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TVR was an independent manufacturer of sports cars in the town of Blackpool, in Lancashire, England. The company manufactured lightweight sports cars with powerful engines and was the third-largest specialised sports car manufacturer in the world, offering a diverse range of coupés and convertibles, most using an in-house straight-6 cylinder engine design, others an in-house V8. TVR sports cars are composed of tubular steel frames, cloaked in aggressive body designs.

TVR's two arms were TVR Engineering, which manufactures sports cars and grand tourers, and TVR Power, their powertrain division.

History

TVR was established in 1947 by Trevor Wilkinson. The first cars were specials using the drivelines from production cars, tuned and installed in a lightweight TVR chassis with minimal bodywork to maximise the agility and power-to-weight ratio, which remain TVR virtues to this day.

TVR made use of proprietary engines, like many low-volume manufacturers, to power its cars for many years. However, there were those who opined that this somehow diminished the cachet of the Great British sports cars from Blackpool, despite the fact that the engines, by the late '80s, were very heavily modified to TVR's own unique, high-power specifications.

That began to change in the early '90s with the birth of the TVR V8 engine, which in 1995 became the world's first racing engine to be de-tuned and installed in a road car: the TVR Cerbera. The Cerbera was a rude awakening for the supercar establishment. "0-100mph in nine seconds dead," screamed Autocar magazine's front cover.

But the Speed Eight (aka AJP8) was only the beginning. In 1997, a Griffith Speed Six concept car was unveiled at the Earls Court Motor Show. It showcased the TVR Speed Six engine, a very modern take on the quintessentially British, growling straight-six. The Speed Six engine, like the Speed Eight, first appeared in the Cerbera. But the Speed Six is renowned as the power-house of the jaw-dropping Tuscan Speed Six that starred with John Travolta and Halle Berry in the Hollywood movie Swordfish.

The Speed Six is also the power plant of the T400R, with which TVR returned to Les 24 Heures du Mans in France in 2003 and 2004. Both Speed Six-powered T400Rs finished this most gruelling of automotive challenges - no mean feat in a class dominated by German and Italian stalwarts.

At the end of 2004, the Speed Eight engine, after an illustrious motorsport career, not to mention a spectacular crop of headlines in the world's motoring press, ceased production with the Cerbera. Now, the Speed Six engine, in various guises, is at the heart of every current TVR model.

2004: Smolenski

In July 2004, 24-year-old Nikolai Smolenski bought the company from chemical industry consultant and TVR enthusiast Peter Wheeler, for about £15 million. Despite his Russian nationality, Smolenski said he intended TVR to remain a British company.

In April 2006, responding to falling demand and with production rumoured to have dropped from 12 cars a week to 3 or 4, TVR laid off some of its 300 staff. At the same time, the firm announced plans to move to updated facilities in the Squires Gate district of Blackpool, citing impending expiry of the lease of the current factory in late 2006, where owner Peter Wheeler was said to be planning to build a housing estate.

In October 2006 Smolenski announced<ref>http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/6062084.stm</ref> that body production and final assembly for TVR would move to Turin, Italy<ref>http://www.italiaspeed.com/2006/cars/other/bertone/10/tvr/2210.html</ref>, with only engine production remaining in the UK. In protest at this and to show support for the workers, a large number of TVR owners paraded through central London on 26 November, 2006. Dubbed London Thunder, it was also an attempt at the official world record for the biggest one-marque convoy on record.

By December 2006, it emerged that Smolenski had split TVR into a number of different companies<ref>http://www.timesonline.co.uk/newspaper/0,,2769-2534377,00.html</ref>:

• Brand and intellectual property rights had been transferred to a core Smolenski company
• TVR Motors - held the licence to the brands and intellectual property in the UK, as well as sales and marketing of the brand
• TVR Power - the parts and spares business had been sold to a management buyout
• Blackpool Automotive - the factory and manufacturing assets

On 13 December, Smolenski and production director Mike Penny resigned as a director of Blackpool Automotive, being replaced by Smolenski UK personal assistant Roger Billinghurst and 25 year old Austrian Angelco Stamenkov. By 24 December, Blackpool Automotive was in Administration. Administrators are now seeking legal clarification on the ownership of certain assets, including the brand and intellectual property, to see what assets the company has and who should pay the redundancy notices of the remaining 200 workers<ref>http://www.timesonline.co.uk/newspaper/0,,2769-2534344,00.html</ref>.

On 22 February 2007 it was revealed that Smolenski is once again the owner of the company after being the highest bidder. <ref>http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/lancashire/6388109.stm</ref>

On 28 February 2007 less than one week after reacquiring TVR, he has reportedly announced plans to sell the company to Adam Burdette and Jean Michel Santacreu, who intend to export TVRs to the United States market. <ref>http://www.autocar.co.uk/News/NewsArticle/AllCars/224329/</ref>

TVRs in popular media

• John Travolta drove a TVR Tuscan in the movie Swordfish fitted with Preston (UK) numberplates.
• Bugs Bunny drove a "modified" TVR Tuscan in the 2003 Looney Tunes: Back in Action
• Yelena (Asia Argento) drove a TVR Tuscan in xXx with Vin Diesel.
• Many TVRs are featured in the PlayStation 2 videogame, The Getaway: Black Monday.
• Many TVRs are featured in the videogame series Gran Turismo.
• TVRs, including the Tuscan and Cerbera Speed 12, are featured in Project Gotham Racing 2
• TVRs are also featured in the Xbox 360 games Project Gotham Racing 3, Test Drive Unlimited, and Forza Motorsport 2.
• The TVR Griffith 400 is featured in the racing simulation game GT Legends.

TVRs are predominantly featured in the Test Drive series of video games.

• Several TVRs have been reviewed on BBC's Top Gear

Company Ownership

The history of the company can be divided into five eras, based on ownership:

• 1947–1965: founder Trevor Wilkinson, who left in 1962
• 1965–1981: owner Martin Lilley
• 1981–2004: owner Peter Wheeler
• 2004–2007: owner Nikolai Smolenski
• 2007–Present: owner Adam Burdette and Jean Michel Santacreu

Current Models

• TVR T350
• TVR Tuscan Convertible
• TVR Sagaris
• TVR Tuscan
• TVR Tamora
• TVR Typhon

Discontinued Models

• TVR Cerbera
• TVR Chimaera
• TVR Griffith
• TVR V8S
• TVR S4C
• TVR S3(C)
• TVR S2
• TVR S1
• TVR 450SEAC
• TVR 450SE
• TVR 4520SEAC
• TVR 420SE
• TVR 400SX
• TVR 400SE
• TVR 390SE
• TVR 350SE
• TVR 350SX
• TVR 350i
• TVR 250i
• TVR Tasmin 280
• TVR Tasmin 200
• TVR 3000S
• TVR 3000S Turbo
• TVR Taimar Turbo
• TVR Taimar
• TVR 3000M Turbo
• TVR 3000M
• TVR 2500M
• TVR 1600M
• TVR Vixen 2500
• TVR Vixen 1300
• TVR Vixen S4
• TVR Vixen S3
• TVR Vixen S2
• TVR Vixen S1
• TVR Tuscan V6
• TVR Tuscan
• TVR Grantura IV 1800S

Competion Models

• TVR Cerbera Speed 12
• TVR Speed 12
• TVR Tuscan Racer
• TVR T400R/Typhon GT

External Links

• TVR Official Website
• Trevor Wilkinson, TVR founder, dead at 85