If there are two better names than Gordon Murray and Cosworth to attach to the TVR rebirth, we cannot imagine them. All are icons of English performance — and together promise great things.

A new sportscar announcement today includes no new sketches or even outlines of the upcoming new TVR, but it does signal work behind the scenes. The car will be designed and produced using iStream from GMD and engine mechanicals via Cosworth.

iStream is intended to be a highly robotized assembly system using the latest in 3D printing and materials to give low-weight and high-strength components. The iStream designs so far have been tiny urban runabouts – but there is no reason a front-engine supercar could not be made using the same methods.

An engine from the Cosworth stable could be anything from a racing V8 to a Subaru-based boxer turbo — both exciting prospects for the new TVR.

The official announcement is below, plus a previous chronology of the TVR make.

TVR to return to production with stunning new car designed in collaboration with Gordon Murray Design

Revered British sports car brand, TVR, is roaring back to production with an incredible all-new Cosworth powered sports car, engineered in collaboration with F1 and road car design legend, Gordon Murray
TVR has developed a product and launch programme that will see at least four new models brought to market over the next ten years
Positioning and pricing set to be consistent with TVR’s past market positioning and highly competitive within its segment

3rd June 2015: The iconic British car brand, TVR, has today announced that it will return to the market with an all-new British designed and built sports car. The company, which boasts an outstanding new management team, has developed the new car in collaboration with Gordon Murray Design and Cosworth, each providing much of the core design and engineering capability for the all-new TVR. This incredible project is already well advanced with over a year of development completed so far.

TVR will issue more specification details and early images later in 2015, but the car will continue the tradition of a classic British two-seat sports car with a composite ground effect aero chassis and body package using Gordon Murray Design’s innovative iStream® technology. Enthusiasts will also be delighted to know that the car will feature the traditional TVR DNA of a front engine with rear wheel drive and a manual transmission, powered by a normally aspirated, dry-sumped, V8 engine, developed and engineered by Cosworth.

Les Edgar, Chairman of TVR said: “We know that a new TVR has to be better than just good – it has to be outstanding. From the outset we only wanted to work with the best partners in the business, and both Gordon Murray’s and Cosworth’s track records within motor sport and high performance car design and engineering speaks for themselves. Gordon Murray Design and Cosworth are the perfect partners for TVR and together, we will deliver a truly exceptional new car.”

Production of the car will begin in 2017, and will be offered to the market at a competitive price point within its segment and consistent with TVR’s positioning in the past. TVR has prioritised the company’s position as an all-British institution, and the cars will be completely produced in new UK factory premises.

Gordon Murray, Chairman of Gordon Murray Design comments: “TVR is an iconic brand which has been an important part of British sports car manufacturing for many decades. Its return to manufacturing is an exciting development and the car deserves the best chassis and powertrain that can possibly be delivered. To that end, I am delighted that our company is involved with the project, and that TVR are using our iStream® technology.”

Bruce Wood, Cosworth Technical Director, said: “We are proud to see Cosworth’s industry-leading engineering at the heart of the revived TVR brand. Our team has been working closely with TVR and Gordon Murray Design to develop a powertrain solution that perfectly complements the exceptional performance characteristics of the new car. It’s an exciting project and one which well suits Cosworth’s engineering expertise.”

Edgar continues: “We are a well-funded, well-supported organisation and boast a vastly experienced management team. We are here to stay and we have a fully evolved ten year plan for product and business development, and are committed to deliver on all the targets we have set ourselves – as we have done to date.

“Despite very deliberately maintaining a low profile since completing the acquisition of TVR two years ago, we have had an enormous amount of unsolicited interest from businesses, individuals and investors internationally. Such is the strength of the brand and the passion of its followers. It is a real privilege to be a part of the revival of a great British marque – one that will succeed through our single-minded desire to produce exceptional sports cars.”

-Ends-

EDITOR’S NOTES

TVR is an independent British sports car manufacturer established in 1947 by Trevor Wilkinson. The business established itself as a leading light in the British low-volume sports car market, building an international reputation for high-performance vehicles and innovative design. The current management team acquired the brand in 2013.
Gordon Murray Design Limited is a British company operating from Shalford in Surrey. The Company is recognised as a world leader in automotive design and reverses the current industry trend for sub-contracting by having a complete in-house capability for design, prototyping and development. The Company is compact and focused and undertakes automotive and other engineering programmes in an efficient and innovative way. For more information please visit www.gordonmurraydesign.com.
Cosworth Group employs its motorsport-inspired engineering and manufacturing capabilities to improve vehicle and driver performance. The group supplies electronics and powertrain products and engineering services to high performance vehicle manufacturers, motorsport teams and performance enthusiasts around the world. Cosworth was founded in 1958. With headquarters in Northampton, UK, the group has a globally-recognised brand and employs staff across Europe and the USA.
The iStream® assembly process is a complete rethink and redesign of the traditional automotive manufacturing process and could potentially be the biggest revolution in high volume manufacture since the Model T. Development of the process began over 15 years ago and it has already won the prestigious ‘Idea of the Year’ award from Autocar who were given privileged access in order to make their assessment. The simplified assembly process means that the manufacturing plant can be designed to be 20% of the size of a conventional factory. This could reduce capital investment in the assembly plant by approximately 80%. Yet the flexibility of this assembly process means that the same factory could be used to manufacture different variants. The iStream® design process is a complete re-think on high volume materials, as well as the manufacturing process and will lead to a significant reduction in full lifecycle CO2. For more information please visit www.gordonmurraydesign.com.

For more information on TVR, visit: www.tvr.co.uk

ORIGINAL

TVR is one of the greatest success stories in British sports cars. Not by sales or commercial volume, mind you, but the global popularity of TVR is evidence of:

— universal appeal of low-volume sportscars with character

— broad appeal of English-language auto journalism with a highly qualitative edge

— global appetite for automotive and supercar-themed entertainment content

— the power of visceral appeal to an exotic car that is nothing like anything sold locally or by big OEM makes

As an American who has lusted after TVR’s since first glimpsing the Tuscan in the pages of BBC’s TopGear magazine in the 1990s, this passion crossing oceans and cultures should be pretty self-evident.

Of all the cottage-industry sports car brands, few have had as lasting a hold on the collective car-guy consciousness as TVR. The fiberglass wondercars are not something I have driven, nor even seen in the flesh. But the alien panels, otherworldly cabin designs, and carefree engineering is wholly appealing. These were cars that, for all intents and purposes, were not rigorously engineered. Cars like Morgan would have made if they chose evolution versus freezing their best moment in the Plus 4, and riding it to eternity.

Granted, evolution and new sportscars on a five to ten-year model cycle has been a killer task for many other brands just like TVR. Lotus comes to mind. Caterham, altertively, froze some of Lotus’s best DNA and has been riding it to consistent profit of Seven sportscar sales for the last 50 years.

Lotus found that critical magic formula again with the Esprit, and rode it for 30 years — loathe to give up a winning recipe for the second time.

TVR sales volume came at low prices for buyers. Nowhere else could you hop into a supercar-fast exotic car for the equivalent price of a V8 BMW 5-series. Even the pinnacle machines, like the Tuscan and the Sagaris at the end, only carried pricing of about $80,000 pounds. So, let’s think of that as $130,000 in US currency. In today’s cash – that is huge value. A 2014 Lotus Exige LF1 edition in the USA is priced at approximately $85,000, for comparison.

The TVR legacy burns brightly in the UK especially, where no reliability woes can silence the bellow of a straight-six from Blackpool.

Repurchased rights to the IP (designs, engines, construction) and brand rights in 2013 have not let led to a new sportscar or even production of the existing line-up.

Regretfully, the UK’s relaxed sports-car road laws are part of what allowed TVR to thrive for as long as it did. Emission, crash and most electronics requirements are waived for small-volume sports cars like the TVR and countless other brands. A conscious effort to keep this much-loved industry alive and thriving.

The retro-grade rules also put a glass dome over much global sales ambition, however. Why innovate to pass US rules when you can keep selling in the UK with no rules?

This also stymies most take-over ideas, or a willingness to partner with a large global brand that has the resources to take a car global. Caterham was too backward to collaborate well with Renault, and Morgan is only selling Three-Wheelers in the USA now. Rules have killed its other models.

But guess what: they sell a boat-load of Three-Wheelers, and it is keeping the firm afloat.

Perhaps the Caterham/Superformance distribution model is the best way forward for TVR. Ship the cars without an engine so they can have single-type Fed approval, then have a creative seller add a big Chevy V8.

Win, win.

Or triple-win if Superformance were to buy a truck-load of BMW turbo straight-sixes to drop in…

Explore the history of TVR below via high-res official press photography, combined with the loving car photos of TVR’s many adoring owners.

Very gracious photo credits to:

http://tuscman.picturepush.com/

http://www.tvrblog.com/

The Four Eras of TVR History, So Far.

Model	Production Years	Engine	Displacement	Production figures[21]
Trevor Wilkinson Era[22]
Jomar¹	1956–1959	Coventry Climax	1098 cc
		Ford 100E Sidevalve	1172 cc
TVR Open Sports / Coupe	1956–1957	Coventry Climax	1098 cc
		Ford 100E Sidevalve	1172 cc
		BMC B-Series	1489 cc
TVR Grantura I	1958–1960	Coventry Climax FWA	1098 cc	100
		Coventry Climax FWE	1216 cc
		Ford 100E Sidevalve	1172 cc
		BMC B-Series	1489 cc
TVR Grantura II	1960–1961	Coventry Climax FWE	1216 cc	400
		Ford Kent 105E	997 cc
		BMC B-Series	1489 cc
		BMC B-Series	1588 cc
TVR Grantura IIa	1961–1962	Coventry Climax FWE	1216 cc
		Ford Kent 105E	997 cc
		Ford Kent 109E	1340 cc
		BMC B-Series	1588 cc
		BMC B-Series	1622 cc
TVR Grantura III	1962–1963	BMC B-Series	1622 cc	90
TVR Grantura III 1800	1963–1965	BMC B-Series	1798 cc
TVR Grantura 1800S	1964–1966	BMC B-Series	1798 cc	90
TVR Trident	1965	Ford Windsor V8	4727 cc
TVR Griffith 2001	1963–1964	Ford Windsor V8	4727 cc	300
TVR Griffith 4001	1964–1967	Ford Windsor V8	4727 cc

Martin Lilley Era
TVR Grantura IV 1800S	1966–1967	BMC B-Series	1798 cc	90
TVR Tuscan V8	1967–1970	Ford Windsor V8	4727 cc	28 V8 and 27 V8SE
TVR Tuscan V6	1969–1971	Ford Essex V6	2994 cc	101
TVR Vixen S2	1968–1969	Ford Kent	1599 cc	438
TVR Vixen S3	1970–1972	Ford Kent	1599 cc	168
TVR Vixen 1300	1971–1972	Triumph I4	1296 cc	15
TVR Vixen 2500	1971–1972	Triumph I6	2498 cc	385
TVR Vixen S4	1972	Ford Kent	1599 cc	23
TVR 1600M	1972–1973	Ford Kent I4	1599 cc	148
	1975–1977
TVR 2500M	1972–1977	Triumph I6	2498 cc	947
TVR 3000M	1971–1979	Ford Essex V6	2994 cc	654
TVR 3000M Turbo	1975–1979	Ford Essex V6	2994 cc	20
TVR Taimar	1976–1979	Ford Essex V6	2994 cc	395 and 258 convertible
TVR Taimar Turbo	1976–1979	Ford Essex V6	2994 cc	30 and 13 convertible
TVR 3000S	1978–1979	Ford Essex V6	2994 cc
TVR 3000S Turbo	1978–1979	Ford Essex V6	2994 cc
TVR Tasmin 200	1981–1984	Ford Pinto I4	1993 cc	16 and 45 convertible
TVR Tasmin 280i	1980–1984	Ford Cologne V6	2792 cc	118 and 862 convertible

Peter Wheeler Era
TVR 280i	1984–1987	Ford Cologne V6	2792 cc
TVR 350i	1983–1989	TVR/Rover V8	3528 cc	52 and 897 convertible
TVR 350SX	1985–1989	TVR/Rover V8	3528 cc
		+ Sprintex Supercharger
TVR 400SX	1989	TVR/Rover V8	3948 cc
		+ Sprintex Supercharger
TVR 350SE	1990–1991	TVR/Rover V8	3947 cc	25
TVR 390SE	1984–1988	TVR/Rover V8	3905 cc
TVR 400SE	1988–1991	TVR/Rover V8	3948 cc	242 convertible
TVR 420SE	1986–1987	TVR/Rover V8	4228 cc
TVR 450SE	1989–1990	TVR/Rover V8	4441 cc	45 convertible
TVR 420SEAC	1986–1988	TVR/Rover V8	4228 cc	37
TVR 450SEAC	1988–1989	TVR/Rover V8	4441 cc	18
TVR S	1986–1988	Ford Cologne V6	2792 cc	605
TVR S2	1989–1990	Ford Cologne V6	2933 cc	668
TVR S3(C)	1991–1992	Ford Cologne V6	2933 cc	887
TVR S4C	1993–1993	Ford Cologne V6	2933 cc	34
TVR V8S	1991–1993	TVR/Rover V8	3948 cc	34
TVR Griffith	1992–2002	TVR/Rover V8	3948 cc	2304
			4280 cc
			4988 cc
TVR Chimaera	1992–2001	TVR/Rover V8	3948 cc	5256
			4280 cc
			4495 cc
			4988 cc
TVR Cerbera	1996–2003	AJP8 / Speed Eight	4185 cc	1490
			4475 cc
	1996–2003	Speed Six	3996 cc
TVR T400	2001–2007	Speed Six	3996 cc
TVR Tamora	2002–2006	Speed Six	3605 cc	356
TVR T350 (Targa & Coupe)	2002–2006	Speed Six	3605 cc	460
TVR Tuscan	1999–2006	Speed Six	3605 cc	1677
			3996 cc
TVR Sagaris	2004–2006	Speed Six	3996 cc	211
TVR Typhon	2004	Speed Six	3996 cc

TVR Sportscars Brand

Nikolai Smolenski Era
TVR Sagaris	2004–2006	Speed Six	3996 cc
Speciality/Racing Cars
TVR Cerbera Speed 122/3	1997	Speed Twelve	7730 cc
TVR Tuscan Speed 122/3		TVR Speed Twelve	7730 cc
TVR Tuscan Challenge3	1989–(around 100 made)	Rover V8/Speed Eight	4500 cc
TVR T400R/Typhon GT3	?

¹ – Not technically a TVR model; a TVR chassis bodied by Ray Saidel.
² – Never went into production.
³ – Built exclusively for racing.

Tom Burkart

Tom Burkart is the founder and managing editor of Car-Revs-Daily.com, an innovative and rapidly-expanding automotive news magazine.

He holds a Journalism JBA degree from the University of Wisconsin – Madison. Tom currently resides in Charleston, South Carolina with his two amazing dogs, Drake and Tank.

Mr. Burkart is available for all questions and concerns by email Tom(at)car-revs-daily.com.

TVR Inks New Sportscar Deal with Gordon Murray and Cosworth – 2018 Launch Possible!