TVR

The British car company TVR started operating in 1947, after being founded by Trevor Wilkinson and his partner Jack Pickard, and soon began specializing in sports cars manufacture. The brand’s name was chosen by using the three consonants in the founder’s first name (Trevor). TVR was established and still has its headquarters in Blackpool, Lancashire, England. The company actually started off as “TVR Engineering” and not until 1954 did it have its named shortened to just TVR.   The name change coincided with the release of the company’s first production car in 1954, initially called Mk1 but later renamed Grantura. However, the first of all cars to be built in TVR’s factory – not for mass production – was a 2-seat body car with a tubular chassis that was made public in 1949. In the 60 years that have passed since the company’s inception, TVR built a strong tradition in manufacturing lightweight cars with high-performance engines.   The company is sustained by two divisions: TVR Engineering – for grand touring and sports cars production – and TVR Power, its powertrain supplier. 24-year-old Russian Nikolay Smolensky acquired the British carmaker in 2004 and has since been ahead of the company, claiming that he plans on preserving TVR’s British roots. Today, TVR is the world’s third largest car company that is specialized in creating sports cars. TVR’s model line-up consists on a series of coupe and convertible cars.

TVR has cimentated a career in motorsports since the 1940’s, with particularly successful entries in the 24 Hours Le Mans race, the Le Mans Endurance series, in British GT and international GT championships. One of the most important participations of TVR in motorsport events was at the 1962 24-hour Le Mans, with three TVR Grantura cars competing.

The British company’s racing team was also very successful in Prodsports championships in the 1970’s. In 1979, a TVR 1600M scored first place in the CAV-BRSCC Prodsports series. A TVR 3000M also snatched the champion title at the 1980 BRDC Prodsports.

TVR created a one-model racing series, the Tuscan Challenge, which was inaugurated in 1989 and lasted for 16 seasons. The series was suspended due to the brand’s management changes in 2005.

In the 1990’s, TVR chose its model Cerbera Speed 12 to represent the brand on the racing tracks. In 2004, two TVR Tuscan T400R made it to the finishing line of the 24-hour Le Mans.