Car manufacturer and racing engines specialist TWR Group has been placed in administrative receivership.

The company, which has around 500 employees in the UK, has suffered through the collapse of the Arrows Formula One team, as well as a dip in the motor racing industry.

The TWR Group was set up by multi-millionaire Tom Walkinshaw, who is also chairman of Gloucester Rugby Club.

TWR has been one of the most high-profile and successful companies in motorsport for more than 20 years but it has found work harder to come by in recent years.

It has lost out heavily as a major investor in Arrows, which Walkinshaw bought in 1996.

Aston Martin, Jaguar, Volvo, Nissan and Rover all worked with the TWR Group, as did Formula One teams Benetton and Ligier.

Arrows never made much of an impression on F1

Among TWR's success were victory in the prestigious Le Mans 24 Hours sportscar race with Jaguar and the 1994 F1 title with Benetton.

The group's core business is the design, engineering and manufacture of road and racing cars and engines.

The financial services group PricewaterhouseCoopers (PWC) has been appointed as administrative receivers of TWR and is seeking a buyer.

"We are confident that with the support of customers and employees, the business can continue to trade whilst a purchaser is found," said a PWC partner.

"Expressions of interest have already been received and we are looking to pursue those as quickly as possible."

Four of the group's subsidiaries - TWR Automotive Engineering, TWR International Holdings, TWR Automotive Contracts and Crailglade - have also been placed in receivership.

TWR, based in Witney, Oxfordshire, and Worthing, Sussex, reported turnover of more than �140m for the year ending 30 June 2002.