RSS_Auto_Poster
Well-known member
Written by Ollie Kew
TVR"s new Cosworth-engined, Gordon Murray-engineered sports coupe arrives next year. But why does the company boss believe so strongly in resurrecting an old badge and creating an old school sports car in 2017? TopGear.com chatted with the effervescently enthusiastic Les Edgar for the answers. It"s fair to say, he"s a man after our own heart.TG.com: Do you have to be mad, or at least a tad eccentric, to set up your own British sports car company?Les Edgar: Oh, mad doesn"t sum it up enough. You"ve got to be completely bonkers. And you"ve got to be a committed petrolhead. If you"re going into thinking this is the making of our fortune and you"re going to be rolling in it, you"re mad. But we started off with a very strong brand, so we think that"ll support our aspirations for TVR.TG: Why do you say it helps to be a petrolhead?LE: Specifically for us, TVR is about being a petrolhead. It"s in-yer-face. It"s not supposed to smoothly waft you along in silence. It"s about being noisy, wheelspinning in front of the pub, in an exotic, handbuilt, and visceral car. So we"re trying not to compromise what makes it a good driver"s car.With my petrolhead hat on, I"d say does it need to be noisy?" Well, it doesn"t need to be, but it would be better if it was, to give you the impression you"re in something special. When I drive a 911 or an F-Type, I think this is a great car", but when I get in a Sagaris, I think I"m part of this". I feel the engine rather than hear it in the speakers. It"s not been overly tuned.I"m not an automotive engineer, but my job is to make sure engineering that appeals to petrolheads is at the heart of a new TVR. We"re dealing with lots of engineers, and it"s their job to make sure the car is reliable and well engineered. It"s my job to make sure it"s still a proper TVR.TG: You made money outside of the automotive industry, in gaming. What drew you to investing in TVR? Why not just plough some money into something less risky like Aston Martin or Jaguar?LE: Good question! I"ve never been one for investing into something easy. I wanted to put my own mark on it. I"m a big Aston Martin fan, and I"ve had mine modified to make them a bit more loud, hairy and lairy. I felt I understood what I wanted from a sports car, and it is less expensive and luxurious than an Aston Martin, but more luxurious than a Lotus. A TVR fits that bill perfectly. It"s a sporting GT rather than a GT with sporty" added to it. It"s a rebellious marque, the antithesis of James Bond. And since the factory"s demise in the early 2000s, nothing has filled that space.We never thought we"d get the opportunity to get" TVR, so we were flabbergasted and pleased to do so.TG: Do you think British cars have been beset over the years by the misty-eyed issue that a bit of rubbishness" equals character?LE: [laughs] Yes, I do. It"s counted for a lot of character. But this also applies to Ferrari, Lamborghiniit"s only in the last ten years they"ve stopped being a little bit rubbish and become true quality products. I"ve had many of them and they"ve all had their idiosyncrasies", or basically poor design and poor reliability. That"s not acceptable any more.We"re a small company, so we can"t afford to spend time and money on gadgets that make the cars more drivable by a larger group of people. It needs to be well-designed, but we need to keep away from the development of complex electronics. They add weight, complication, and reliability issues, potentially. I"ve got a few cars, which have everything on them, and in three years I"ll have to move them on, before they go wrong. I don"t want people doing that with a TVR. I don"t think they will. Built-in obsolescence is not the way you should build a sports car.
Date written: 9 Oct 2016
More of this article on the Top gear website
ID: 5360
TVR"s new Cosworth-engined, Gordon Murray-engineered sports coupe arrives next year. But why does the company boss believe so strongly in resurrecting an old badge and creating an old school sports car in 2017? TopGear.com chatted with the effervescently enthusiastic Les Edgar for the answers. It"s fair to say, he"s a man after our own heart.TG.com: Do you have to be mad, or at least a tad eccentric, to set up your own British sports car company?Les Edgar: Oh, mad doesn"t sum it up enough. You"ve got to be completely bonkers. And you"ve got to be a committed petrolhead. If you"re going into thinking this is the making of our fortune and you"re going to be rolling in it, you"re mad. But we started off with a very strong brand, so we think that"ll support our aspirations for TVR.TG: Why do you say it helps to be a petrolhead?LE: Specifically for us, TVR is about being a petrolhead. It"s in-yer-face. It"s not supposed to smoothly waft you along in silence. It"s about being noisy, wheelspinning in front of the pub, in an exotic, handbuilt, and visceral car. So we"re trying not to compromise what makes it a good driver"s car.With my petrolhead hat on, I"d say does it need to be noisy?" Well, it doesn"t need to be, but it would be better if it was, to give you the impression you"re in something special. When I drive a 911 or an F-Type, I think this is a great car", but when I get in a Sagaris, I think I"m part of this". I feel the engine rather than hear it in the speakers. It"s not been overly tuned.I"m not an automotive engineer, but my job is to make sure engineering that appeals to petrolheads is at the heart of a new TVR. We"re dealing with lots of engineers, and it"s their job to make sure the car is reliable and well engineered. It"s my job to make sure it"s still a proper TVR.TG: You made money outside of the automotive industry, in gaming. What drew you to investing in TVR? Why not just plough some money into something less risky like Aston Martin or Jaguar?LE: Good question! I"ve never been one for investing into something easy. I wanted to put my own mark on it. I"m a big Aston Martin fan, and I"ve had mine modified to make them a bit more loud, hairy and lairy. I felt I understood what I wanted from a sports car, and it is less expensive and luxurious than an Aston Martin, but more luxurious than a Lotus. A TVR fits that bill perfectly. It"s a sporting GT rather than a GT with sporty" added to it. It"s a rebellious marque, the antithesis of James Bond. And since the factory"s demise in the early 2000s, nothing has filled that space.We never thought we"d get the opportunity to get" TVR, so we were flabbergasted and pleased to do so.TG: Do you think British cars have been beset over the years by the misty-eyed issue that a bit of rubbishness" equals character?LE: [laughs] Yes, I do. It"s counted for a lot of character. But this also applies to Ferrari, Lamborghiniit"s only in the last ten years they"ve stopped being a little bit rubbish and become true quality products. I"ve had many of them and they"ve all had their idiosyncrasies", or basically poor design and poor reliability. That"s not acceptable any more.We"re a small company, so we can"t afford to spend time and money on gadgets that make the cars more drivable by a larger group of people. It needs to be well-designed, but we need to keep away from the development of complex electronics. They add weight, complication, and reliability issues, potentially. I"ve got a few cars, which have everything on them, and in three years I"ll have to move them on, before they go wrong. I don"t want people doing that with a TVR. I don"t think they will. Built-in obsolescence is not the way you should build a sports car.
Date written: 9 Oct 2016
More of this article on the Top gear website
ID: 5360
