Legendary British sports car builder TVR->ke89 has huge plans for its highly anticipated re-entry into the sports car->ke506 market. Not only has it set the date -- 2017 -- for its eventual return, but now it appears that the Gordon Murray-designed sports car will be getting a Cosworth-->ke4911tuned, all-alloy, Ford->ke31 "Coyote" V-8 engine.

Yup, it's the same powerplant that motivates the Ford Mustang GT.

If it wasn’t clear before that TVR’s new management isn’t shooting for the stars with the brand’s return to the spotlight, news of the engine’s incredible grunt is going to drive up the anticipation of the car’s arrival even more. According to Autocar, the said engine will be used on every version of the new TVR sports car. We previously learned that the yet-to-be-named sports car will receive numerous iterations over the course of its life. In addition to the standard version, there will also be an extra-performance road car, a track-day car, Tuscan series racer, and a Le Mans->ke1591 race car.->ke148

But the big news here is the "Coyote" V-8 engine. TVR and Cosworth have been coy on giving too many details about this supposedly brute of a mill but it’s understood that it will carry a base output of about 450 horsepower while still having enough room to be tuned to exceed 500 horsepower. Each of these engines will be hand-assembled.

That’s setting tremendously high expectations for an engine that will be at the heart of TVR’s return to the market. TVR does have a long history with Ford so it’s safe to assume that the two are working together to get as much as they can out of the latter’s Coyote V-8s. The early returns have been encouraging, if not downright scary. But there’s still time to work out the kinks because the car isn’t scheduled to be released until 2017.

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Why it matters

The hype and anticipation surrounding TVR’s new sports car is taking on a life of its own. Just last month, the company announced that it had sold out its first year allocation of the car. That’s taking into account the fact that said car - yes, it still doesn’t have a name - isn’t going to be launched for another two years.

Now that news on the kind of engine TVR will use on the car has come out, I don’t foresee the excitement surrounding this new sports car to subside anytime soon. Since the 5.0-liter "Coyote" V-8 engine is available as a crate engine from Ford Racing Performance Parts, it was easy for TVR to tap it as the engine choice of its new sports car and tweak it with the help of Cosworth to create the kind of performance capabilities that its new sports car can use to blaze its own trail.

I can’t lie. The more I think about TVR’s new sports car, the more excited I get to see it and more importantly, drive it. Not that I can do both things, but with the way the car is being prepared, it appears that all the hype surrounding it will be justified in the long run. I just hope that more details are unveiled sooner than later. The longer this car remains a mystery, the more anxious I become.