Now, the company’s owner, Nikolai Smolenski, has told autocar that the upcoming model will use a Corvette engine and will come to the world via Germany, with the production likely to be handled by Gullwing, the company that currently builds AC cars.
TVR has chosen to use a crate engine in order to cut research & development and homologation costs.
“We looked at every engine available — including making our own — and decided that the Corvette was the most powerful off-the-shelf design going. Fitting it to our chassis allows us to meet all current regulations and is not too big a step,” Smolenski told autocar.
Here’s one bet-starting information for you and your friends: Smolenski did not specify which Corvette powerplant will be used for the new TVR. The company can choose between three V8s: the 430hp LS3, the 505 LS7 and the 638 supercharged LS9.
The upcoming TVR will be a convertible and will have a design inspired from that of the Tuscan. It will use the carmaker’s well known steel backbone chassis and fully independent suspension. The vehicle’s price will make it a direct competitor for the... Corvette.
The not-so-near future will see TVR drop an even bigger bomb: the company will develop a hybrid vehicle concept.
“I always wanted an automatic model, but the chassis wouldn’t allow either a regular auto or an automated manual. The hybrid concept would allow us to kick out the conventional gearbox completely,” Smolensky added for the aforementioned source.
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