TVR is coming back, and because of the immensely positive public reaction to that fantastic news, the company is now accepting deposits for its first new car in over 10 years, due in 2017. Excitement over TVR’s->ke89 return reached fever pitch last month when it was announced that 1993 McLaren F1 designer Gordon Murray would be involved with chassis development and Cosworth->ke4911 would be supplying a new V-8 engine. It was the equivalent of announcing a new band with Jimmy Page on guitar, Stevie Winwood on vocals and Neil Peart on drums.

"We've been totally blown away by the reaction to the new car,” said Operations Director of TVR John Chasey in a recent press release. “Our phone lines and online enquiry system went into meltdown when the news was announced, and we decided that we must begin to bring a structure to the enquiries and build a delivery pipeline well in advance of production. Volumes in year one will be limited as we ramp up production, so this allows us to reward those individuals prepared to make a financial commitment at this early stage."

Prospective owners can put down a £5,000 on a new TVR starting on July 7th, and CEO Les Edgar recently told Autocar that hundreds of people have already done so. Additionally, the company is offering a limited number of £2,500 deposits to long-time TVR Car Club members. No new information was released on the car itself, but TVR has previously said we’ll get our first look in late 2015.

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Why it matters

The new TVR promises to be one of the most exciting new cars of the next few years, but it’s only the beginning. TVR plans to release four new models starting in 2017, and all will be built using Gordon Murray’s iStream automotive manufacturing process, which involves a light-weight chassis constructed from thin-walled, laser-cut steel tubes. The front-mid mounted Cosworth V-8 should send over 500 horsepower to the rear wheels through a manual transmission, with more power coming for faster, subsequent models.

It all leaves one big question: Will we be able to buy a TVR in the United States? Unclear at this point, but signs point to no, at least initially. Production numbers are expected to be between 1,000 and 1,500 units per year, and, like previous TVRs, sales will likely be limited to the U.K. and a few other parts of Europe. The cost of federalizing cars for North America and establishing a dealer network would represent a massive investment for the small company. Add that to the fact that most Americans have never heard of TVR, and you have a business case that's less than great. But TVR hasn’t made any official announcements regarding U.S. sales, so hopefully I'm completely wrong on this.

Check out our full run-down for more about the return of TVR.