Remember TVR, a once-legendary British sports car maker famous for making loud, brash sports cars that drank petrol faster than you down your first cup of tea in the morning?
Well, sit down and hold on tight, because 75 years after it was first launched, and more than a decade since it last sold a car, it’s making a comeback - having gained a (bit of a) social conscience in the meantime, as three of its four cars will be powered by electricity.
Sure, it’s planning to launch in 2024 with a V8 petrol-engined sports car called the Griffith - a car very much in the vein of its old-school roots - but just six months later it expects to launch a fully electrified version of the same car, which is pictured here in official styling sketches.
While pricing and performance statistics have yet to be revealed, we estimate the two-seater will cost around £150,000, with one of TVR’s owners Les Edgar promising “it will blow your socks off, not just because it is fast - every EV is fast - but because of how it handles.”
Edgar is also keen to assure previous owners of TVRs that he hasn’t forgotten about the noise their large-scale engines used to make, promising: “We’ve thought about that, and we have a solution to generate a real sound that is both amazing and unique.”
The Griffith was originally designed by legendary F1 and McLaren designer Gordon Murray and is set to be built using his innovative iStream production technology, which encompasses the use of carbon fibre and ground effect, to ensure the car is light and aerodynamically efficient.
If that launch goes well, the firm is planning to extend its model line-up with two more electric vehicles. Although it has yet to confirm them, we understand that both a saloon and SUV are under consideration as the firm bids to break markets outside of Europe and into the US, Middle East and Far East.
Sales will be handled directly by TVR via its website initially, while it will also open a limited number of ‘brand experience centres’ to show-off the vehicles and its high-end, luxury options which buyers can specify. The first centre is expected to be in Mayfair.
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