TVR is Trevor Wilkinson's first name with most of the letters taken out. The badge has been those three letters ever since the marque began in a Blackpool wheelwrights' workshop.
- Country
-
United Kingdom - Active
- 1946
- Founded by
- Trevor Wilkinson
- Website
- Official website ↗
A wheelwrights’ shop in Blackpool
TVR was born in a seaside town, in an old wheelwrights’ workshop. According to TVR’s own heritage pages, Trevor Wilkinson set up Trevcar Motors in Blackpool for general engineering work, and that little business later became TVR Engineering. Autocar dates the start to 1946, when Wilkinson was 23, and the renaming to 1947.
The first TVR chassis followed in 1949. TVR describes it in detail: a live rear axle from a Morris Eight, independent trailing-arm front suspension, a 1,172 cc Ford side-valve engine with 35 hp, and an aluminium body painted British Racing Green. It didn’t last. Within a year TVR Number One was crashed and broken for parts.
Wilkinson’s recipe, though, survived everything that came after: a light body on a tubular chassis, engine at the front, drive to the rear, and a focus on performance. TVR calls that its enduring DNA.
Three letters out of Trevor
The name is the founder’s first name with most of the letters removed. The Revs Institute museum puts it simply: Wilkinson gave the marque its key letters, TreVoR. TVR’s own site doesn’t spell this out, but it does describe the brand’s “humble beginnings as Trevcar Motors”, and the trail from Trevcar to TVR is short.
From kit cars to the Grantura
In 1953 Wilkinson and his business partner Jack Pickard designed the TVR Sports Saloon, built around Austin A40 components and sold in kit form. Five years later, in 1958, a fastback design arrived at the suggestion of Ray Saidel, who was racing and selling the cars in the United States. It eventually became known as the Grantura, and it is the car most people think of as the first real TVR.
Wilkinson himself didn’t stay long. In 1960 the controlling interest passed to Keith Aitchison and Bryan Hopton, and in November 1965 Martin Lilley and his father Arthur bought what was left of Grantura Engineering and renamed it TVR Engineering. The factory moved from Hoo Hill to Bristol Avenue in Blackpool in 1970, and that address would become famous.
What the TVR badge says, and what it doesn’t
The TVR emblem is the name itself. There is no animal, no shield, no founder’s crest, just the three letters that come from Trevor Wilkinson’s first name. TVR has never published an official explanation of the badge beyond that, so this page doesn’t invent one.
Motoring histories of the marque, drawing on Peter Filby’s books about TVR’s early years, say the first badge appeared on the Sports Saloon of the early 1950s and was drawn by John Cookson, a young art student and a friend of Wilkinson. That account doesn’t appear on TVR’s own heritage pages, so treat it as the historians’ version rather than the company’s.
Whatever the lettering of the day, the idea hasn’t changed: a bold TVR wordmark, usually on a simple badge, with nothing else to distract from it. For a brand that built its reputation on stripping cars down to the essentials, that feels about right.
Wedges, curves and a Russian owner
The late 1970s brought the Tasmin, a sharp wedge whose styling got a cool reception, although Goodwood Road and Racing notes that journalists praised its handling. In late 1981 Lilley sold control to Peter Wheeler, a chemical engineer, businessman and TVR customer. Wheeler ran the company for 22 years and gave it its best-known era: the Griffith name was revived in 1990, the Chimaera became TVR’s best seller, and the Cerbera introduced the TVR-designed AJP V8. The Speed Six engine was derived from that work, and the Tamora, T350C and finally the Sagaris followed.
Wheeler sold to Nikolai Smolenski in 2004. TVR went into receivership in December 2006, and Smolenski later bought the company back from the receivers, but no new cars came out of Blackpool.
Roaring back with Gordon Murray
In April 2013 a consortium led by Les Edgar bought the brand and its assets, a deal announced on 6 June 2013, and brought TVR back to the UK as TVR Automotive Ltd. The result was unveiled at the Goodwood Revival in 2017: a new Griffith, developed under the code name T37, using Gordon Murray Design’s iStream Carbon technology on a tubular chassis. In 2018 TVR went to Le Mans with Rebellion Racing and finished first and second in class.
The road to production was long. TVR’s own news pages record the first new Griffith being registered for road use in January 2020 and, in December 2023, the choice of Thruxton Circuit for a first brand centre. Car magazine later reported a framework agreement with Charge Holdings, the owner of the electric restomod firm Charge Cars, under which TVR Automotive would become a subsidiary and the Griffith would finally be delivered. TVR’s website now lists both a Griffith V8 and a Griffith EV, and its footer names the company as TVR Electric Vehicles Limited.
The cars behind the three letters
TVR’s model names read like a Greek myth with an engine: Cerbera, Chimaera, Tuscan, Sagaris. The thread that ties them together is Wilkinson’s original idea of a light body on a tube frame with a big engine up front.
Landmark TVRs, decade by decade
- 1949: TVR Number One. The first TVR chassis, with a 35 hp Ford side-valve engine and an aluminium body in British Racing Green.
- 1958: Grantura. The fastback that followed Ray Saidel’s suggestion and gave TVR its first well-known shape.
- 1963: Griffith. A Grantura with a 4.7-litre Ford V8, named after the US importer Jack Griffith, according to Autocar.
- 1990: Griffith (second generation). Peter Wheeler’s revival of the name, built from 1990 to 2002 and praised by Goodwood Road and Racing as one of the prettiest sports cars of its time in 500 form.
- 1991: Chimaera. TVR’s best seller, built from 1991 to 2003.
- 2017: Griffith (T37). Revealed at the Goodwood Revival with Gordon Murray Design’s iStream Carbon technology.
TVR belongs to a very British club of small sports car makers. Lotus, Morgan, Ginetta and Caterham all chased the same idea of light weight over luxury, and the new Griffith’s designer, Gordon Murray, is best known for his work at McLaren. For more on badges that are just a name, see how car logos are designed.
Frequently asked questions
What does TVR stand for?
It comes from the founder’s first name. Trevor Wilkinson’s business started as Trevcar Motors in Blackpool and became TVR Engineering, keeping the letters T, V and R from TreVoR.
What does the TVR logo mean?
The badge is simply the TVR letters, the abbreviation of Trevor Wilkinson’s name. TVR has not published any further meaning for it.
When was TVR founded?
TVR’s heritage pages date the Wilkinson era from 1946, and Autocar says Trevcar Motors opened in Blackpool that year and was renamed TVR Engineering in 1947. The first TVR chassis was built in 1949.
Is TVR still making cars?
The brand was bought by a consortium led by Les Edgar in 2013 and revealed a new Griffith, engineered with Gordon Murray Design, at the Goodwood Revival in 2017. TVR’s website lists a Griffith V8 and a Griffith EV, and Car magazine has reported a merger framework with Charge Holdings aimed at delivering the car.
Where were TVRs built?
In Blackpool, on England’s north-west coast. TVR moved from Hoo Hill to its Bristol Avenue factory in 1970, and production ended when the company went into receivership in December 2006.
Three letters from Trevor: the Blackpool record
- Founded
- 1946
- Founder
- Trevor Wilkinson
- Country
- United Kingdom
- Current emblem
- The TVR letters as a bold wordmark badge, with no other symbol
- Known for
- Light, loud British sports cars built in Blackpool
- Status
- Revived
- Website
- Official website ↗
