What's all this about?
TVR - the erstwhile Blackpool-based manufacturer of fibreglass-bodied sports cars with (typically) whopping great V8 engines, unusual door-entry mechanisms and a reputation that mixed wild performance with equally wild handling and questionable reliability - died off in 2006, following the purchase of the company by a misguided young Russian by the name of Nikolai Smolensky. Well, it's coming back - and this is our first (sort of) look at the sports car.
Which one is it?
Don't be daft: it's the one on the right. On the left is a TVR Vixen, one of the company's historic products from the 1960s. But that shadowy graphical representation of the TVR of 2017/18 gives us our clearest indication yet what the car will actually look like. And if you think you're now going to have to wait several more months to see the real thing, fear not; the covers come off the TVR at the Goodwood Revival's Earls Court Motor Show on Friday September 7th.
Why am I thinking of a Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG when I'm looking at this?
There is a hint of that, isn't there? But the TVR will be considerably smaller and more nimble than the mighty Merc, mainly because TVR has already boasted that its sports car - the name will be confirmed on Friday, too - will have the best power-to-weight ratio in its class. That's due to a kerb weight of 1,200kg, plus a thumping Cosworth-fettled 5.0-litre V8 in the nose that's going to deliver something like 490hp.
Who is involved in this project?
Les Edgar is the new chairman of the revived TVR, while Gordon Murray - he of McLaren F1 fame - has played his part in the carbon fibre chassis that the car will sit on, a product of his company's innovative iStream processes.
Where will the TVR be made?
In Wales, not Blackpool.
Matt Robinson - 5 Sep 2017