My Worry About TVR's Resurrection
It is no secret now that the TVR brand is getting a much anticipated reboot. The news was announced over a year ago and since then excitement has been reeking from every crevice of the car community.
And why wouldn’t we be excited? Not so long ago (before the temporary demise of the company) you could have the brutally styled and savagely quick TVR Sagaris for just under £50,000. For the money, you also got a TVR in-house built 4.0L straight six - which churned out 400bhp and a wonderful rasp.
The result was a top speed of 180mph and also, rather more impressively, a 0-60 time of 3.7 seconds. Bare in mind that for the same money (upon its release in 2005), you could only have had the extremely hideous 635d from BMW, which didn’t even come close to the Sagaris in terms of performance.
Throw in a nice manual gearbox and an interior to behold, as well as perhaps the most analogue sports car experience you can wish for, and you had yourself a performance car bargain.
And this is really why I felt unbridled elation when I heard of TVR’s upcoming resurgence - because it means that, at long last, we will have a source of British sports cars with high performance for affordable prices.
Beautiful, isn't it?
And this is it. Or at least a concept render of it based on official TVR drawings. The car itself has been announced by TVR but not officially revealed to the public, although those who have pledged to buy one have already attended a private viewing of the sports car.
And what a sports car it is. Although they haven’t given us pictures yet, TVR kindly decided not to withhold the specifications of this new 911 rival. For ‘less than £90,000’, you will receive a car that has a Cosworth tuned V8 engine that develops over 400bhp, has a top speed of 200mph and a ‘sub 4.0 second 0-60mph’ time. Although the key to this car’s impressive performance is not the engine, but its lightness. It has a kerb weight of just 1200kg - making it lighter than either of its 911 or F-Type counterparts. It is also noticeably faster.
So from the outset it would appear that we are going to get a new, true TVR. Or are we?
And this is where my concern lies - because along with the announcement of the performance figures, the chairman of TVR also assured us that the new car will have ‘sophisticated underpinnings’ which involves the incorporation of ‘the latest technology.’
For any other sports car manufacturer, this would be fine. But this is a TVR that we’re talking about - a TVR that has ‘the latest technology?’ I’m sorry, but that just isn’t right. TVR’s of old, such as the aforementioned Sagaris, all upheld the ethos of company founder Trevor Wilkinson - who believed in a truly analogue sports car experience. As such, what he didn’t believe in were driver aids. Which meant that none of the cars that TVR produced had any airbags, traction control, or ABS. To drive a TVR quickly, you had to be good behind the wheel.
This is an ideology that has really been lost in most other sports cars today - which are so clever that it’s not necessarily hard to drive them quickly anymore. But what I can’t stand is the thought of is this becoming a reality for TVRs. This is a company that is supposed to embody the philosophy of sports cars of old: where the driver played just as much of a role in achieving monumental speed as the car did.
'Latest Technology'? Could that mean the first TVR with an automatic 'box?
If this ethos is to be lost to the realms of the past, then should we really be excited about the return of TVR? Of course, I’m not saying that a 200mph British sports car for 90 grand is something to turn your nose up at. I just think that only people with balls of steel and unwavering courage should be able to drive a TVR at 200mph. But from what has been said by Les Edgar, you can’t help but worry that they’re going to try and make its performance ‘accessible’ and ‘manageable’ for everyone - two words that didn’t exist in the vocabulary of the TVRs that I know and love. It’s just speculation, but a worry nonetheless.
A TVR that isn’t frightening? That’s something to mourn. Not to anticipate.
Comments
The reason is money. They need to appeal to more people. There aren’t many people who want an analogue, stripped-down sports car - that’s why TVR (as well as similar manufacturers like Ginetta and Lotus) tend to be rather niche and small. People want luxury and ease-of-driving, which is why (unfortunately) there are so many more Audi TTs than Toyota GT86s on the road. I don’t really mind if TVR offers a tamer, automatic car as long as sales from that allow them to continue building scary manual oversteer monsters.
I suppose you’re right. A better selling automatic, more tame TVR will give them more money to develop more traditional, harder edged TVRs. But the problem I have with this is that this £90,000 car looks like it’s probably going to be their flagship model. And if they make their flagship the one that’s tame, I couldn’t stand it.
What you say makes sense, but I’d want them to do it to one of their lesser cars, like if they made a modern equivalent of the Tamora.
The latest technology is basically going to mean whatever it takes to get it legal (anyone can operate, not use at its potential), and to be competitive in performance. I would say expect a quick flappy paddle, and aerodynamics which make the car drivable. We live in a world where lap times are king in the performance world, and if you aren’t going to make an SUV, you’d better have the ultimate poser-mobile for rappers and professional athletes.
That may be the case from a financial perspective, and I can’t really hold it against TVR personally for taking that approach, but I’m saying that if that is indeed the case, I won’t really look forward to the new TVR as much. I also think that we should mourn the loss of another pure driver’s car, regardless if safety and restraint makes it more financially viable.
Well nowadays, it’s next to impossible for a sports car to sell well without even today’s basic sports car technologies. Also, in the auto industry, you have to evolve with the market or flop horribly. Considering this is a revival of a brand, I think they’re entitled to making their cars more sophisicated in order to get a foothold back into the market.
You’re right, but I’ll still mourn (you’ll understand why if you read my response to Deadpool below.
Even if TVR is forced to make a few concessions to modern trends, I reckon the new car will still be far more engaging and raw than the current crop of ‘sports cars’. A big V8, manual ‘box and (hopefully) hydraulic steering should be a great recipe, regardless of little details
I know and I accept that it will still probably be great and perhaps the best sports car on the market for the reasons you gave. But I believe the best sports cars on the market are the ones which you have to make sacrifices to own (i.e. making life harder by not having ABS or traction control), and this is something TVRs of the past made do without which would make them even better than the new one (unless the new one doesn’t add these new technologies of course). But I’m sure it will still be awesome and a breath of fresh air in the modern sports car market.