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Auto Express, Wednesday 1st June 2005
TVR Plotting MG Takeover
One is on the up, the other is currently down and out - but are two of
the most famous sports car manufacturers in Britain about to join forces?
Rumours are rife that TVR bosses are poised to launch an audacious bid
to take what's left of MG from the gloom of the administrator and
restart production. But that's not all; the plan would see the firm
quitting its seaside factory in Blackpool, Lancashire, and moving lock,
stock and barrel to the mothballed Longbridge site in Birmingham.
The amazing story is one of several in circulation about what's going to
happen to MG Rover and its axed workforce. But this prediction of the
future has been given a boost in credibility from an unlikely but highly
placed source. Auto Express has learned that one of the most senior
people involved with the failed Midlands company has thrown his weight
behind the deal. He won't go public with his views, but is understood
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to have first-hand evidence of the ambitious plan.
Also in its favour are the deep pockets of TVR's new owner, the Russian
multi-millionaire businessman Nicolai Smolensky. After his surprise
purchase of the sports car maker last year, he is believed to be looking
for a way out of the ageing Blackpool facility to take the company forward.
While the Longbridge plant is celebrating its centenary this year, it's
a far more modern, hi-tech operation than TVR's current home. Smolensky
is said to be waiting to see how much money it will take to secure the
rights to build the MG TF and buy the tooling. Neither TVR or MG Rover
administrator PriceWaterhouseCoopers would comment.
MG and TVR have linked up before. During its nine years in production,
between 1958 and 1967, TVR's Gran Tura coupé was fitted with various MG
engines and transmissions, with the MkIII car getting the entire MGB
gearbox.
Paul Bailey