Nikolai Smolenski isn't quite how I expected him to be. It's not his youth that's the surprise - TVR's sole shareholder is still only 26 - it's the way he wears it. When he bought TVR two years ago, the few pictures that emerged of the young Russian were unflattering. With a mass of unruly straw-coloured hair and a buttoned-up suit, he looked slightly, well, nerdy.
Best hot hatchbacks 2025 – affordable new performance cars
Contracted though the hot hatch market may be, there are still some great models out there, from the electric Alpine A290 to the five-cylinder Audi RS…