner picks 'most powerful off-the-shelf design' over in-house engines
TVR owner Nikolai Smolenski has confirmed PH's exclusive about the marque's return with US-sourced V8 power, and now we know he's going to use a Corvette lump.
Smolenski confirmed the choice of 'Vette power in a recent interview: ""We looked at every engine available, including making our own, and decided that the Corvette was the most powerful off-the-shelf design going. Fitting it to our chassis allows us to meet all current regulations and is not too big a step," he told Autocar,who managed to pin-down the elusive oligarch for a chat as they followed-up the story.
If 'most powerful' means the LS9 engine from the ZR1, we'll be looking at a supercharged 638hp and 604lb ft, which should make the new TVR roadster hard not to like. Apparently there's no chance of the TVR's in-house six or eight-cylinder motors being revived, as cost and homologation issues are prohibitive.
Unsurprisingly, the new plan centres on a roadster that will be evolved from the steel-chassis with independent suspension chassis set-up of old TVRs like the Tuscan - and latest reports suggests it will be built by German company Gullwing which builds replicas of the classic M-B 300SL and latest versions of the AC Cobra.
AC owner Alan Lubinsky is reportedly in on the deal too, but although Lubinsky is said to have confirmed talks about TVR production are underway, he says nothing has been concluded yet. Interestingly (and we confess to relying on Wikipedia here), AC Cars is said to be already planning its own production venture in the US - so could that mean TVRs will be built there too? Your speculation is as good as ours, but we do know that the US is a key market for the new TVR business plan.
Also in the TVR business plan (stop reading here, Blackpool purists...) is a hybrid version of the new roadster. And everyone wants one of those these days, don't they?
Either way, we're still expecting the new TVR to make its public debut at the Goodwood Moving Motor show in July, although neither Goodwood or TVR have confirmed that officially. But the PH team will be travelling to West Sussex in hope of a sighting, and so can you - don't forget you can buy your tickets online here.
It strikes me that it the details of that are correct- a Russian has bought our darling british sports car brand, removed anything whatsoever British about it, moved production overseas and is redesigning things for America.
It will now be a low volume foreign car manufacturer like any other.
SUre it will still be good, and all that, just now irrelevant.
The amount of bullst that boy has spewed out is the cause behind the recently lovely weather we've been having all on its own!
I will admit that this is the way TVR should have gone (even if it was an option) several years ago
http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/ac-cobra-scam-con...
http://www.classicandperformancecar.com/news/octan...
As said above, if TVR had embraced the LS engine early on, in the same way they used and evolved the RV8, then things would have turned out very differently!
Logical and sound move. But I'll believe it when I see it.
TVR's are going to become just the same as everyother sports car manufacturer, competing for figures, driver aids and perfection instead of continuing in its niche of giving out and out driver pleasure and excitement from the basic recipe of big power and little weight.
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