With factory renovations expected to start this month and a new loan granted under the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS), the new TVR Griffith might be on track.
The small scale sports car was first unveiled in 2017 has had a rocky road so far, but the company appears confident that it will be able to start delivering vehicles in 2022. That’s in no small part thanks to a £2 million loan from short-term marketplace lender, Fiduciam.
“Raising funds is always a challenge and even more so for manufacturing projects in Covid-19 times,” said Les Edgar, CEO of TVR. “We have endured a further delay because of Covid-19, but we are confident we are now into the final straight to commence manufacturing, with the first cars being delivered in 2022.”
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This isn’t Fiduciam’s first loan to TVR, though. In 2016, it loaned TVR £6 million. TVR reports, though, that it currently has the equivalent of £40 million in orders, which it could fill in just one year.
And it must be said that the Griffith looks like an exciting sports car. Designed with the help of Gordon Murray, it will weigh just 1,300 kg (2,850 lbs) thanks to a carbon composite structure using the iStream architecture. It will also have a 50:50 weight distribution.
TVR is targeting a power-to-weight ratio of 400 hp/tonne ( that would mean about 520 hp total), which shouldn’t be too hard thanks to the 5.0-liter Ford V8 that’s going under the hood. Hooked up to a 6-speed manual, it should be capable of 200 mph and a 0-60 time of less than 4 seconds, according to the manufacturer.
If you’re thinking that this sounds like an expensive, Welsh Mustang, that’s fair, but there are two big differences. The first is that TVR says it has designed the Griffith to allow for a hybrid power system. The second is that it will weigh nearly a thousand pounds less than a Mustang thanks to its carbon fiber body.
And that all sounds pretty good so we can’t help but hope that everything has lined up for TVR and that the Griffith will start heading out to customers next year.
