Who would have taken over TVR if the timing had been right.
Discussion
I was in San Fransisco last year and visited the "British Motor Cars" dealership there.
Its a famous dealership who have been selling mainly British cars since the 50's.
The man that owns it is a guy called Mr Qvale and is credited with being the introducer of British sports cars into the US and all that followed in the 60's. Obviously there were others like T Shelbey and a certain Mr Griffith but Mr Qvale was a major force in the back ground.
Mr Qvale also owned Jensen in the UK ie Interceptor and FF and has always been a British sports car fan.
Anyway, he was also a fan of TVR and the fact that TVR had its own special market without competition in delivering fantastic performance, low cost and having a great following.
In the late 90's he set about creating a car that would have been a direct TVR rival.
This was called the Qvale Mangusta and was built at the DeTomaso plant in Italy.
It had a 4,6 litre V8 engine with very good performance comparible to that of the Griffith, tubular chassis etc.
Unfortunately things didnt work out with DeTomaso and the project was dropped with only a few hundred cars built.
I saw two of them last year in their showroom. Not as good looking as any TVR in my opinion but still nice.
They were going for a bargain $50k which I didnt have at the time. (still dont now I have a Tuscan)
You can check these cars out as he still has two in stock.
http://www.bmcd.com/inventory_qvale.cfm
By the way Mr Qvale is around 86 years old now but is at the dealership most days.
I believe that he would have been the right man to save TVR if the timing had been different. Pity.
Its a famous dealership who have been selling mainly British cars since the 50's.
The man that owns it is a guy called Mr Qvale and is credited with being the introducer of British sports cars into the US and all that followed in the 60's. Obviously there were others like T Shelbey and a certain Mr Griffith but Mr Qvale was a major force in the back ground.
Mr Qvale also owned Jensen in the UK ie Interceptor and FF and has always been a British sports car fan.
Anyway, he was also a fan of TVR and the fact that TVR had its own special market without competition in delivering fantastic performance, low cost and having a great following.
In the late 90's he set about creating a car that would have been a direct TVR rival.
This was called the Qvale Mangusta and was built at the DeTomaso plant in Italy.
It had a 4,6 litre V8 engine with very good performance comparible to that of the Griffith, tubular chassis etc.
Unfortunately things didnt work out with DeTomaso and the project was dropped with only a few hundred cars built.
I saw two of them last year in their showroom. Not as good looking as any TVR in my opinion but still nice.
They were going for a bargain $50k which I didnt have at the time. (still dont now I have a Tuscan)
You can check these cars out as he still has two in stock.
http://www.bmcd.com/inventory_qvale.cfm
By the way Mr Qvale is around 86 years old now but is at the dealership most days.
I believe that he would have been the right man to save TVR if the timing had been different. Pity.
Edited by so called on Friday 28th September 20:43
I assume what MG broke down was the Qvale Manguste and not the DeTomaso Manguste.
I only saw the two cars in the show room last year. Had a good look around them in my suit, trying to stay clean etc.
Your comments may point as to why the project failed.
HOWEVER;
My point was that there was someone with a lot of experience and money who wanted to emulate TVR
Qvale's Jenson experience in creating a Mark which also had, and still has a following, and his US sales ability could have been a valuable asset.
The fact that he created a new car with the sole aim of competing with TVR speaks volumes to me.
I only saw the two cars in the show room last year. Had a good look around them in my suit, trying to stay clean etc.
Your comments may point as to why the project failed.
HOWEVER;
My point was that there was someone with a lot of experience and money who wanted to emulate TVR
Qvale's Jenson experience in creating a Mark which also had, and still has a following, and his US sales ability could have been a valuable asset.
The fact that he created a new car with the sole aim of competing with TVR speaks volumes to me.
Plenty of people have tried to start sports car companies and failed miserably, Mr Qvale being one of them.
The times in which companies like TVR, Jenson, Morgan etc etc started and were successful are long gone.
That's why with such a break in production and the dispersion of the knowledge built up by a continuous workforce TVR are, IMO unlikey to rise again and be successful.
The times in which companies like TVR, Jenson, Morgan etc etc started and were successful are long gone.
That's why with such a break in production and the dispersion of the knowledge built up by a continuous workforce TVR are, IMO unlikey to rise again and be successful.
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