Is an old TVR suitable
Discussion
V8 GRF said:
RichB said:
it will leak, the carpets will smell, the back window will get frosted over and the door buttons will freeze - generally it won't like it. 
Totally disagree. Mine sat outside for two years, it didn't and doesn't leak, my carpets never smelt of anything and if it's frosty use a Leven hood cover.
RichB said:
V8 GRF said:
Totally disagree. Mine sat outside for two years, it didn't and doesn't leak, my carpets never smelt of anything and if it's frosty use a Leven hood cover.
Indeed but you said all that in your post 2 days ago. Hope your memory's not going with the onset of old age David 
Especially as I notice that folk mostly read the last postings on PH threads..... 
Now then what did I come in here for......?
V8 GRF said:
...my carpets never smelt of anything...
Actually on a serious note, I was told that's why they dropped Wilton carpets from the options list because people complained they smelt of wet sheep and dogs when it rained (crossed with the usual fibreglass, glue and leather smells) 
Went for a quick visit to see Barry at TVR Ecosse [knowledgeable chap who obviously knows these cars very well]. Turned out to be his home address on the website so I had a quick tour of his garage and his own collection before nipping down to his new facilities just outside broughtyferry. Was just a flying visit (and probably a good thing that I didn’t get time for a test drive or be seduced by the sound) but enough to have a poke around and decide that a griffith probably isn't for me.
[flame suit on]
Never having been up close with TVRs I had a good look round and with the exception of the stunning red Sagaris and some of the tuscans (looked a lot better finished than the earlier cars) they just weren’t made to my expected level of fit and finish. Missing stitching, corrosion, alloy oxidation, perished rubber, plastics degrading, poor fit and finish and badly applied paint that has been affected by the sun.
Disappointing as the simple mechanics of light body and v8 in a small manual two seater ticked all the boxes on what I would like for my next car and it isn’t really done by anyone else. SLK55 is an auto and a corvette is lhd and pretty big. Morgan might be an option but too expensive for me just now, Z4M might be my only other option.
[flame suit on]
Never having been up close with TVRs I had a good look round and with the exception of the stunning red Sagaris and some of the tuscans (looked a lot better finished than the earlier cars) they just weren’t made to my expected level of fit and finish. Missing stitching, corrosion, alloy oxidation, perished rubber, plastics degrading, poor fit and finish and badly applied paint that has been affected by the sun.
Disappointing as the simple mechanics of light body and v8 in a small manual two seater ticked all the boxes on what I would like for my next car and it isn’t really done by anyone else. SLK55 is an auto and a corvette is lhd and pretty big. Morgan might be an option but too expensive for me just now, Z4M might be my only other option.
No offence intended, but given your described intended usage and parking arrangements, a pristine example would be wasted.
I hadn't replied earlier, but very few interesting cars are happy to be parked outside rain or shine and none will be free of surface corrosion on metal parts such as suspension components if used that way. Give your intended use, I think a mass produced mainstream car such as a Z4 would be more suitable. Yes, they're boring, but any car used year round and parked outside in the rain is going to deteriorate with time and at least the Z4 will be a semi-disposable sort of car so once it's knackered you can just replace it with something else.
There are a few spotless TVRs around. Most aren't spotless. Mine certainly isn't. They generally do get a lot of love and attention from their owners but apart from the odd garage queen most TVRs get driven hard when the mood suits and are generally maintained to a standard where they work properly and look good from 6 feet away. If you're a perfectionist then a TVR would drive you mad as there's always something more important to be done than touching in stone chips and polishing up metal. The reason most of us persist is because despite the cosmetic imperfections most of our cars have, there is nothing on 4 wheels that can touch them for performance, looks, excitement, driven engagement and sound for even close to the money.
I hadn't replied earlier, but very few interesting cars are happy to be parked outside rain or shine and none will be free of surface corrosion on metal parts such as suspension components if used that way. Give your intended use, I think a mass produced mainstream car such as a Z4 would be more suitable. Yes, they're boring, but any car used year round and parked outside in the rain is going to deteriorate with time and at least the Z4 will be a semi-disposable sort of car so once it's knackered you can just replace it with something else.
There are a few spotless TVRs around. Most aren't spotless. Mine certainly isn't. They generally do get a lot of love and attention from their owners but apart from the odd garage queen most TVRs get driven hard when the mood suits and are generally maintained to a standard where they work properly and look good from 6 feet away. If you're a perfectionist then a TVR would drive you mad as there's always something more important to be done than touching in stone chips and polishing up metal. The reason most of us persist is because despite the cosmetic imperfections most of our cars have, there is nothing on 4 wheels that can touch them for performance, looks, excitement, driven engagement and sound for even close to the money.
Yep, fair do's.Interesting people's perceptions aren't they. The garage where I used to take my Alfas to be serviced were also Lotus and Morgan dealers so I often used to poke around the various bits of kit in the showroom. To my eyes a Morgan is no better built than a TVR the only difference being that on the Morgan they left the crosshead screws visible so you could see where to tighten when it starts rattling. On a TVR they glued and screwed everything together then covered it all in swathes of leather to finish it off.
On a TVR they glued and screwed everything together then covered it all in swathes of leather to finish it off. [Quote] griffith probably isn't for me.
[/quote]
That's fair enough (no flame suit needed). In my experience, TVR purchases are dictated by the heart, not the head.
Insight to my garage history: TVR chim 500, to a Z4M, back to a TVR (Griff pre-cat) as the BMW didn't excite me nearly as much.
I do wonder what itch you're hoping to scratch with a Z4 (or similar) that you couldn't get from the S2000?
[/quote]
That's fair enough (no flame suit needed). In my experience, TVR purchases are dictated by the heart, not the head.
Insight to my garage history: TVR chim 500, to a Z4M, back to a TVR (Griff pre-cat) as the BMW didn't excite me nearly as much.
I do wonder what itch you're hoping to scratch with a Z4 (or similar) that you couldn't get from the S2000?
On my second s2000, stop gap while I decide what I wanted next and was too nice a car to miss when I saw it was up for sale. Owned by the local Honda group owner’s mother and kept in the dealership as a display model during the winter so 28k miles in nine years and pampered with services twice a year and obviously they swapped anything that was marked, spotless in and out with only one small scratch under the drivers mirror and slight wear showing at the side bolster seam on the driver’s seat. They have offered to buy it back whenever I come to sell it and you wouldn’t know it has had another 12k miles in 18 months added.
I like an engine with character, no traction control and rwd in something fun to drive every day with a convertible roof and a lsd. Lots to like about the s2000 but it could do with a bit more power and I just fancy a change. Rather go older than newer as the new stuff doesn't really excite me with too many toys and not enough driving involvement and prefer something a bit more raw.
Started on hot hatches as most do and then moved to sports cars, then tried sensible with an e46 M3, 130i and 3lr z4 but all changed within a year or two either too mostly as they weren’t exciting enough though the ongoing cracked boot floors on the M3 made it a good time to get out. Tried a lotus and enjoyed the drive but the engines weren’t exciting enough for a daily driver (though I haven’t tried the newer Elise with the Toyota lump yet) and dealer 90 miles away was a pain when I was doing 25k miles a year. M5 was fun for a barge but too quiet with double glazing and I didn’t need a car that big.
Ideally I’d like the ingredients of a bmw z8 for about £15k though I've read they aren't that good to drive. Z4M is ment to be a bit wilder than the m3 with the same great engine but a bit less weight.
I like an engine with character, no traction control and rwd in something fun to drive every day with a convertible roof and a lsd. Lots to like about the s2000 but it could do with a bit more power and I just fancy a change. Rather go older than newer as the new stuff doesn't really excite me with too many toys and not enough driving involvement and prefer something a bit more raw.
Started on hot hatches as most do and then moved to sports cars, then tried sensible with an e46 M3, 130i and 3lr z4 but all changed within a year or two either too mostly as they weren’t exciting enough though the ongoing cracked boot floors on the M3 made it a good time to get out. Tried a lotus and enjoyed the drive but the engines weren’t exciting enough for a daily driver (though I haven’t tried the newer Elise with the Toyota lump yet) and dealer 90 miles away was a pain when I was doing 25k miles a year. M5 was fun for a barge but too quiet with double glazing and I didn’t need a car that big.
Ideally I’d like the ingredients of a bmw z8 for about £15k
though I've read they aren't that good to drive. Z4M is ment to be a bit wilder than the m3 with the same great engine but a bit less weight.Edited by Crusoe on Monday 13th October 13:34
Monday night I drove the 90 miles home up the dual carriageway A1, north to Nottinghamshire, in my Audi A8 Quattro. It had been raining all day, it was dark, there was a lot of traffic both ways, so spotting the frequent rivers across the road and giant 4 foot wide puddles at either side of the tarmac (yes, they were next to the central barrier as well) was impossible.
After hitting several major rivers and puddles without warning, which the 2 tonne Audi handled pretty well, I said out loud to myself "thank God I didn't take the TVR this morning". The light weight TVR, with little weight over the driving wheels, makes the TVR a great car in the dry, but unpredictable in the wet. You CAN manage with care, but it's nerve-wracking.
I use my TVR all year round, 12,000 miles a year, but I would think long and hard before trying to use one as a daily driver, especially in the land of kilt, haggis and blizzard, and would never take one out in snow. The tales of serious crashes in TVRs in wet or snow abound on here. I saw a post by V8GRF on either this thread or the last one I was reading. IIRC he was unlucky on a snowy day on the M42 last winter and trashed both ends of his Griff when he hit an unexpected snow drift. My 4WD Audi would have given me a better chance of surviving that.
EFSpeeling
After hitting several major rivers and puddles without warning, which the 2 tonne Audi handled pretty well, I said out loud to myself "thank God I didn't take the TVR this morning". The light weight TVR, with little weight over the driving wheels, makes the TVR a great car in the dry, but unpredictable in the wet. You CAN manage with care, but it's nerve-wracking.
I use my TVR all year round, 12,000 miles a year, but I would think long and hard before trying to use one as a daily driver, especially in the land of kilt, haggis and blizzard, and would never take one out in snow. The tales of serious crashes in TVRs in wet or snow abound on here. I saw a post by V8GRF on either this thread or the last one I was reading. IIRC he was unlucky on a snowy day on the M42 last winter and trashed both ends of his Griff when he hit an unexpected snow drift. My 4WD Audi would have given me a better chance of surviving that.
EFSpeeling
Edited by QBee on Wednesday 15th October 08:46
Edited by QBee on Wednesday 15th October 08:51
V8 GRF said:
2 sMoKiN bArReLs said:
....... I for one would not recommend it as a hobby
Me neither..... I have pictures of the results.... 
I've used all of my TVR's as daily's and only in these later years have I had any difficulties.
I found Chimaeras more forgiving than Tuscans but even so, last year I sold my 'winter, T R, a Chimaera 400, and bought something with traction control.
Scariest drive I ever had was a couple of winters ago. Went with my Wife to do some German Christmas market shopping.
Couple of days before heading home temp dropped to -12 and snowed.
750 miles of white knuckle concentration. Absolutely wont do that again.
so called said:
Scariest drive I ever had was a couple of winters ago. Went with my Wife to do some German Christmas market shopping.
Couple of days before heading home temp dropped to -12 and snowed.
750 miles of white knuckle concentration. Absolutely won't do that again.
You mean you'll leave the OH at home next time? Couple of days before heading home temp dropped to -12 and snowed.
750 miles of white knuckle concentration. Absolutely won't do that again.
Sorry.
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