TVR
Encyclopedia : T : TV : TVR : TVR
- TVR is also the acronym for Televiziunea Română (Romanian Television), the public television network of Romania.
TVR is an independent manufacturer of sports cars in Blackpool in Lancashire, England. The company manufactures light-weight sports cars with powerful engines and no driver aids.
TVR comprises TVR Engineering, which manufactures sports cars and grand tourers, and TVR Power, their powertrain operation.
History
TVR was founded in 1947 by Trevor Wilkinson, under the name of Trevcar Motors. In 1954, Wilkinson changed the name of the company by taking three consonants of his first name for the company name. The first car was built in 1949. In 1953 the concept of glass-reinforced plastic bodywork over a tubular steel backbone chassis was born, which is continued to this day. Many of the early cars were sold in kit form to avoid a British tax on assembled cars but in the 1970s this option was phased out and only complete cars sold after the tax loophole was closed.
In the late 1950s, TVRs were powered by Coventry Climax engines, MGA 4-Cylinder or 4-cylinder Ford Engines, with performance models having Shorrock superchargers. As with many other British sports cars, engine size remained beneath 2 litres, and all produced less than 100bhp (75 kW). Most TVRs were sold in the domestic (British) market, although small quantities were exported overseas.
In the 1960s, American motor dealer Jack Griffith decided to insert a 4.7 litre V8 from an AC Cobra he owned into a TVR Grantura, much in the same way that V8s were first transplanted to AC Cobras. (It is in honour of Jack Griffith that the TVR Griffith was named).
Towards the end of the 1960s, TVR returned to Ford for a 2994cc V6 Zodiac engine for the new Tuscan racer. This produced 128bhp (95 kW), giving a 0-60mph (0-97 km/h) time of 8.3 seconds, which was good performance for a 1960s car.
The 1970s saw a number of engines used in TVRs (particularly the 'M Series', and Tasmin), these were mainly Triumph 2500s, and Ford Essex and Pinto V6s.
In the 1980s under the ownership of Peter Wheeler, TVR moved away from naturally aspirated and turbocharged V6s back to large V8s, namely the Rover V8 (to which Rover bought the intellectual property rights from Buick). Capacity grew from 3.5 to 4.5 litres.
In the 1990s, TVR Power (the powertrain producing arm of TVR) had produced a number of modified Rover V8s, but TVR decided to move towards an in-house engine design. The AJP8 engine was developed by Engineering Consultant Al Melling and was a lightweight alloy V8 - a notable achievement for such a small company. It was originally destined for the Griffith and Chimaera but development took longer than expected and it finally became available in the Cerbera and Tuscan race cars.
It has been said that TVR's chairman, Peter Wheeler has a passion for traditional straight-six powered British sportscars. Based on this, TVR set about designing a straight six derivative of the AJP8, but engineered to be cheaper to produce and maintain. This engine became known as the Speed 6 and was designed by TVR's head of engineering, John Ravenscroft (a protegee of Al Melling). This engine now powers most current TVRs.
TVR today
TVR is the third largest specialised sports car manufacturer in the world. A diverse range of coupés and convertibles are offered, most using an in-house straight-6 cylinder engine design, others an in-house V8. These cars are built from sturdy tubular steel frames, cloaked in aggressive body designs.
TVR's owners
The history of the company can divided into four eras, based on ownership:
- 1947–1965: owner Trevor Wilkinson
- 1965–1981: owner Martin Lilley
- 1981–2004: owner Peter Wheeler
- 2004–present: owner Nikolai Smolenski
In April 2006 TVR laid-off a small proportion of its 300 staff due to falling demand. The production numbers are rumoured to have dropped from 12 cars a week to 3 or 4 cars a week. Also of note is that since Nicolai Smolenski took over TVR he has decided to move production to another site with updated facilities. News about the planned move came shortly after the production dropped, which also tied in with the expiry of the lease of the current factory in late 2006. The owner of the land is Peter Wheeler, who is said to be planning to build a housing estate on that land. It was announced on 15th June 2006 that the new site would be in the Squires Gate district of Blackpool and most of the remaining jobs would be saved.
Model list
| Model | Production Years | Engine | Displacement | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jomar1 | 1957-1959 | Coventry Climax Ford Kent | 1098 cc 1172 cc | |
| TVR Grantura I | 1958-1960 | Coventry Climax Ford Kent BMC B-Series | 1098 cc 1172 cc 1588 cc | |
| TVR Grantura II | 1960-1961 | Coventry Climax Ford Kent BMC B-Series | 1098 cc 1172 cc 1588 cc | |
| TVR Grantura IIa | 1961-1962 | Coventry Climax Ford Kent BMC B-Series | 1098 cc 1172 cc 1588 cc | |
| TVR Grantura III | 1962-1964 | Coventry Climax Ford Kent BMC B-Series | 1098 cc 1172 cc 1588 cc | |
| TVR Grantura 1800S | 1964-1966 | BMC B-Series | 1798 cc | |
| Griffith 2001 | 1963-1964 | Ford Windsor V8 | 4727 cc | |
| Griffith 4001 | 1964-1967 | Ford Windsor V8 | 4727 cc | |
| TVR Grantura IV 1800S | 1966-1967 | BMC B-Series | 1798 cc | |
| TVR Tuscan | 1967-1970 | Ford Windsor V8 | 4727 cc | |
| TVR Tuscan V6 | 1969-1971 | Ford Essex V6 | 2994 cc | |
| TVR Vixen S1 | 1967-1968 | Ford Kent BMC B-Series | 1599 cc 1798 cc | |
| TVR Vixen S2 | 1968-1969 | Ford Kent | 1599 cc | |
| TVR Vixen S3 | 1970-1972 | Ford Kent | 1599 cc | |
| TVR Vixen S4 | 1972-1972 | Ford Kent | 1599 cc | |
| TVR Vixen 1300 | 1971-1972 | Triumph I4 | 1296 cc | |
| TVR Vixen 2500 | 1971-1972 | Triumph I6 | 2498 cc | |
| TVR 1600M | 1972-1973 1975-1977 | Ford Kent I4 | 1599 cc | |
| TVR 2500M | 1972-1977 | Triumph I6 | 2498 cc | |
| TVR 3000M | 1972-1979 | Ford Essex V6 | 2994 cc | |
| TVR 3000M Turbo | 1975-1979 | Ford Essex V6 | 2994 cc | |
| TVR Taimar | 1976-1979 | Ford Essex V6 | 2994 cc | |
| TVR Taimar Turbo | 1976-1979 | Ford Essex V6 | 2994 cc | |
| TVR 3000S | 1978-1979 | Ford Essex V6 | 2994 cc | |
| TVR 3000S Turbo | 1978-1979 | Ford Essex V6 | 2994 cc | |
| TVR Tasmin 200 | 1979-1984 | Ford Pinto I4 | 1993 cc | |
| TVR Tasmin 280 | 1980-1984 | Ford Cologne V6 | 2792 cc | |
| TVR 280i | 1984-1987 | Ford Cologne V6 | 2792 cc | |
| TVR 350i | 1983-1985 | TVR/Rover V8 | 3528 cc | |
| TVR 350SX | 1985-1989 | TVR/Rover V8 + Sprintex Supercharger | 3528 cc | |
| TVR 350SE | 1990-1991 | TVR/Rover V8 | 3947 cc | |
| TVR 390SE | 1984-1988 | TVR/Rover V8 | 3905 cc | |
| TVR 400SE | 1988-1991 | TVR/Rover V8 | 3948 cc | |
| TVR 400SX | 1989 | TVR/Rover V8 + Sprintex Supercharger | 3948 cc | |
| TVR 420SE | 1986-1987 | TVR/Rover V8 | 4228 cc | |
| TVR 420SEAC | 1986-1988 | TVR/Rover V8 | 4228 cc | |
| TVR 450SE | 1989-1990 | TVR/Rover V8 | 4441 cc | |
| TVR 450SEAC | 1988-1989 | TVR/Rover V8 | 4441 cc | |
| TVR S1 | 1986-1988 | Ford Cologne V6 | 2792 cc | |
| TVR S2 | 1989-1990 | Ford Cologne V6 | 2933 cc | |
| TVR S3(C) | 1991-1992 | Ford Cologne V6 | 2933 cc | |
| TVR S4C | 1993-1993 | Ford Cologne V6 | 2933 cc | |
| TVR V8S | 1991-1993 | TVR/Rover V8 | 3948 cc | |
| TVR Griffith | 1992-2002 | TVR/Rover V8 | 3948 cc 4280 cc 4988 cc | |
| TVR Chimaera | 1992-2001 | TVR/Rover V8 | 3948 cc 4280 cc 4495 cc 4988 cc | |
| TVR Cerbera | 1996-2003 | Speed Eight | 4185 cc 4475 cc | |
| Speed Six | 3996 cc | |||
| TVR Tamora | Speed Six | 3605 cc | ||
| TVR T350 (Targa & Coupe) | Speed Six | 3605 cc | ||
| TVR Tuscan | Speed Six | 3996 cc | ||
| TVR Typhon | Speed Six | 3996 cc | ||
| TVR Sagaris | 2004-date | Speed Six | 3996 cc | |
| TVR Cerbera Speed 12 | N/A | Speed Twelve | 7730 cc | |
| TVR Speed 123 | ||||
| TVR Tuscan Racer3 | Speed Eight | 4500 cc | ||
2 - Never went into production.
3 - Built exclusively for racing.
External links
- [Official TVR website]
- [The TVR Car Club]
- [TVR Car Club North America]
- [TVR history]
- [Confirmation of Squires Gate move at BBC News]
- [TVR Chimaera pictures,specifications,service schedule,costs]
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