Are Prestige car insurers saying tally ho! to fellow thoroughbred?

Prestigecarinsurance.com is English to their very prestige car insuring core. And proud of this fact. Prestigecarinsurance.com appreciate that the finer things in life, like prestige car insurance, are a necessity. Like a fine claret, or a good opera, Prestigecarinsurance.com are here to make the process of insuring your prestige car, that much more enjoyable an experience. And here at Prestigecarinsurance.com, we are firm believers in enjoying the prestige car insuring high life. One of Prestigecarinsurance.com's favourite prestige car insuring sons has just sadly found out another jolly good British society stalwart is facing uncertainty..

Traditionally its cash-strapped northern holiday makers, stoned-students, unruly-Glaswegians, fully-grown women dressed as (take your pick) schoolgirls, nuns, or rabbits, and end-of-pier/end-of-career comedy not-so greats that flock to Blackpool for differing reasons. Excepting a bank holidays worth of drizzle, cheap ale, fighting, sh****ng and early-pension deferment there's been one other attraction for the best part of 20 years. Guided tours of TVR's famous potting shed. But now that's to be struck off the 'things to do and see' list. Due to it closing its doors once and for all. And, as ever - being a stubborn bastion of Englishness (In terms of engineering, craftsmanship, and its sheer unadulterated design folly in its many incarnations over the years) - its future is out of the hands of anyone English.

Remember the British car industry my kids will ask in years to come? Yes I'll say. I attended its funeral in 2006. TVR is the latest victim, in a list that's being shortened by the hour, of the final days of the once mighty, once heavily exporting, once world-beating British car industry. Following the French governments definite decision to rob brummies of a chance to build its 206, and some draconian indecision by Chinese delegates over whether or not they can actually be arsed throwing Rover a buoyancy aid, its now the turn of a publicity-shy Russian to become more than a little bolshie. This time on the subject of TVR's immediate future.

Now, the way I see it is this. Most Russians who've amassed a small fortune from oil/mafia connections like to splash their cash on something close to their cold Russian hearts. But with all the English Premiership football clubs (and crappy Scottish ones) all spoken for at present, 24-year old CCCP business-boy Nikolai Smolensky had to switch his Gameboy off for a mo and re-consider his options some 2 years ago. When he found he had more pocket-roubles than he knew what to do with.

His advisors saved the lives of their families back in Somethingorothergrad by suggesting snapping up TVR instead. For the sum of £15 million. Or Didier Drogba's shin bone as such an amount is known in the former USSR these days. Which, being based in an uninviting, depression-filled, desolate outpost of the UK , was naturally seen as a home from home for the frostbitten Muscovites. Especially since previous owner and fully-fledged Englishman Peter Wheeler, who had successfully run the eccentrically-styled niche car manufacturer for two decades, had left the company in such good economic shape. At its production peak they were pushing out nigh-on 200 cars a year. And when you consider the labour intensive nature of stretching plastic composites over tubular space frames, alongside of welding various engine components together, a staff roll call of nearly 1000 in the late 1990's was managing this with some degree of gusto. And working their way through bulging order books.

With the hasty exchanging of used bank notes complete young Nikolai smiled one of those unnerving 'Russians with connections' smiles and promised from that moment forward he'd be a hands-on boss. What employees didn't think he meant was that his hands would be washed of the Fylde coast operation little over 24 months down the line. Mind you, the last thing Nikolai thought was that his initial £15million investment - a hefty some to rent Wheelers resort lock-up, as he still does - would yield an £11.8 loss the last time the accounts were audited. Such was the case according to 2004's figures.

Production at the potting shed fell from 12 cars a week to just 2, following an unforeseen drop in sales. Intensified by insider rumours of company discord over production costs, (as car industry pay rates are considerably less in central or Eastern Europe ; on average about one fifth that they are in the UK ) amongst other things, which led to faltering confidence with overtly traditional, fiercely loyal, strangely-moustachioed TVR enthusiasts about the company's imminent future.

As of this last Monday, employee's worst fears were realised, as almost one third of the current workforce were told to stay home and watch Trisha. By Trade Union Leaders. Seeing as Smolensky was too busy viewing alternative manufacturing sites, slightly more North Easterly. Like Leningrad for example. Although TVR have insisted that production will continue at another (Russian-speaking) 'British' site.

TVR was founded by Trevor Wilkinson in 1947. The initials taken from some letters found in his Christian name. Prestigecarinsurance.com was founded by David Harlow some years later. And if you applied the same patent-process with his name, I'd now find myself writing about prestige motor insurance for DVD.com. Which, unlike Prestigecarinsurance.com, would have absolutely nothing whatsoever to do with prestige car motor insurance.