TVR Ready for Another Comeback?

TVR Automotive Ltd. appears poised to reintroduce the U.K.'s fabled TVR line of high-performance sports cars.

The company, which started in 1947 as Trevcar Motors, became TVR in 1954. It may be best known for its diminutive Griffith two-seater, which debuted in 1963 with a tubular frame, fiberglass body and a Ford 289 cu.-in. V-8 under the hood. It was joined later by larger and more refined models such as the Tamora, Tuscan and Sagaris.

The financially struggling company was acquired in 2004 by Russian tycoon Nikolai Smolensky, who vowed to boost annual sales tenfold to 5,000 units by 2011. But the plans stalled, and TVR slipped into receivership in 2006.

The company's new owner, British video game entrepreneur Les Edgar, tells the U.K.'s Top Gear he intends to relaunch TVR and vows to avoid "mistakes that have been made in the past." The company's one-page Web site declares, "TVR is back in Britain!" But neither it nor Edgar offers any details about the iconic brand's return.