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| The 2017 TVR that will emerge from the new Wales factory |
REBORN British sports-car maker TVR announced it will be setting up
shop in Wales to build the new All-British sports car.
TVR will be the second car maker to open a factory in Wales, after
Aston Martin made a similar announcement last year.
But TVR is the only one to date that will be using Durban-schooled
Gordon Murray’s design process to build TVR.
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| Godon Murray (Photo: File) |
Using Murray’s F1 racing experience, the new generation of TVRs
will still be ferociously fast but not as famously fragile.
TVR said the factory will create 150 jobs for mostly artisans who
will hand-assemble the bespoke sports cars for patriotic racers.
Steve Huntingford, motoring editor of the Telegraph, reports that Wales was chosen because the Welsh
Government agreed to provide financial backing, and this comes just weeks after
Aston Martin announced plans to build a factory of its own in the principality.
The first is due to go on sale next year and it will be a
front-engined, rear-wheel-drive two-seater with a traditional manual
gearbox.
Huntingford reported that TVR is also promising Formula
One-inspired ground-effect technology to help stick the car to the road through
corners, while power will come from a naturally aspirated V8 that’s being
engineered by motorsport specialists Cosworth.
The new TVR is under the leadership of gamer millionaire Les Edgar,
working in collaboration with Murray.
Given the often troubled history of British sports-car makers,
there is no guarantee that the revived TVR will be a success, but Edgar is
bullish.
“We are a well-funded, well-supported organisation and boast a
vastly experienced management team,” he said. “We have a fully evolved 10-year
plan for business and product development and are here to stay.”
