New TVR still under wraps! (Vol. 3)

[baconsarney]

Tyre Smoke said:

Any chance we can drag this back on topic?

My lad got 4 A stars at A Level today. I'm a proud and a bit emotional dad.

Congrats TS

[Tyre Smoke]

Thank you. I'm so proud of him.

As luck would have it, he's in Kavos (Corfu) with three of his mates. Glad I'm not there this evening!

[LucyP]

Tazar said:

is there a Ginetta or Marcos or something by Noble that is a more realistic bet of appearing than a new TVR ?

Maybe something from the various ex Caterham people who are now doing their own thing?

Ginetta are basically a racing car manufacturer now. They tried to sell the G40 as a car that you could drive to a circuit in, race it, and then drive home again, but that didn't really work as a road car, so no one really did. That was 10 years ago. They are supposedly producing a supercar costing £340K. They announced it in 2019, and according to Autocar it is "still in the works".

Marcos has a similar record to TVR's of going bust and being resurrected. They last sold any cars about 15 years ago, before going bust again. They were resurrected in 2010, and launched a prototype in 2013. As Viper (the forum's resident Companies House expert) will tell you, the latest accounts for Marcos Cars Ltd. (made up to 30/11/20) show assets of under £12K and creditors of over £90K. Their other company, Marcos Engineering Ltd. filed accounts up to the same date for a dormant company. Therefore I don't think Marcos is even as realistic a bet as TVR.

Noble last sold a car in 2018. At the same time they showed their new car, the M500 and then it went quiet. It re-appeared in the magazines in January of this year, at a claimed anywhere from £120 to £180K price, for a very TVResque fibreglass over tubes, with a Ford V6, manual box and RWD. According to Evo, possibly old Corvette and Citroen Picasso people carrier lights, for the full TVR effect! Evo claimed it would "hit the road in late 2022". No one seems to have reported on it since then. Noble filed accounts up to 31/03/21 which showed net liabilities of £7.2 million, up from nearly £6.5M the previous year, so I wouldn't say that is a more realistic bet either.

I'm not sure about any ex-Caterham engineers producing a TVR rival. They hardly have the relevant experience, and where is the money coming from?

As to anyone else, if you look at Autocar, hardly a month goes by without their being some Sniff Petrol checklist compliant British sports car being announced which never goes any further.

[phazed]

Tyre Smoke said:

Any chance we can drag this back on topic?

My lad got 4 A stars at A Level today. I'm a proud and a bit emotional dad.

Well done that man.

Tell him that if he plays his cards right he can be like my number two son. An IT Indy working out of his house in the middle of the back end of Bali!

Whatever floats your boat!

[Tyre Smoke]

Thank you. Neither he nor I expected that. We knew he'd be okay but the amount of work he put in, he deserved it.

[baconsarney]

I’m thinking of designing a new ‘sports car’ obviously it would be British, stunningly good looking, and beautiful. So.. what are we after? Are we still front engine rear wheel drive manual box kind of guys… two seats and a choice of rag top or coupe.. what’s our collective ideal bhp/tonne number? Obviously needs to corner like an F1 car too…

Futuristic looking or retro?

Thoughts?

[Tyre Smoke]

Front engine, rear drive. Two seats. Soft top. Loads of grunt. Small numbers so each one SVA or whatever it is. Engine and box from something already in production, and ecu, etc as well.

Just rebody a Corvette.

[LucyP]

Would have to be a previous generation Vette then.

[Tyre Smoke]

Yeah was thinking that. C7 will do.

[baconsarney]

Many years ago living in Devon I test drove a Cobra rep… think the company was in Wiltshire… was the prototype car, steering geo was all wrong took more effort to steer it out of a corner than it did to turn it in… 5.7l Chevy lump, serious amount of torque.. but mated to a six speed Toyota manual box… was like conducting the London Philharmonic absolutely awful but still a hoot to drive

[Tyre Smoke]

Isn't that the point?

Not easy. If it was easy it would be a Mercedes or Aston.

[phazed]

This would be my personal choice.

Forget the graphics of course. A Boxster Spyder.

About 320 BHP and screaming flat 6.

Sticks to the road like glue and in man maths, these have only gone up in price.

[baconsarney]

Tyre Smoke said:

Isn't that the point?

Not easy. If it was easy it would be a Mercedes or Aston.

You have to be a driving God to pilot an Aston TS.. no really… it takes a special breed… trust me on this… I know what I’m talking about… honest.. you have to be a bit special… like I am… don’t even think about these cars if you shop at Liddle. Or Audi. Sorry Aldi..

[phazed]

phazed said:

This would be my personal choice.

Forget the graphics of course. A Boxster Spyder.

About 320 BHP and screaming flat 6.

Sticks to the road like glue and in man maths, these have only gone up in price.

I should have put in the picture! What a numpty.

[Tyre Smoke]

baconsarney said:

Tyre Smoke said:

Isn't that the point?

Not easy. If it was easy it would be a Mercedes or Aston.

You have to be a driving God to pilot an Aston TS.. no really… it takes a special breed… trust me on this… I know what I’m talking about… honest.. you have to be a bit special… like I am… don’t even think about these cars if you shop at Liddle. Or Audi. Sorry Aldi..

I'm coming round your gaff one day and you're going to let me prove you wrong. As in, they're boring. Lovely but boring.

Lidl ist Deutsch mein freund. but you are correct about Audi. I mean Aldi.

[LucyP]

Tyre Smoke said:

Yeah was thinking that. C7 will do.

Or just buy a C8 and leave it alone. RHD launch edition available in the UK shortly this year, fully loaded at £82K.

[Tyre Smoke]

Hmm, C8 or TVR Griffith?

No contest is it?

[Oldwolf]

Tyre Smoke said:

Hmm, C8 or TVR Griffith?

No contest is it?

No, for me it would be a Sagaris or a V12V
Although I do like the C8 a lot, just don't want to own one

[baconsarney]

Oldwolf said:

No, for me it would be a Sagaris or a V12V
Although I do like the C8 a lot, just don't want to own one

Careful there OW.. TS thinks Astons are boring

[LucyP]

Oldwolf said:

No, for me it would be a Sagaris or a V12V
Although I do like the C8 a lot, just don't want to own one

Each to their own. The C8 is a current sports/supercar. The V12V is an old fashioned GT. The Sagaris was a typical TVR.