Why Lotus and not TVR?
Why Lotus and not TVR?
Author
Discussion

SEN 18

Original Poster:

1,247 posts

241 months

Monday 28th March 2011
quotequote all
Can anyone tell me why the Government may support troubled Lotus and did nothing to stop TVR closeing down dispite the actions of London Thunder.

SAGTAFF

599 posts

243 months

Monday 28th March 2011
quotequote all
SEN 18 said:
Can anyone tell me why the Government may support troubled Lotus and did nothing to stop TVR closeing down dispite the actions of London Thunder.
........especially when Lotus have Proton behind them

flyingdutchie

873 posts

223 months

Monday 28th March 2011
quotequote all
Maybe they do not like russians at the age of 24 and loaded with money.....

PaulHogan

7,554 posts

307 months

Monday 28th March 2011
quotequote all
One is worth saving?

Just kidding. They are different governments you know..?

DonkeyApple

69,771 posts

198 months

Monday 28th March 2011
quotequote all
Sadly, for Tiv it was pre-'08.

With Blackpool being a bit of a marginal seat, I suspect that the Tories who are often much more pro-British, would pay more attention as the Govt in power if it were today.


Daston

6,148 posts

232 months

Tuesday 29th March 2011
quotequote all
Didn't Al Melling apply for a Govenment Grant in order to keep TVR in brittish hands or have I got my wires crossed?


BCA

8,651 posts

286 months

Tuesday 29th March 2011
quotequote all
SEN 18 said:
Can anyone tell me why the Government may support troubled Lotus and did nothing to stop TVR closeing down dispite the actions of London Thunder.
TVR is a comparitively much smaller company. Different Government. Different time. Such a shame. frown

However, I would just like to stress I am 100% behind keeping Lotus alive/ as British as possible. thumbup

Does anyone know if Lawrence Tomlinson tried to buy TVR? I know he has irritated a few of the Ginetta crowd by ignoring their history on the website, but Ginetta are very much so alive and IMHO that is what is most important for the ownership, it is the owners that can keep the history alive/known.

I hope TVR will rise again, under different ownership/management, asap.

V8 GRF

7,299 posts

239 months

Tuesday 29th March 2011
quotequote all
BCA said:
Does anyone know if Lawrence Tomlinson tried to buy TVR? .
I understand he was interested at some point but everyone was 'Top trumped' by the Russian offering PW far more than the company was worth.

Roy C

4,213 posts

313 months

Tuesday 29th March 2011
quotequote all
BCA said:
Does anyone know if Lawrence Tomlinson tried to buy TVR?
AFAIK yes

BCA said:
I know he has irritated a few of the Ginetta crowd by ignoring their history on the website...
Because of the Walkletts & Dare? scratchchin

BCA

8,651 posts

286 months

Tuesday 29th March 2011
quotequote all
V8 GRF said:
I understand he was interested at some point but everyone was 'Top trumped' by the Russian offering PW far more than the company was worth.
I wonder how much PW truly regretted that decision a few years down the line. frown

V8 GRF

7,299 posts

239 months

Tuesday 29th March 2011
quotequote all
BCA said:
I wonder how much PW truly regretted that decision a few years down the line. frown
I doubt he regretted it at all TBH. Would you regret pocketing £15m and retaining your property in Blackpool when the other alternatives probably entailed you just handing over the keys and walking away?

DonkeyApple

69,771 posts

198 months

Tuesday 29th March 2011
quotequote all
V8 GRF said:
I doubt he regretted it at all TBH. Would you regret pocketing £15m and retaining your property in Blackpool when the other alternatives probably entailed you just handing over the keys and walking away?
And I guess, while having remorse over what happened to your work force, ultimately not having the blame on your shoulders?

You have to assume that NS's offer was likely to have been the only one that involved cash up front? Any other consortium would have surely known that large investment and re-structuring were needed to get it back on track?

BCA

8,651 posts

286 months

Tuesday 29th March 2011
quotequote all
V8 GRF said:
I doubt he regretted it at all TBH. Would you regret pocketing £15m and retaining your property in Blackpool when the other alternatives probably entailed you just handing over the keys and walking away?
In business, of course there would be no regret. But for someone that did care about the marque, I bet he was a little bothered by it. He was proud of TVR, this came through on the several times that I met him and confirmed even after the sale when he met some of the GTCup racers in Cerbera's - he was apparently absolutely ecstatic at the sight of a full TVR racer out there still. thumbup I honestly think he would have regretted it, maybe not from a business point of view, but from a personal one, yes.

V8 GRF

7,299 posts

239 months

Tuesday 29th March 2011
quotequote all
BCA said:
I honestly think he would have regretted it, maybe not from a business point of view, but from a personal one, yes.
I know where you're coming from but even at that level I actually don't think that he did. He was quite an unsentimental guy from what I've heard and seen and once the deal was done and he left that was it as far as he was concerned. He had nothing to do with the marque afterwards even as a figurehead despite being asked and I don't think he could really believe his luck at being able to stitch NS up the way he did.

Maybe he thought it was a shame but regrets, I doubt it.

V8 GRF

7,299 posts

239 months

Tuesday 29th March 2011
quotequote all
DonkeyApple said:
And I guess, while having remorse over what happened to your work force, ultimately not having the blame on your shoulders?

You have to assume that NS's offer was likely to have been the only one that involved cash up front? Any other consortium would have surely known that large investment and re-structuring were needed to get it back on track?
TVR was bust before he sold it to NS so PW came out of this with a wedge of cash and smelling of roses for not being in charge when the whole operation went down as it would have done two years earlier had it not been for NS.

Number 7

4,113 posts

291 months

Tuesday 29th March 2011
quotequote all
BCA said:
TVR is a comparitively much smaller company. Different Government. Different time. Such a shame. frown

However, I would just like to stress I am 100% behind keeping Lotus alive/ as British as possible. thumbup

Does anyone know if Lawrence Tomlinson tried to buy TVR? I know he has irritated a few of the Ginetta crowd by ignoring their history on the website, but Ginetta are very much so alive and IMHO that is what is most important for the ownership, it is the owners that can keep the history alive/known.

I hope TVR will rise again, under different ownership/management, asap.
It's a shame when egos get in the way of facts, but I guess the owner of any business can do what they like with it.

Would you be happy if the present / future owner of TVR completely wrote out TW, ML & PW from the history of the company?

DonkeyApple

69,771 posts

198 months

Tuesday 29th March 2011
quotequote all
V8 GRF said:
TVR was bust before he sold it to NS so PW came out of this with a wedge of cash and smelling of roses for not being in charge when the whole operation went down as it would have done two years earlier had it not been for NS.
Sad but true.

BCA

8,651 posts

286 months

Tuesday 29th March 2011
quotequote all
Number 7 said:
It's a shame when egos get in the way of facts, but I guess the owner of any business can do what they like with it.

Would you be happy if the present / future owner of TVR completely wrote out TW, ML & PW from the history of the company?
It wouldn't be a preference, but if the current owners of individual TVR's continue the history/ the car club keeps it known/ going, then yes, I would prefer for TVR to still be around, even if TW/ML/PW were not mentioned by the new owners/ spoken about by the new owners. I must admit, I am not entirely sure of the whole Ginetta thing, but if that is what has happened, then I hope the owners of each individual car/ the car club does their bit to ensure such a history is kept alive, much as the marque has been kept alive by the current owner LNT.

DonkeyApple

69,771 posts

198 months

Tuesday 29th March 2011
quotequote all
Number 7 said:
BCA said:
TVR is a comparitively much smaller company. Different Government. Different time. Such a shame. frown

However, I would just like to stress I am 100% behind keeping Lotus alive/ as British as possible. thumbup

Does anyone know if Lawrence Tomlinson tried to buy TVR? I know he has irritated a few of the Ginetta crowd by ignoring their history on the website, but Ginetta are very much so alive and IMHO that is what is most important for the ownership, it is the owners that can keep the history alive/known.

I hope TVR will rise again, under different ownership/management, asap.
It's a shame when egos get in the way of facts, but I guess the owner of any business can do what they like with it.

Would you be happy if the present / future owner of TVR completely wrote out TW, ML & PW from the history of the company?
http://www.ginetta.co.uk/history

Seems more than sufficient coverage for an ongoing business?

Surely, in-depth coverage of the past is best left to authors, biographers and owner's clubs etc rather than expecting the current owner to concentrate on being a historian. A pastime for which whatever you write someone will allways say you're wrong.

I would think it prudent to be somewhat minimalistic and publish the basics and move on.

Number 7

4,113 posts

291 months

Tuesday 29th March 2011
quotequote all
DonkeyApple said:
http://www.ginetta.co.uk/history

Seems more than sufficient coverage for an ongoing business?

Surely, in-depth coverage of the past is best left to authors, biographers and owner's clubs etc rather than expecting the current owner to concentrate on being a historian. A pastime for which whatever you write someone will allways say you're wrong.

I would think it prudent to be somewhat minimalistic and publish the basics and move on.
I must admit that I don't remember the Walkletts being mentioned by name on that site when I last looked at it last year some time. For some reason the period during which Martin Phaff ran the company and produced one of the most iconic models, the G33, seems to have been completely ignored in LNT's version of history. IMHO, if you're going to the trouble of producing what purports to be the historical evolution of a company and its products, tell the whole truth, not just the bits that suit your agenda. Anything less is very petty. If you can't bring yourself to do that, then say nothing at all.