New TVR still under wraps!
Discussion
DonkeyApple said:
I remember going to see them at a show later when there was the red 400 and green 440 and putting a deposit down which I then moved to a Typhon when that list opened. That must have been sometime in 2001/2. I was still waiting when the factory closed in 2006. I knew of the existence of the orange Typhon and that became available to buy in 2010 and was back on the road in 2012.
So, I waited ten years to get my TVR. I have little sympathy for people struggling to wait an extra twelve months or so.
To me the Typhon was a huge step forward for TVR but they simply couldn’t make it for a price that was viable as it was hugely labour intensive as that was how the factory was set up, mass labour rather than mass technology.
A couple of years ago I took the car down to GMD for their team to look over. GM and LE showed me round the new project. What I left with was frankly huge excitement for the project. In many ways the new car is the next step on from the Typhon. It is basically built on the exact same premis of structural composites around a tubular frame, with a flat floor but instead of using huge man hours to construct, along with all the weaknesses of minimum wage labour it uses innovative modern technology to remove all those man hours and to massively increase build consistency.
When people say that this new car isn’t a TVR they forget all about the Typhon and how that was so different from any road TVR and such a big step forward. This new TVR is just following on from exactly the pinnacle that TVR was last at.
I don't see the new car as a "next step" to the Typhon. The Typhon has been revolutionary in design (exterior and interior), construction and performance back in the days. Can't see any of these unique selling points in the new car. So, I waited ten years to get my TVR. I have little sympathy for people struggling to wait an extra twelve months or so.
To me the Typhon was a huge step forward for TVR but they simply couldn’t make it for a price that was viable as it was hugely labour intensive as that was how the factory was set up, mass labour rather than mass technology.
A couple of years ago I took the car down to GMD for their team to look over. GM and LE showed me round the new project. What I left with was frankly huge excitement for the project. In many ways the new car is the next step on from the Typhon. It is basically built on the exact same premis of structural composites around a tubular frame, with a flat floor but instead of using huge man hours to construct, along with all the weaknesses of minimum wage labour it uses innovative modern technology to remove all those man hours and to massively increase build consistency.
When people say that this new car isn’t a TVR they forget all about the Typhon and how that was so different from any road TVR and such a big step forward. This new TVR is just following on from exactly the pinnacle that TVR was last at.
RichB said:
spagbogdog said:
Not sure a Typhon ever won Le~Mans...
Where was that said? 
Two T440Rs did complete the 24 hours though, that was a great weekend that was!
The tribune in front of the pits was a sea of purple....which, to a man (& woman) rose to applaud as the two T440Rs came in and finished the race.
Peter Wheeler arrived at Houx campsite with lots of beer and a tear in his eye to thank the TVR'istes who had supported the race. - Happy days!!!
Nick
ClassiChimi said:
Snakes said:
Looks like they can save a few quid on painting the place as the colours look right!
Am I the first Tvr owner to visit the new factory,, it's a run down mess with broken glass and what looks like fire damage to the building, it's still under offer so nothing official by the looks of it. The pic above has been doctored!
Taking the piss!
Here it is in its full glory, looks like it's been abandoned for some years and will need a lot of work to come upto what you'd expect a high class car plant to look like.
There must be an update soon ......
I've been visiting family and realised I drive straight past this site so couldn't resist but to go and find it.
The heads of the Valleys road is going through some serious civil engineering and must be costing a small fortune so that's a very good sign, but that was euro money, when the Brit government takes over the poor place will be starved again,, just like up north!!!!!
I actually went to the factory to apply for a job
it'll be some time before this site can be up and running,, I sneaked a look inside the office buildings,, like a bomb went off and they left in a hurry, I'm not sure if this was vandalism but office equipment and all sorts have just been left there and it's a right old mess, wiring hanging out all over the place etc etc etc Nothing a good clean up won't sort but it looks far from being ready to build cars in, if this really is the new factory then I can't wait to see it happen.
There is now a wind turbine next to the site and lots of building work by Brecon Power ...but nothing to indicate the Techboard site has had any developemt ...and no sign of TVR Manufacturing
...This was the ariel view from the depositor update on the factory in sept 2017...seems that little has changed in a year.....
[quote=ClassiChimi]
Here it is in its full glory, looks like it's been abandoned for some years and will need a lot of work to come upto what you'd expect a high class car plant to look like.
[quote=ClassiChimi]
So glad to see that the new factory has been inspired by the old Beverley Grove site......
Here it is in its full glory, looks like it's been abandoned for some years and will need a lot of work to come upto what you'd expect a high class car plant to look like.
[quote=ClassiChimi]
So glad to see that the new factory has been inspired by the old Beverley Grove site......
lordofthewings said:
So glad to see that the new factory has been inspired by the old Beverley Grove site......
Yes you can definitely see the TVR dna there. The roofline and materials are certainly a nod to TVR of old. Looks like this factory could be the last old school run down car factory ever made. There’ll be no other car factories around like it
I’m not sure I like the front though . . .
mattus said:
...two years later....i was passing Ebbw Vale, thought i would try and find the site ...see how it was progressing . As a deposit holder i’m also becoming increasingly frustrated / worried about the lack of any recent news.
There is now a wind turbine next to the site and lots of building work by Brecon Power ...but nothing to indicate the Techboard site has had any developemt ...and no sign of TVR Manufacturing
...This was the ariel view from the depositor update on the factory in sept 2017...seems that little has changed in a year.....
Jason Barlow in Top Gear magazine with LE in 2015 asked about the new car being launched in 2017......There is now a wind turbine next to the site and lots of building work by Brecon Power ...but nothing to indicate the Techboard site has had any developemt ...and no sign of TVR Manufacturing
...This was the ariel view from the depositor update on the factory in sept 2017...seems that little has changed in a year.....
"DeLorean broke away (from General Motors) to start his own DeLorean Motor Company (DMC), in 1973. However, production delays meant DMC's first car and DeLorean's independent creative opus—the DMC-12—did not reach the consumer market until 1981 (8 years later), where a depressed buying market was compounded by unexpectedly lukewarm reviews from critics and the public. After a year, the DMC-12 had failed to recoup its US$175 million in investment costs, unsold cars were accumulating, and the company was in dire financial straits."
No updates for a long time for all you diehard fans. Factory no closer to opening. Production must be at least 12 - 24 months away, if at all. The majority on here seem to dislike the front end. This thread dying on its arse. Think that just leaves Bullitt and Spagbol, the ultimate optimists now.
There’s not much you can tell from the photos apart from what looks like glazing changes (?) but it may all be happening inside.
IMO all this doubt can be recovered by a decent update, ie ‘work starts on the factory 3Q 2018 with machinery expected to be in place by 2Q 2019 etc etc’.
At the moment due to the lack of news a prospective depositor doing a bit of basic research first would be mad to sign up. This is when marketing/PR should surely be gradually ramping up whereas it’s just flat if not non-existent, which is not good at all.
IMO all this doubt can be recovered by a decent update, ie ‘work starts on the factory 3Q 2018 with machinery expected to be in place by 2Q 2019 etc etc’.
At the moment due to the lack of news a prospective depositor doing a bit of basic research first would be mad to sign up. This is when marketing/PR should surely be gradually ramping up whereas it’s just flat if not non-existent, which is not good at all.
Definitely needs some form of update from TVR, it seems to have been a while since the last one. It would at least give us something to talk about rather than just speculation.
If there is one thing I've learned in business, it is to communicate regularly with your clients, even if some of those updates are to say that there's been no major developments but we'll be in touch again shortly
If there is one thing I've learned in business, it is to communicate regularly with your clients, even if some of those updates are to say that there's been no major developments but we'll be in touch again shortly
If something is happening in that factory you would think they would at least put a big sign up indicating it is now being developed for the new TVR.
"Home of the new TVR Griffith" would at least give you deposit holders some hope that all is going ahead as promised even if it is a bit behind schedule. Another missed PR opportunity.
Or maybe they want to hide under a veil of secrecy.
"Home of the new TVR Griffith" would at least give you deposit holders some hope that all is going ahead as promised even if it is a bit behind schedule. Another missed PR opportunity.
Or maybe they want to hide under a veil of secrecy.
BJWoods said:
Is the reason nothing happening at the factory.. simply because (as we have previously been told) they don't actually get it until August......
Full steam ahead from next week?
I remember that mail. But i don't think so. My understanding was that they would get a cleaned/empty/ready building in August. But these pics look like nothing's been done yet. Full steam ahead from next week?
In one of the last updates Les stated that they had already moved into a (way) smaller hall on the other end of the area and that they would use that to set up production tooling. Imho, the big building is too big anyway. Building 2500 cars per year, which is their goal way down the road, means building 10 cars par day, 500 in a year means building 2 per day.
The original building is huge as in friggin' HUGE. You can build 2 cars a day in the receptionists office of it and 10 cars a day in the cafeteria. So my take is, there's nothing being done, as they will not move into this building, simply because it is not a good fit.
Throw in some Brexit-uncertainties (i.e. EU-money vanishing, hard-brexit, maybe no transition-phase) and Circuit of Wales dead and even someone with two fingers and a sore eye can figure out that it would be a waste of money to move in there.
Would be interesting to see current pictures of the other building !? And, as said before, some form of update greatly appreciated !!
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