We'll parrot our friends over at Hemmings Auto Blog when they say, "Now it's just getting ridiculous." After Nikolai Smolenski bought back what assets were left of TVR last week, we're now getting word from Autocar that Adam Burdette and Jean Michel Santacreu, owners of Evolution Imports, have bought the quirky sports car manufacturer.
The duo has a history of importing "grey market" vehicles Stateside, and they have long sought to bring TVRs to U.S. consumers. How will they succeed actually running an automaker? Ummmm... we're not saying we're worried -– okay, yeah, we are.
[Source: Autocar via Hemmings]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
WolfgangNC @ Feb 28th 2007 4:17PM
Well I'm glad Chrysler isn't the only one that cannot make up there minds about ownership. TVR makes good cars; but I don't see the profit potential if they want to start shipping to the USA.
The Doctor @ Feb 28th 2007 4:45PM
Let's be honest, no one could do a worse job than that tit Smolenski. If TVR's engineers continue to design the cars and Ricardo the engines, I don't mind where they are built. Porsche Boxsters don't stop being German because they're built in Finland...
Jit @ Feb 28th 2007 5:49PM
True but TVR owners where all mainly british and they brought TVR because they were British designed and built. To people in Britian that matters so by making cars in Italy they will lose alot of customers from Great Britain. They ain't even sure if America will work out yet so the future is not looking to good.
Personally now I won't touch a TVR. I would rather just but a Noble or something. They should have sold to Al Melling and rename the melling Hellcat the TVR Hellcat. This russian (Smolenski) is just a thick dumb prick, bloody retard
Jared @ Feb 28th 2007 5:55PM
I highly doubt that the boys at Evolution imports have enough capital to buy TVR.
felonious monk @ Feb 28th 2007 7:02PM
There is a matter of [British] national pride involved, but in the end I don't think true car enthusiasts care where the cars are built as long as the product's quality matches the price. National pride can be salvaged if part of the company stays in England.
A lot of American posters here tout national pride as the reason for their support of American cars when in reality vast majority of cars wearing American brands are built elsewhere.
I personally think Pro-Drive would be a good step parent for TVR. There is more to this story than its face value. The brothers in Florida may have only bought remaining stock of vehicles for import and nothing more.
ckm @ Feb 28th 2007 8:24PM
Seems unlikely as Evolution Imports can't even keep it's website running properly. Half the links are broken. I did notice they were in Florida, so perhaps they've been funded by some Southerly neighbors...
doglet @ Feb 28th 2007 9:32PM
the only thing worse than a car company disappering is being passed around like the village bicycle before finally being laid to rest
RIP tvr, we hardly knew thee
mk @ Feb 28th 2007 11:05PM
Melling doing the styling and speed six and V8 engines, chassis and suspension by Prodrive, and build in Blackpool by the craftsmen that know TVR...
And imported to the US, even as an assemble-able kit, like the Noble.
Throw Gordon Murray into the mix, like on the AC Ace concept, and the folks who are trying to resurrect the Healey nameplate...
Smolensky seems to have shaken the company to the core, and not a product in sight. (they typhoon rendering was UGLY, and I like TVRs, like the Typhon/T400/Tuscan, and the Sagaris/T350.)
Bring it back into the fold of the british cottage sports-car industry, and sell it to sports car loving americans, as well.
Robert Goldman @ Mar 1st 2007 5:43PM
Didn't some, or all of TVR belong to an American back in the 1970s? It was during the Tuscan era when they were powered by a hopeless, smog-strangled V6 engine. My father looked at adding to TVR to his Jag dealership. We visited the guy in Florida. He had a small warehouse full of cars and couple parts. His operation was a joke. If TVR could survive that mess, there's always a chance they'll survive the current fiasco. In this country today, TVRs would have a tough go against the Vette.