Another TVR newbie - Hel

Another TVR newbie - Hel

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Discussion

Stu-nph26

Original Poster:

1,984 posts

104 months

Sunday 19th July 2015
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I've loved TVRs since first hearing a Cerb as a child and at 30 I'm finally in a position to buy my very own. Choices are a cerb or Tuscan as these have always been the dream. I'm trawling through old threads trying to soak up as much info as possible. Head is leaning towards the cerb as it has 4 seats and I'm 6-3, however I've read they are the Daddy of TVRs and cost much more to run an maintain. I'm lucky my dad has has been in the motor trade for 40 years so will help me maintain and it'll be an excuse for us to spend time together.

The car will be used most days 12 mile commute (I do have access to wife's car if needed on the odd occasion) so I'm after advice and opinions and hopefully a Pistonhead selling one 😀! I'm based in the north east any owners up here and any decent clubs Meets I could go along to? Would love to meet some owners and pick there brains.

Budget will be up to 20k for the right car. Cheers Stu.

Speed 3

4,486 posts

118 months

Sunday 19th July 2015
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£20k will buy you a very decent Cerb. You would also get a reasonable Tuscan Mk 1 for that money. First thing to do is drive both with ideally the S6 & AJP8 variants of Cerb. They are very different and its really down to what drives your passion. You may be surprised after a drive but it also may reinforce your prior perceptions. Financially a Cerb can be more daunting than any T-Car barring engine rebuild on an early Tuscan.

I wouldn't worry about headroom in the Tuscan.

Sounds like you've already done your initial research so move onto test drives and come back for more advice when we have your thoughts on those.

Edited by Speed 3 on Sunday 19th July 21:19

Stu-nph26

Original Poster:

1,984 posts

104 months

Sunday 19th July 2015
quotequote all
Thanks for the reply I was hoping there was a local meet up north to go and see a few.

How do I know which are the S6 & AJP8 Cerbs?

Speed 3

4,486 posts

118 months

Sunday 19th July 2015
quotequote all
Stu-nph26 said:
Thanks for the reply I was hoping there was a local meet up north to go and see a few.

How do I know which are the S6 & AJP8 Cerbs?
Count the plug leads... biggrin

Seriously though, they'll be described in the ads. AJP8 is the flat plane crank V8 in 4.2 or 4.5, S6 is the in-line Speed Six 4.0

Stu-nph26

Original Poster:

1,984 posts

104 months

Sunday 19th July 2015
quotequote all
Aw I see I'm with you ha schoolboy error, haven't done as much research as I thought.

Speed 3

4,486 posts

118 months

Sunday 19th July 2015
quotequote all
Also note the Speed 6 was first installed in the Cerb before the Tuscan so those invariably need rebuilds like the early Tuscans. If that's been done already by a recognised agent then it should be good for life, otherwise budget £7-8k. I personally don't like the AJP8 sound and prefer convertible TVR's so that's why I made the choice I did.

Stu-nph26

Original Poster:

1,984 posts

104 months

Sunday 19th July 2015
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What do you have mate?

Speed 3

4,486 posts

118 months

Sunday 19th July 2015
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Late Mk1 Tuscan

Bobhon

1,057 posts

178 months

Sunday 19th July 2015
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Stu-nph26 said:
What do you have mate?
If you tap on someone's name in their post then it takes you to their profile. Usually gives a first name, cars owned and the chance to send them a PM (personal message).

HTH (hope that helps).

All the best with your search.

Bob

Stu-nph26

Original Poster:

1,984 posts

104 months

Sunday 19th July 2015
quotequote all
Thanks Bob that's helpful.

HKGriff

157 posts

112 months

Monday 20th July 2015
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Depending on how far in the North East you live, might be worth you popping to see Tony Abrams at Hexham Horseless Carriages (Northumberland). He has been in the TVR business (as a dealer and servicing) for longer than you have been alive (!) and will be able to help.

Daggsy

892 posts

251 months

Monday 20th July 2015
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TVRCC Tees Valley Region and North East Region both meet on the second Sunday of the month. As its August people may be away on holiday but I'm sure that some will still atttend.
Tees Valley Region meet at The Parkmore Hotel, Eaglescliffe TS16 0DH
North East Region Premier Lodge (Wheatsheaf) - 1 mile south of Newcastle Airport main entrance.

Stu-nph26

Original Poster:

1,984 posts

104 months

Monday 20th July 2015
quotequote all
HKGriff said:
Depending on how far in the North East you live, might be worth you popping to see Tony Abrams at Hexham Horseless Carriages (Northumberland). He has been in the TVR business (as a dealer and servicing) for longer than you have been alive (!) and will be able to help.
That's about an hour away from me so well worth a trip to see him. I'll give him a ring today and see when I can go through.

Stu-nph26

Original Poster:

1,984 posts

104 months

Monday 20th July 2015
quotequote all
Daggsy said:
TVRCC Tees Valley Region and North East Region both meet on the second Sunday of the month. As its August people may be away on holiday but I'm sure that some will still atttend.
Tees Valley Region meet at The Parkmore Hotel, Eaglescliffe TS16 0DH
North East Region Premier Lodge (Wheatsheaf) - 1 mile south of Newcastle Airport main entrance.
thanks Daggsy that's exactly what I'm looking for ill be there for sure. Will you be going?

PS those TVRS look stunning the red Tuscan looks awesome.

Stu-nph26

Original Poster:

1,984 posts

104 months

Monday 20th July 2015
quotequote all
Need to get myself up to Hexham and have a look at this, its got more miles than I would like but has had the engine rebuild which is a positive, whats your thoughts

http://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds/used-cars/t...


grahamn

1,777 posts

233 months

Monday 20th July 2015
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Stu-nph26 said:
its got more miles than I would like but has had the engine rebuild which is a positive, whats your thoughts

http://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds/used-cars/t...
Not the same engine, but my Cerb has 114,000 on the clock and still going strong(has had a rebuild though).

Bobhon

1,057 posts

178 months

Monday 20th July 2015
quotequote all
50K on a 14 year old car doesn't sound excessive. More important is the condition, better to have been driven than to have sat in a garage with the hoses going crusty.

I would want to know who did the engine rebuild and how much work was done. Was it just a head rebuild or a complete strip and rebuild? Look at the £'s cost in the service file to gauge how much work was done. Was the clutch changed at the same time? If it's the usual people (TVR Power, Str8six, etc) then it should be good to go. As it was carried out 5 years ago then any warranty on the engine would be finished by now I guess?

As said before take someone knowledgeable with you to look at it before you agree to buy.

Look at who has done the last couple of services. Then phone them up to ask what they though of the car. Most TVR dealers will give you their honest opinion if they remember the car. Might even offer to do an inspection for you for a couple of hundred pounds.

Bob

Stu-nph26

Original Poster:

1,984 posts

104 months

Monday 20th July 2015
quotequote all
grahamn said:
Not the same engine, but my Cerb has 114,000 on the clock and still going strong(has had a rebuild though).
wow great to here do you use it every day?

Stu-nph26

Original Poster:

1,984 posts

104 months

Monday 20th July 2015
quotequote all
Bobhon said:
50K on a 14 year old car doesn't sound excessive. More important is the condition, better to have been driven than to have sat in a garage with the hoses going crusty.

I would want to know who did the engine rebuild and how much work was done. Was it just a head rebuild or a complete strip and rebuild? Look at the £'s cost in the service file to gauge how much work was done. Was the clutch changed at the same time? If it's the usual people (TVR Power, Str8six, etc) then it should be good to go. As it was carried out 5 years ago then any warranty on the engine would be finished by now I guess?

As said before take someone knowledgeable with you to look at it before you agree to buy.

Look at who has done the last couple of services. Then phone them up to ask what they though of the car. Most TVR dealers will give you their honest opinion if they remember the car. Might even offer to do an inspection for you for a couple of hundred pounds.

Bob
Great advice thanks Bob.

Speed 3

4,486 posts

118 months

Monday 20th July 2015
quotequote all
Bobhon said:
50K on a 14 year old car doesn't sound excessive. More important is the condition, better to have been driven than to have sat in a garage with the hoses going crusty.

I would want to know who did the engine rebuild and how much work was done. Was it just a head rebuild or a complete strip and rebuild? Look at the £'s cost in the service file to gauge how much work was done. Was the clutch changed at the same time? If it's the usual people (TVR Power, Str8six, etc) then it should be good to go. As it was carried out 5 years ago then any warranty on the engine would be finished by now I guess?

As said before take someone knowledgeable with you to look at it before you agree to buy.

Look at who has done the last couple of services. Then phone them up to ask what they though of the car. Most TVR dealers will give you their honest opinion if they remember the car. Might even offer to do an inspection for you for a couple of hundred pounds.

Bob
Absolutely this, I wouldn't touch a TVR that's done less than 40k in 15 years. They're like thoroughbred racehorses, they need to be exercised regularly to avoid niggly faults. Remember you can restore pretty much everything back to a better standard than TVR achieved itself if you're a bit OCD about interior or exterior condition. All the oily bits can be refreshed or renewed. Age and miles isn't really the issue it is on mainstream cars.

Make sure you check out the chassis on a ramp, Tuscan's generally much better than late 90's cars when TVR insourced the chassis production and left them outside during their peak of car production.... (certainly a big check when you look at Cerbs).

Early Tuscans are known for slightly twitchy handling so be careful. They can be vastly improved with Geo set up and revised dampers. Difference between a well and poorly set up car will be night & day, irrespective of build year.