TVR
- TVR is also the acronym for Televiziunea Română, Romanian Television, which operates four channels, Romania1, TVR2, TVR Cultural and TVR international.
TVR is a manufacturer of sports cars, located in Blackpool, North West England. TVR is unique in having survived not just as a marque, but as a thriving independent manufacturer.
History
TVR was founded in 1947 by Trevor Wilkinson, who simply used three consonants of his first name for the company name. The first car was built in 1949, and in 1953 the concept of glass-reinforced plastic bodywork over a tubular steel backbone chassis was born, which is continued to this day. In the early years, a wide range of engines was used.
Currently, TVR is the 3rd largest specialized sports car manufacturer of the world. A surprisingly diverse range of coupes and convertibles are offered, most using an inhouse straight-6 cylinder engine design, others an inhouse V8. These cars are built from sturdy tubulat steel frames, cloaked in aggressive (and sometimes bizarre) body designs.
The life of TVR can be divided into four basic eras based on who owned the company:
- 1947-1965 - Trevor Wilkinson
- 1965-1981 - Martin Lilley
- 1981-2004 - Peter Wheeler
- 2004- - Nikolai Smolenski
In July 2004, 24 year old Russian billionaire, Nikolai Smolenski, bought 100% of the company from its current owner Peter Wheeler, for about £15 million. Despite Smolenski's Russian origin, he reportedly intends for TVR to remain a British company and continue the tradition of building lightweight, (relatively) affordable high-performance cars started more than thirty years before he was born.
Model list
- TVR 1800S
- TVR 2500M
- TVR 3000M
- TVR Cerbera
- TVR Cerbera Speed 12 (never went into production)
- TVR Chimaera
- TVR Grantura
- TVR S Series
- TVR Griffith
- TVR Taimar
- TVR Speed 12 (built exclusively for racing)
- TVR T 400 R
- TVR T 440 R
- TVR Tasmin
- TVR Tamora
- TVR Tuscan
- TVR Tuscan Racer (built exclusively for racing)
- TVR Vixen
- TVR Typhon
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