Is the TVR Griffith about to be reborn?
This year, TVR is making a long-awaited comeback with the launch of a new sports car after being resurrected four years ago. Set to make its public debut at this year's Goodwood Revival on September 8, TVR's owner Les Edgar has shared some tantalizing new details about the mystery sports car in a recent interview withTop Gear. After showing off its side exhausts in the last teaser, Top Gear has exclusively revealed the first image of the reborn TVR's front-end, which sports a clean design in contrast to the more extreme Tuscan and Sagaris.
The front could easily be mistaken as a modern interpretation of the Griffith which ended production in 2002. This also supports rumors thatTVR will bring back the Griffith namefor its new sports car. Edgar didn't reveal the full specifications, but reaffirmed that the secret sports car will be powered by a 5.0-liter V8 and accelerate from 0-62 mph in under four seconds. Thanks to its carbon fiber chassis, it tips the scales at less than 1,250 kg (2,755 lbs). Edgar went on to say that the new TVR will be positioned as a sports grand tourer rather than a thoroughbred sports car. Don't think, however, that this means the new car will lose any of TVR's trademark quirks.
"Sports cars used to be unique, they used to have foibles. Now it's difficult to tell them apart," said Edgar. "TVR did that brilliantly. We are the under-dog challenging everybody, whether on the road or the race-track. The passion drives us on. It sounds trite, but it's true. If you haven't got that, you'll build a competent car, but you won't build a TVR." The new TVR will also be modernized with digital instruments and a touchscreen infotainment system. And if you were worried it will suffer the same reliability issues as past cars in the company's history, fear not. "We've done massive amounts of computer modelling on this," he assured. We've also done accelerated salt water corrosion tests. It won't rust."
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