So whats the story with TVR?

[smilerbaker]

Not been following whats been happening with TVR for a couple of weeks, last I heard it had been spilt into 3 and 1 part had folded. They where going to be making the cars in italy but hadn't moved any of the tooling yet.

So whats the latest? is it all over?

Hope not a Cerbra is on my todo list

Edited by smilerbaker on Monday 15th January 10:58

[twincam16]

Well, Autocar said they were giving the body-building contract to Bertone in Italy, but TVR Power was staying in Britain.

They wheeled out a picture of their new car which looked too much like the Melling Hellcat to be a coincidence TBH.

They also said that their future cars might have traction control. The day they have this, whatever was left of TVR dies, even if they still build cars with that name on.

[OLYC]

TVR is all well and alive, if you believe what their MD and the Russian are saying. However, Blackpool Automotive(the production arm of TVR) has been put into recievership and all the workforce have been made redundant. There is a number of cars sitting in the facilities at blackpool unfinished and have been that way since October?? last year.

More will be known at a press conference later this week, 17th I think.

ETA: Have a look on the TVR general forum, there is plenty of activity and discussion about the ongoing situation.

Edited by OLYC on Monday 15th January 10:59

[GavinPearson]

Well, it's not looking too good. There were plenty of ways to fix TVR, unfortunately all the sensible ones were ignored and the company has gone the way of Rover. It would take nothing short of a miracle to get out of this conundrum.

Personally, given the way the workforce has been handled, this sums up my sentiments...

[smilerbaker]

I could look on the tvr forum, but I don't have all day to trawl through all the posts just to find one or two facts, an informed overview is all I am after, ta

[Chris71]

Wouldn't be too worried about traction control as long as you can turn it off.

I do think the day they start making them abroad is the death of TVR though. Who wants a (brilliant, but) flawed idosyncartic british sports car built in Italy? We accept their flaws and Porsche rivalling price tag for a uniquely british driving and ownership experience - as do the foreign buyers I'd expect. As soon as you start asking near-Ferrari money for an Italian built car that still refuses to start you might as well buy an actual Ferrari. Or look to Lotus, Ariel, Morgan, Bristol, 2nd hand TVR and whatever start-up companies are in business this week for the real thing.

[GavinPearson]

twincam16 said:

Well, Autocar said they were giving the body-building contract to Bertone in Italy, but TVR Power was staying in Britain.

They wheeled out a picture of their new car which looked too much like the Melling Hellcat to be a coincidence TBH.

They also said that their future cars might have traction control. The day they have this, whatever was left of TVR dies, even if they still build cars with that name on.

The trouble is that the problem was never the body quality, it was the fact that the cars have a reputation for breaking down, deserved or otherwise. There is no way you'll get people buying in volume when they can buy a 911, new or secondhand, that goes almost as well but is fitted with all the latest safety gear and is mechanically and electrically bulletproof.

What TVR needed to do was emulate Morgan in this regard, but they have unfortunately chosen not to do so...

[Zod]

twincam16 said:

They also said that their future cars might have traction control. The day they have this, whatever was left of TVR dies, even if they still build cars with that name on.

Appealing to people with attitudes like this (self-appointed driving gods) was one of their biggest problems.

[twincam16]

Zod said:

twincam16 said:

They also said that their future cars might have traction control. The day they have this, whatever was left of TVR dies, even if they still build cars with that name on.

Appealing to people with attitudes like this (self-appointed driving gods) was one of their biggest problems.

But what about Lotus, Marcos, Morgan, Noble or a whole host of reasonably successful British sports car companies who stick to the 'simple and unadulterated' recipe?

IMO TVR should have offered ABS, but left it at that.

[Plotloss]

Lotus and Noble have chassis that can get the power down and have predictable handling.

TVR have never been known for the handling finesse.

The Tam and T350 were a huge step forward but still nothing like a Noble or a Lotus

[baSkey]

twincam16 said:

Zod said:

twincam16 said:

They also said that their future cars might have traction control. The day they have this, whatever was left of TVR dies, even if they still build cars with that name on.

Appealing to people with attitudes like this (self-appointed driving gods) was one of their biggest problems.

But what about Lotus, Marcos, Morgan, Noble or a whole host of reasonably successful British sports car companies who stick to the 'simple and unadulterated' recipe?

IMO TVR should have offered ABS, but left it at that.

the elise seems to have good write-ups for its traction control system...!

[Plotloss]

Lotus and Noble have chassis that can get the power down and have predictable handling though.

TVR have never been known for the handling finesse.

The Tam and T350 were a huge step forward but still nothing like a Noble or a Lotus

[twincam16]

baSkey said:

twincam16 said:

Zod said:

twincam16 said:

They also said that their future cars might have traction control. The day they have this, whatever was left of TVR dies, even if they still build cars with that name on.

Appealing to people with attitudes like this (self-appointed driving gods) was one of their biggest problems.

But what about Lotus, Marcos, Morgan, Noble or a whole host of reasonably successful British sports car companies who stick to the 'simple and unadulterated' recipe?

IMO TVR should have offered ABS, but left it at that.

the elise seems to have good write-ups for its traction control system...!

Oh they haven't?

Can't see one on the options list in the back of the TG Mag? I thought Lotus would be dead against that sort of thing?

[pikey]

GavinPearson said:

Personally, given the way the workforce has been handled, this sums up my sentiments...

Have you got an English version of that? We say "arse" over here and I'm rather keen on protecting what's left of the English way of life.

[Talksteer]

OLYC said:

TVR is all well and alive, if you believe what their MD and the Russian are saying. However, Blackpool Automotive(the production arm of TVR) has been put into recievership and all the workforce have been made redundant. There is a number of cars sitting in the facilities at blackpool unfinished and have been that way since October?? last year.

More will be known at a press conference later this week, 17th I think.

ETA: Have a look on the TVR general forum, there is plenty of activity and discussion about the ongoing situation.

The problem for TVR is that there are rules for splitting up a company. You cannot for example split your company put all your debts in one half and then watch it go bankrupt and continue running the other half as a going concern.

There is the possibility that unless Moleskins funds all the losses out of his own pocket he won't be able to take the part he want to keep to Italy at all. Which is potentially good because somebody else could pick the current line up and the name from the liquidation.

[Beefmeister]

twincam16 said:

baSkey said:

twincam16 said:

Zod said:

twincam16 said:

They also said that their future cars might have traction control. The day they have this, whatever was left of TVR dies, even if they still build cars with that name on.

Appealing to people with attitudes like this (self-appointed driving gods) was one of their biggest problems.

But what about Lotus, Marcos, Morgan, Noble or a whole host of reasonably successful British sports car companies who stick to the 'simple and unadulterated' recipe?

IMO TVR should have offered ABS, but left it at that.

the elise seems to have good write-ups for its traction control system...!

Oh they haven't?

Can't see one on the options list in the back of the TG Mag? I thought Lotus would be dead against that sort of thing?

Yep, i believe it was introduced around the same time as the Probax seats. Autocar and evo both drove it and said that for those days when you don't have to think too much, its great, and lets you do just enough to be fun before intervening.

[funky]

Plotloss said:

The Tam and T350 were a huge step forward but still nothing like a Noble or a Lotus

I'm going to have to disagree here, having just switched from a Lotus to a Tvr, i would say the Tvr is miles ahead!

Edited by funky on Monday 15th January 13:52

[sidewayz]

I think the T350 is comparable to an Elise ( which I owned and loved)- it's not quite got the Lotus ride quality but on sticking to the road and going round corners at very high speeds its very close.

[Marto]

I have been following this sorry tale for the past couple of months now, and as I have only been a TVR owner since the summer but have resisted posting my thoughts until now. I know this has been covered a thousand times but...

I get the impression that their last/ current round of cars (Segaris, T350, Tuscan...) were just a bridge too far in terms of costs, complexity and TVR's inherent problem of bad press surrounding reliability did not help the situation.

My thinking on all of this is that did TVR miss a trick by not using a V8 from Jag/BMW/Audi instead of persuing the Speed 6 engine, and kept the cars simple a la Griffith?

The success of the Griff / Chim is, IMH(umble)O based on the fact that, amongst other things, the machanicals are reasonably straight forward, proven and reasonably cheap. Therefore keeping the cost of ownership down & allowing the home mechanic to get his or her fingers dirty.

I am very much part of the overwhelming majority that losing TVR in this way is criminal. I can only hope that in the not too distant future TVR will have a 'Made In UK' sticker on its bonnet again. In the meantime I'll be keeping my Griff shiney and clean and parading it proudly.

[twincam16]

Beefmeister said:

twincam16 said:

baSkey said:

twincam16 said:

Zod said:

twincam16 said:

They also said that their future cars might have traction control. The day they have this, whatever was left of TVR dies, even if they still build cars with that name on.

Appealing to people with attitudes like this (self-appointed driving gods) was one of their biggest problems.

But what about Lotus, Marcos, Morgan, Noble or a whole host of reasonably successful British sports car companies who stick to the 'simple and unadulterated' recipe?

IMO TVR should have offered ABS, but left it at that.

the elise seems to have good write-ups for its traction control system...!

Oh they haven't?

Can't see one on the options list in the back of the TG Mag? I thought Lotus would be dead against that sort of thing?

Yep, i believe it was introduced around the same time as the Probax seats. Autocar and evo both drove it and said that for those days when you don't have to think too much, its great, and lets you do just enough to be fun before intervening.

Must have been experimental and/or by an outside company. I've just had a look in the car mags at WH Smith during my lunch break and can find no mention of it either there, or on the Lotus website in the spec sheets.

The handling and power of the Lotus are just so right that traction control would ruin it, surely? I'm getting a bit sick of it myself - we went for over a century without it, honing and revelling in our driving techniques and enjoyment, only to have safety nannies st on it all from a great height by deciding that there's a point where a computer knows best. There's too much about sports cars tailored for the non-driving-enthusiast these days, which pushes them all dangerously further into 'status symbol' territory.

I mean, would you put stabilisers on a Ducati? Would the average Ducati rider want them? Exactly...