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TVR Has Sold Out Its First Year of Production in Just Six Weeks, Debuts in 2017

The fate of TVR's planned relaunch is looking better, and that can only mean good news for every car enthusiast in the world.
TVR Sagaris 1 photo
Photo: TVR
How do you know you have a solid fanbase? When you sell out an entire year's worth of production in just six weeks with more than a year until the first car will actually leave the factory (well, more like a workshop in this case).

The company has taken 250 £5,000 (roughly $7,600 at today's exchange rates) deposits on the next generation of models, raising a hefty total of £625,000 ($960,000) for developing the new models. Owners club members were allowed to cut in front of the queue for just £2,500 ($3,800), and they most certainly did, bringing even more money in the TVR vault.

The British small-volume carmaker has been sidelined for nearly ten years now, but Les Edgar, its new owner, bought the company from Russian Nikolai Smolenski in 2013 and made clear his intentions of restarting production.

Les Edgar is a well know fan of the brand and member of the owners club himself, so he has all the confidence he needs to take things slowly and focus on delivering a well-rounded finished product. Edgar made his wealth in the computer games industry, so he's got to be an easy-going guy. He likes TVRs, so that should have been a clue...

Upon acquiring the company, he made a list of promises which up until now have been kept: the cars will be built in Britain starting 2017; at least four new models are in production; a collaboration with Gordon Murray Design will be developed; engines will be V8s delivered by Cosworth; price and design will remain true to the TVR spirit; first year production will stay within the 'hundreds'; a new network of dealers will be built.

That sounds like a thorough plan. Speaking to Car Magazine, John Chasey, Operations Director, said that initial reaction was overwhelming so they decided to develop a network that could sustain the demand and interest before the full re-launch.

In regards to what kind of cars we should expect from the reborn TVR, not much should be changed on the outside. TVR is all about roadsters and coupes, so we'll most likely get models similar to the classic Sagaris and Tuscan, but with completely new underpinnings.

Old-school nostalgics should be glad to know the new cars will only use naturally aspirated dry-sump V8 engines from Cosworth, delivering power to the rear wheels through a manual gearbox.

This all sounds absolutely brilliant, but there's still a long way to go until we can speak of a true TVR comeback. There is, apparently, a gap in the market for more affordable sports car that slot beneath the Porsche offerings in terms of pricing and above the likes of Toyota GT86 in terms of performance (and pricing as well).

The question is whether the number of people aiming for this gap is large enough, or TVR will be forced to close the gates once again. Needless to say, we hope for the former.
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About the author: Vlad Mitrache
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"Boy meets car, boy loves car, boy gets journalism degree and starts job writing and editing at a car magazine" - 5/5. (Vlad Mitrache if he was a movie)
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