M13KYF Posted October 18, 2006 Share Posted October 18, 2006 TVR, Britain's oldest independent carmaker, is to close its UK production plant and move to Europe. All 260 jobs at the company's historic home at Bristol Avenue, Blackpool, its home town since 1947, will be lost. full story on pistonheads http://www.pistonheads.com/news/default ... ryId=15324 What a sad day for british car manufacturers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndyC Posted October 18, 2006 Share Posted October 18, 2006 Its a bleeding shame it really is. I've got quite a big affection for all things TVR having lived in Blackpool for a good chunk of my life, seeing (and more importantly) hearing those things fly round places were the Police didn't really venture with their income generating hand held devices will be with me for the rest of my life! I can't help thinking that a lot of the spirit of TVR will be lost with this move and its obviously even more of a shame for anyone that this directly effects jobwise for example. Heard that the talks with the council broke down because the council weren't prepared to offer any incentives for TVR to stay where they were or move to a new site. Seems crazy for the council not to encourage businesses to stay, particularly when the town is crying out for it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rickya Posted October 18, 2006 Share Posted October 18, 2006 Sorry to hear about the job losses But if the brand TVR re emerges & is the better for it, in terms of quality & reliability than at least thats one good thing. They were not progressing at all over the last decade, lets hope things may now change. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Traktion Posted October 18, 2006 Share Posted October 18, 2006 That's pretty awful... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
H5 Posted October 18, 2006 Share Posted October 18, 2006 That's not good, not good at all. The two biggest producers being TVR and Lotus have such a following and all out of a British approach to the drive. Yeah, they might get other things wrong but the drive is always awesome. Guess it was always on the cards since a foreign investor took over.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ir_fuel Posted October 18, 2006 Share Posted October 18, 2006 The drive might be great, but i can assure you a lot of ppl dont wanna buy a TVR due to the reliability issues, and the potential HUGE bills when out of warranty. Hopefully this will get better. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
H5 Posted October 18, 2006 Share Posted October 18, 2006 The drive might be great, but i can assure you a lot of ppl dont wanna buy a TVR due to the reliability issues, and the potential HUGE bills when out of warranty. Hopefully this will get better. I don't disagree with you on the reliability front. But to petrol heads that's part of the chracter of many cars. Why else would any ever buy a Lotus / TVR / Alfa etc.?? Because of noise, heritage, styling and because they want to. The world has plenty of Audis / Hondas / Saabs that battle along from one year to the next with nothing but petrol, but IMO the world would be a sorry place without a gorgeous TVR on the hard shoulder occasionally! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
M13KYF Posted October 18, 2006 Author Share Posted October 18, 2006 I would love to but one but haven't on the grounds that it just aint reliable enough. I would be fecked off if it kept breaking down, even if its a great sports. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kennyc Posted October 18, 2006 Share Posted October 18, 2006 I totally agree with ir_fuel on the reliability front, my friend has just had his clutch fail after it being replaced a few weeks earlier (a Tuscan) and this is not the first massive bill he's faced in almost two years of ownership. It's a shame TVR have moved on to mainland Europe though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ir_fuel Posted October 18, 2006 Share Posted October 18, 2006 @H5: dont compare alfa to TVR and Lotus plz. The cars they make now have got NOTHING to do with heritage alltogether Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kennyc Posted October 18, 2006 Share Posted October 18, 2006 What about the 8C Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
H5 Posted October 18, 2006 Share Posted October 18, 2006 @H5: dont compare alfa to TVR and Lotus plz. The cars they make now have got NOTHING to do with heritage alltogether Reliability, not heritage!! But they have won the odd race too....!! Everyone has different standards with all sorts of things. 280hp or 400hp, Fiat Punto side repeaters or bespoke ones, reliability is the same. I'm not saying I'd have one at the moment either (except maybe a T350C) but it depends what you want from the car. Most of them are second cars and yes they're expensive to repair. The Tuscan S, how much is the next manufactured car that can match it's performance........??? So things will break! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kennyc Posted October 18, 2006 Share Posted October 18, 2006 The Tuscan S, how much is the next manufactured car that can match it's performance........??? So things will break! I hear what you'resaying , but after a couple of weeks!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
H5 Posted October 18, 2006 Share Posted October 18, 2006 The Tuscan S, how much is the next manufactured car that can match it's performance........??? So things will break! I hear what you'resaying , but after a couple of weeks!! We have clicking rear axles and things happening, and then get covered under warranty. But agree, it wouldn't help the confidence. It's hand made, by humans, who get things wrong more often than a robot. All I'm saying is I'd rather have TVR in current state than a 'TVR' in Audi state (and that's nothing against Audis BTW) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
captint Posted October 19, 2006 Share Posted October 19, 2006 Its a bad thing all round, loss of Job's another Uk car manufacturer. The issue will be that the UK is by far the largest Market for TVR's,when the Russian chap bought it some of the guy's n Piston heads said it would be the end (Piston heads was started by TVR fanatics). Now that its moving I'm sure that their market will die. Someoneout their with serious money needs to revitalise the British Auto industry, buy back Aston and the rest will follow. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ir_fuel Posted October 20, 2006 Share Posted October 20, 2006 The question also is: why does (nearly) every british car manufacturer go bankrupt? Its not as if there has been only 1 company trying to build cars in England. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kerbside*motors Posted October 22, 2006 Share Posted October 22, 2006 I think loyalty plays a big part. There used to be loads of British car makers but because of those British traditions ("No-one could be arsed","Its someone elses job","Its not as if our customers will buy anything else" attitudes) our car industry has died! When you visit another country, every police car, Taxi, post office van and bin lorry is locally made (More Hondas were sold in Glasgow last year than in France!) Can you picture the bank robbers laughing when the Rover 214 screeched into view?! The manufactureres made crap cars and people bought cars from elsewhere. TVR are no different, I was working on a TVR Tuscan last week, it was a 2005 . And the build quality was no better than the early 90s ones everyone slags off for their feeble build quality! To obtain access to the engine (to replace a sensor that had failed!) involved removing the small section at the front that the oil cap and radiator cap hide under (2 4mm allen bolts). Then we had to remove the actual bonnet (6 10mm nuts and 4 springy clips) and finally the painted panel that fills the gap between the bonnet and windscreen. The panel has never been removed before yet despite the cars age the paint had discoloured and the panel had begun to craze because when assembled the rocker cover rocks against it! Also there is no provision for water to drain around the windscreen. No big issue on a car made of fibreglass but when you operate the washers if you spray them too long it leaks onto the back of the main fusebox! I would be lying if I said I didn't still want one but I certainly couldn't justify paying £40,000 for one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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