Autoblog

You may have noticed our post Wednesday about TVR's owner Nikolai Smolenski losing his trademark rights and certain tooling. Yesterday, it was revealed that the entire company is, in fact, for sale. Expected bidders include Al Melling and possibly even Nikolai Smolenski rebidding.

Al Melling recently revealed his Melling Hellcat (could it be released as a TVR?), powered by a 1200 bhp, quad-turbo V10 engine, and has designed TVR V8 and in-line six-cylinder engines. He said, "I'd need the old workforce... it would take between six and 12 months to get the place back in full production, but I'd never expect to make more than 10-15 cars a week, two-thirds of which would be sold in the US." He also said the Sagaris and Griffith would be the two models they'd concentrate on.

Related:

• Melling Hellcat supercar unveiled!
• TVR's trademarks swiped from teenage Russian owner

[Source: Autocar]

click the image above to view a high-resolution gallery of the Melling Hellcat

Thanks to an avid Autoblog reader, we're pleased to bring you pictures of the final prototype of the Melling Hellcat supercar that's being developed by famed British engine designer, Al Melling. We've reported on the Hellcat a couple times in the past, but the details surrounding this supercar have changed. As you can see, the final design is much more aggressive than the original prototype, and more fitting for a car setting its sights on the fastest production vehicles in the world. Just as the skin has been upgraded to compete on a world-class level, so has the engine, which was originally supposed to be a 700-horsepower, 6.0-liter V10. Knowing full well in these modern times of 600-hp Vipers and supercharged Blue Devils that a 700-hp V10 a world-class supercar does not make, Melling went back to the drawing board and did what he does best. The production Melling Hellcat will now come with a quad-turbo V10 producing a completely ridiculous 1,175 horsepower. That's well above the number of ponies the Bugatti Veyron produces, and it will be stuffed in a package that's considerably lighter. 0 to 60 is expected to occur in a 2.6-second blink of the eye, and terminal velocity will be 275 mph. Those are big numbers; we'll be eagerly anticipating some material evidence of those feats. Until then, enjoy the high-resolution gallery of pics taken by Mark from Maserati of Minneapolis and purveyor of its blog that broke the story.

[Source: Maserati of Minneapolis Blog]

The accompanying pictures are vidcaps from a Sky News piece about Al Melling's new supercar - the Melling Hellcat. As the video shows, Melling has a running prototype of the V10-powered car. (Watch the video here.)

The prototype looks rather racy, sporting Viper-style like pipes, and in an interview the designer confirms he's taking the new sportscar to Le Mans in 2007.

More interesting still is this story, which maintains that not only will Melling build four cars a month in his Rochdale, U.K. factory, but he has also inked a deal with Roush Industries to build 100 cars a month in the U.S.! While one has to wonder about the predicted production volume, the USA/UK badging on the prototype certainly suggests there's something to the story.

Stay tuned!

[Sources: Rochdale Observer via Pistonheads, Sky News]

Legendary British engine designer Al Melling (right) is reported to be in the final stages of developing an all-new British supercar - the Melling Hellcat - for a November launch.

The Hellcat will be powered by a 700-hp Melling-developed 6-liter V10. Rather than using conventional castings, the engine block and cylinder heads for the new engine are said to be milled from billet aluminum. The front-engine, rear-drive car will feature a carbon-fiber monocoque chassis and body, with a projected curb weight of only 2,640 lb. Power and light weight are projected to combine for 0-60 mph performance in the 2.8 second range.

Melling (aka "Mr. Horsepower" in Britain) has been working on V10s for some time, designing a ten-cylinder powerplant for the abortive Lola Formula 1 project in the late '90s, and continuing prototype V10 development for a stillborn F1 engine lease program.

Not content with building a limited production road car, Melling apparently plans to develop a GT1-class racing version of the Hellcat, to compete with the Chevrolet Corvette and Aston Martin DBR9 in the 2007 running of the Le Mans endurance classic.

[Sources: PistonHeads, Melling Consultancy Design]