In order to ensure the people of Wales benefit from the reborn TVR, the Welsh government has acquired a roughly 3 percent stake in the company for about $700,000.
The stake gives the government "a minority stake of just below 3 percent that will ensure the Welsh taxpayer benefits from the company's successes," a government spokesperson told the BBC in a recent interview.
Previously, the Welsh government provided a taypayer-funded loan of $2.78 million to TVR as the reborn British sports car brand geared up to produce a modern Griffith in a plant in Ebbw Vale, Wales.
TVR will create 150 new jobs at the Welsh plant, where the Griffith will enter production next year—13 years after production of TVRs ceased at the brand's historic home in Blackpool, England. The Welsh government also owns the land where TVR's new plant will be set up, a 200,000-square foot site bought last year as part of a $138 million investment in hopes to expand the region's manufacturing output.
The new Griffith promises to retain what made the TVR brand so appealing in the past—low weight, powerful engines, and minimal driver nannies. It will also be the first car to utilize iStream construction, where cars are constructed using minimal, pre-assembled parts. Power meanwhile will come from a Cosworth-tuned 5.0-liter V-8 engine from the Ford Mustang GT. The V-8's 500 horsepower spins the rear wheels via a 6-speed manual transmission. Sounds like old TVR to us.
TVR will undertake one last year of manufacturing research before pushing the Griffith into production in early 2019. The first batch of cars will sell for $117,285.
