End of an era: TVR calls it quits | Car Talk - Car News Jul 2012

15:45 Friday 08 May 2015

The owner of TVR, Nikolai Smolensky, has given up any hope of resurrecting the dormant sports car brand.

Smolensky told Autocar magazine that the both the costs and customer demands are too high to make any further sports car production viable.

The Russian entrepreneur bought TVR in 2004 and the company continued to make cars until the end of 2006. Since then, a question mark has been hanging over the company's future but it now seems that the TVR marque is dead.

But instead of dwelling on the death of another British car manufacturer, we thought we'd take a look back at some of the finest cars ever to come from the Blackpool-based manufacturer.

Tasmin (1980-1988)

The Tasmin was the first of TVR's 'wedge' series and was the firm's main money-maker during the 1980s. Under the bonnet, the Tasmin was fitted with a choice of Ford engines and the top-of-the-range 280i had a 2.8-litre V6 churning out 160bhp.

S4C (1993)

Named after a Welsh television channel (not really), the S4C was fitted with the same V6 engine as the Tasmin, bored out to 2.9-litres.

V8S (1991-1993)

The V8s was the range-topping S model and came with Rover's legendary Buick-derived V8 under the bonnet. The result was an impressive 240bhp -- the V8S could outgun its rivals from Aston Martin and Ferrari in its day.

Griffith (1992-2002)

The Griffith was possibly one of the most beautiful cars ever made. It came with a V8 engine with a capacity of between 4.0- and 5.0-litres and developed between 240bhp and 340bhp. 0-62mph took less than five seconds.

Chimaera (1992-2003)

The Chimaera was essentially the same car as the Griffith but had softer suspension and more interior space, making it a competent long-distance cruiser.

Cerbera (1996-2003)

The Cerbera was the first TVR to come with its own custom built engine -- previous TVRs had used units from other manufacturers -- and it was a corker. Available as both a 4.2- and a 4.5-litre, the Cerbera developed either 360bhp or 420bhp, and the more powerful models could hit 60mph in less than 4.0 seconds.

Tuscan (1999-2006)

The Tuscan was bonkers to look at and bonkers to drive thanks to its powerful straight-six engine. The later S models could hit 60mph in under 3.7 seconds.

Tamora (2002-2006)

The Tamora replaced the Griffith and the Chimaera and came with a TVR-designed straight-six which developed 350bhp.

Sagaris (2005-2006)

The last hurrah of the TVR brand. The Sagaris's 4.0-litre straight six developed 380bhp and rocketed the car from 0-60mph in 3.7 seconds. EU guidelines which mandated the fitment of ABS and airbags to all new cars were swiftly ignored by the TVR engineers, and the Sagaris was as raw as they come.