I get this weekly email from the Classic Cars For Sale website and this weeks had a feature about TVR prices. It suggests the closure of TVRCarParts.com was interpreted as a lack of demand for TVRs and that a market slump might be ahead.

Seems to me Griffith prices are slowly rising but whats the case with the other models?

Not sure how you can relate the closure of parts supplier to the market value of TVRs. Am struggling with the logic.

There are many forums dedicated to the demise of Dulford and TVR Car Parts. All of which were related. Neil (car parts) is still about working through another indy and D.Gerald have procured the website at least as mentioned here. Hard to understand how this would affect market prices? I would've thought Niko's recent announcement detailing the all but final nail in the TVR coffin would buoy it up a little bit. Perhaps thats my twisted logic though.

If anything is just shows the rarity (or reliability!) of the cars.. hopefully rarer = higher value!

Lets be brutally honest with ourselves here.

What currently impacts the value of our cars more than anything else is their reputation for poor build quality & unreliability.

I know none of us want to hear this, & I know it's mostly unfounded, but it's a fact that this is how the car buying public often perceive our cars.

We would all do well to acknowledge this uncomfortable truth, even though we know it's partly an undeserved reputation, it will always be a hard one to shake.

We also need to accept that our mid 90's cars (& later T Cars) haven't quite made true classic car status yet.

All these things are what's keeping values where they are.

And that's the point, values may not be rising dramatically but they're not falling either.

To my mind NOW is a very good time for anyone who's ever dreamed of owning a TVR to buy in, treat it well and you shouldn't lose money, just look at the maintenance as your hobby costs & it's actually quite a cheap hobby compared with others.

Cars are like wine, they take time to mature.

Just look at the Jensen Interceptor, unloved for years we have started to see them increase dramatically over the last 3-4 years, partly because Aston Martins have soared out of the reach of mere mortals.

Nostalgia plays a big part too, if your were a 24 year old in 1996 dreaming of owning a new Griff but never had the funds to buy one, you will now be 40 years young, you might even have some spare cash & a desire to live the TVR dream of your youth.

But lets take a closer look at the profile of today's classic car buyer.

• Male
• 50 - 55
• Kids grown up & left home
• Good job
• Equity in your property
• Savings in the bank

Ok I know all this is a generalisation, but ask any classic car dealer who his target audience is and he'll draw up a similar customer profile.

Go to any classic car show and take a look at the car owners, again I think you'll find most fit this 50 plus profile too.

So working on this basis my fictional 40 year old nostalgic TVR buyer wont actually be going TVR shopping for another 10-15 years.

In 10 - 15 years time we will likely have a recovered economy, we will all be forced to drive something electric as our daily hack & the urge to enjoy a back to basics toy will be strong amongst men in their mid fifties.

Those guys will be looking back recalling the glory days of TVR in the 90's, they'll remember the thrill of seeing a pre-cat Griff thunder past for he first time & dream of recreating that moment themselves.

And that's when you'll see the price of our cars go up, well the 90's V8 ones anyway.

Until then we should all consider ourselves lucky they are at a price point where we can afford them.

Come back to this post in 2025 & tell me I'm wrong, a Griff will be £55k & a Chimaera will be £40k, mark my words.

The bottom line is these cars were built for driving, so we should all enjoy them for that now, while we can still afford to

Chimaera prices have certainly dropped a lot since I owned mine a few years back.

Griff prices have rocketed in the last 3 years. When I sold my 19k mile 1999 Griff 500 (Cureton Green with Parchment leather) so a very desirable low mileage late car with an excellent colour combo I struggled to get 16 grand for it - today I think I would be asking 20 plus

When buying my Cerb late last year it was obvious that there is a huge amount of 'tat' out there and trying to find a 'mint' late low mileage car was a struggle so snapped up mine.

There does seem to be a small pool of buyers at the moment but who are happy to pay a premium for an increasing small number of excellent cars.

Slow sale in TVR parts = proof of reliability

Prices seem to be very stable / strong to me.
Tuscan Mk2 sold in Las Vegas for $298,000 last year. Bargain.

There seems to me to be a general ground-swell of apprieciation for the TVR spotted in the wild, by the general public in the street and not just car fans. I think this is because modern eurobox styling and its associated 'white goods' sound track is now so hardwired in.
The shocking experience of a sudden closeup encounter with a live TVR beast in the flesh, can be an epiphenal reminder (to some) of what a sports car can be like, and it SOWS A SEED.
A TVR has many attractions which don't need listing here, suffice it to say the TVR has a foot in different camps; classic, sports, innovative, etc.
The factors of difference and increasing rarity will aid values generally and that dwindling subset of low mile, pampered, original cars will especially draw ahead in the value stakes. I've been waved down twice this summer by strangers so they can express thier desire to own a TIV and would I sell mine. There is a real passion out there to own, it's growing and it won't go away.
If only we could shift this dogged world recession, the price dam may just start to crack.

I don't want something to polish, or care about its value
I wanted something to play with (as an engineer) and drive
payed 8k for the Tuscan from Dean, and spent 10k on bits including an LSx out of a race car,
When i look on forums like LS1 tech the yanks have a different attitude to life and cars