TVR Graveyard (56k beware)

[Rob 182]

As I'm off work this week and was joined by two of my mates who were both also off work today, we decided to drive over to Blackpool for a change of scenery. Whilst there we decided to hunt down the old TVR factory to see what was left of the company and if there was anything interesting to see. The factory was all locked up and apart from a couple of workers we saw walking between some of the buildings, it was a bit like a ghost town.

It was a bit strange to be honest, as whilst I've never been before, I imagined that you would've heard the sound of the cars being driven around the grounds and seen quite a few of the cars parked up when the factory was open. Not today though. All there was to see was the remains of yet another British car manufacturer.

I had my camera gear as usual and took plenty of pictures, all of which were taken through the fencing and security wire. I thought some of you might be interested to see what currently remains of TVR. Unfortunately, it wasn't a pretty sight...

 

[Rob 182]

 

[Rob 182]

 

[Adamhodg]

:dapprove:
Wheres the production been moved to now then?
Or have they siezed trading altogether?

 

[Rob 182]

 

[Rob 182]

 

[Rob 182]

:dapprove:
Wheres the production been moved to now then?
Or have they siezed trading altogether?

I believe production's ceased after the company went into administration. Apparently, the Russian guy's been allowed to buy TVR back and he has plans, along with 2 American backers, to restart production soon, either in the UK or Italy. That's the information I've read anyway so I guess we'll have to wait and see what happens.

 

[Adamhodg]

Oh gutting, i love TVR!

 

[Spiezels]

yeah thats soo s**t, all those mint shells lying around. and the awsome colours its insane. at least Aston Martin has been brought back

 

[Peperami]

I thought they just closed production down in the uk and moved it abroad to a better plant.

Tvr is still trading, and has new models on the way.

Its a bit confusing, cos despite smolenski owning tvr, production, and the workforce, was owned by blackpool automotive. They also had certain rights to the tvr name.

It was b a that was sold, but the rights have now been bought back by smolenski, hence the closure of the blackpool plant, and a move abroad.

 

[Graham Gooch]

I don't care what anyone says about, glue smells, made out of plastic etc

TVRs are unique, they sound lovely and they were something to smile about being an englishman.

Won't ever be the same again imo, those pictures almost bring a tear to the eye

 

[G_F]

Ace pics mate

 

[Fred@BTM]

we've got a cerbra in at the moment, build quality is shocking!

 

[Rob 182]

Here are a couple of recent updates about what appears to be happening with TVR at the moment:

http://www.pistonheads.com/news/default.asp?storyId=16010

http://www.blackpoolonline.co.uk/ViewArticle.aspx?ArticleID=2112571&SectionID=62

 

[samg1988]

bring back delorean!

 

[matt__f]

Hopefully they will be producing cars again soon.

Looks horrible seeing all the shell's sat there

 

[martino]

I live down the road from the factory and the shells round the back of the factory are always there, even years ago when TVR was doing ok they stored shells round the back, used to be able to see them from the park through the barbed wire. Usually the workers cars are would be parked along the front of the factory when work was going on. But never really got any noise coming from the factory when it was open and it was usually quiet anyway.

 

[R20 CWH]

smart cars, shame the brand is in troubled waters

 

[Iain C]

tis very sad but i guess people dont want raw sports cars any more and you wonder in this age of global warming if sports cars will last at all.?

 

[Justin]

that sucks.. i want a tvr one day.. but those are some classy pics mate

 

[Hotshot]

tis very sad but i guess people dont want raw sports cars any more and you wonder in this age of global warming if sports cars will last at all.?

give over you havin a bleedin giraffe or what?

 

[Leeshez]

Very nice.

 

[Darren]

some really quality pics there mate

 

[Iain C]

tis very sad but i guess people dont want raw sports cars any more and you wonder in this age of global warming if sports cars will last at all.?

give over you havin a bleedin giraffe or what?

well i only say that cos supposed petrol heads on here gripe that a brisk hot hatch hasnt got abs, and the fact the rx8 goes out of production next year cos of the ammount of co2 it churns out.

 

[MATT BLACK]

Joins all the other old british car manufacturers that died off due to poor build quality, old design and competition from superior manufacturers

 

[lusty v-tec]

we've got a cerbra in at the moment, build quality is shocking!

whats up with it? the cerbera sounds insaine when the throttle is depressed. wails like a bi*ch

I love TVR and those pics were not only upsetting but quite scary in a way. What will happen to all of those shells then????

 

[Josh@Renparts]

bring back delorean!

legendary, but sh*t cars lol... the only manufacturer, made each car took it round a test track then put it back on the production line and replaced parts that had broke on the test run..

 

[lusty v-tec]

them segaris shells are not the final ones. they are the first ones which were re-designed.

You can tell this cuz the bonnet gashes are vents and the final segaris had them filled in to stop stones etc being thrwon threw them onto the windscreen

 

[® Andy]

Some excellent pictures there Rob . It'd be a cool place to explore properly rather than just looking thru' the fence.

I always wanted a TVR ... big engine small car and all that. However, friends who've owned them always found them a challenge ie. not a car you could rely on to start each morning. Therefore I settled for Vee instead .

 

[Fred@BTM]

we've got a cerbra in at the moment, build quality is shocking!

whats up with it? the cerbera sounds insaine when the throttle is depressed. wails like a bi*ch

I love TVR and those pics were not only upsetting but quite scary in a way. What will happen to all of those shells then????

its sikaflexed together, the finish around the screen and the carbon trim on the outside is just stuck on, part of the body is leaking from underneath somewhere, its M3 money

 

[Giles]

rip

 

[jonnyboy]

I think the situation with TVR is that the russian fella sold himself the rights to the brand names before the announcement was made that the blackpool factory was going to close. Essentially TVR has ceased trading but only the arm of the company that operates in blackpool and no doubt the same arm that has a big pension obligation to honor.

the TVR brand name survives and I think Smolenski is either planning to operate in europe or just sell the rights onto the highest bidder. The story changes so often its hard to keep track but that was the rough outline that was in last months EVO.

chances of any kind of TVR car being built outside the uk and selling well = zero

 

[Peperami]

On the contrary, by building it outside the uk, they hope to up the quality.

At the moment they're charging porsche money, for something with kitcar build quality, which is one of the reasons the company is struggling.

If they can move to a better plant, and improve build quality, while lowering price by having cheaper parts/ labour costs, sales should improve.

 

[Graham Gooch]

That said the main reason alot of TVRs were sold were that they were built here, something for the patriotic gentleman.

If they are made out of the UK I personally think they will lose their appeal to alot of people.

 

[_bondy_]

excellent pics mate....kind of eerie...

 

[Peperami]

Theres only so many english gentleman though that want a loud car that falls apart though... They need to move to a wider market in order to improve and compete with porsche et al, and to sell well abroad.

 

[Graham Gooch]

Thats the thing though, why would someone in europe want a TVR over a rival company.

TVR will never be able to compete with Porsche on a level playing field, but I for one hope they don't disappear.

TVRs are awesome.

 

[Peperami]

Well if they can improve quality, they offer something a little rawer/ driver orientated than porsche/ audi etc, so hopefully...

Lol, time will tell.

 

[Ali]

Amazing pics! Sad site tho!

 

[ukaskew]

Fantastic pics, although I assume it's looked much the same for at least 6 months. Read an interesting story (Evo?) recently about the workers having absolutely nothing to do for months before the closure, they set up darts leagues or something to pass the time.