The joint administrators of the Blackpool manufacturing operations of TVR, which were placed in administration at the end of the year, have said they expect to find a buyer for the business as a going concern.

It remained unclear whether the TVR name could be sold by the administrators, or whether the Russian owner Nikolai Smolenski, who has declared an intention to commission TVR production from a continental European assembly contractor, will have retained the rights to the company name.

Smolenski acquired TVR in 2004, and established the separate manufacturing company, now in administration, in 2006.

The Financial Times reported that the administrators have yet to establish the extent of TVR’s debts and assets.