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TVR is a manufacturer of sports cars, located in Blackpool, North West England. TVR is unique in having survived not just as a marque, but as a thriving independent manufacturer.
TVR was founded in 1947 by Trevor Wilkinson, who simply used three consonants of his first name for the company name. The first car was built in 1949, and in 1953 the concept of glass-reinforced plastic bodywork over a tubular steel backbone chassis was born, which is continued to this day. In the early years, a wide range of engines was used.
Currently, TVR is the 3rd largest specialized sports car manufacturer of the world. A surprisingly diverse range of coupes and convertibles are offered, most using an inhouse straight-6 cylinder engine design, others an inhouse V8. These cars are built from sturdy tubular steel frames, cloaked in aggressive (and sometimes bizarre) body designs.
The life of TVR can be divided into four basic eras based on who owned the company:
In July 2004, 24 year old Russian billionaire, Nikolai Smolenski, bought 100% of the company from its current owner Peter Wheeler, for about £15 million. Despite Smolenski's Russian origin, he reportedly intends for TVR to remain a British company and continue the tradition of building lightweight, (relatively) affordable high-performance cars started more than thirty years before he was born.
| Model | Engine | Displacement | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| TVR 1600M/Vixen | Ford Kent I4 | 1599 cc | |
| TVR 1800S | |||
| TVR Tasmin 200 | Ford Pinto I4 | 1993 cc | |
| TVR 2500/2500M | TriumphTriumph is a British car brand (see Triumph Motor Company), as well as a motorcycle brand (see Triumph Motorcycles). Note that since the 1930s, there has been no connection between these two, other than the name. In ancient Rome a triumph was a celebratio I6 | 2498 cc | |
| TVR 280i/Tasmin | Ford Cologne V6The Ford Cologne V6 also known as the Ford Taunus V6 was a 60° cast iron block V6 engine built by the Ford Motor Company in Cologne, Germany, hence the name. It was closely related to the Ford Taunus V4 engine, adding two cylinders and no longer requiring | 2792 cc | |
| TVR 3000M | Ford Essex V6See also Ford Essex V6 engine (Canadian The Ford Essex V6 engine was a 60° V6 engine built between 1967 and 1988 by the Ford Motor Company in the United Kingdom at their engine plant in Essex, hence the name. It was produced in two capacities, 2. 0 L, and | 2944 cc | |
| TVR 3000S/ Taimar Turbo | Ford Essex V6See also Ford Essex V6 engine (Canadian The Ford Essex V6 engine was a 60° V6 engine built between 1967 and 1988 by the Ford Motor Company in the United Kingdom at their engine plant in Essex, hence the name. It was produced in two capacities, 2. 0 L, and | 2994 cc | turboIn its original sense, turbo is a prefix denoting a machine that is turbine related. Most people use it to refer to the turbocharger in cars. Another typical use of the word is turbopump. In machinery, at least two other combinations exist: Turbodrill Tur |
| TVR 350i | TVR/Rover V8The Rover V8 engine is a compact, aluminium block V8 internal combustion engine produced by Rover in the United Kingdom. The engine's design was sourced from the United States. In the late 1950s, General Motors' Oldsmobile division developed a cast-alumin | 3528 cc | versions: C and T |
| TVR Cerbera | Speed Eight | 4185 cc 4475 cc | |
| Speed SixThe Speed Six is the name of a Straight-Six engine manufactured by TVR and used in several of their cars incuding the TVR Tuscan, TVR Cerbera and TVR Tamora The engine is produced in several displacements from 3. 6 liter to 4. 2 liter, essentially with th | 3996 cc | ||
| TVR Cerbera Speed 12 | Speed TwelveThe Speed Twelve is the name of a V-12 engine manufactured by TVR and used in several of their cars incuding the TVR Speed 12 and TVR Cerbera Speed 12. The engine was developed by essentially joining two Speed Six engine blocks to a common crankshaft. | 7730 cc | never went into production |
| TVR Chimaera/Griffith | TVR/Rover V8 | 3948 cc 4280 cc 4495 cc 4988 cc | |
| TVR Grantura | |||
| TVR Griffith | Ford Windsor V8 | 4727 cc | |
| TVR S Series | Ford Cologne V6 | 2792 cc 2935 cc | |
| TVR/Rover V8 | 3948 cc | ||
| TVR Sagaris | |||
| TVR Speed 12 | built exclusively for racing | ||
| TVR Tamora | |||
| TVR Tasmin Turbo | Ford Cologne V6 | 2792 cc | turbo |
| TVR Tuscan | Speed Six | 3996 cc | |
| TVR Tuscan Racer | Speed Eight | 4500 cc | built exclusively for racing |
| TVR Typhon |