To answer the questions; no and no
I think the prices of average cars (like mine) will carry on falling, what with winter coming and fuel continuing its inexorable rise
With the exception of mint, low mileage, original cars; I think Chim's, and all TVR's to a degree, have been overvalued for years
Don't get me wrong I LOVE my Chim, and if I ever sell it another TVR would replace it.

Well a Chim not be worth a great deal in 25 years time but a Sagaris could be a different matter!

We were talking about the price of 'classic' cars at work the other day. Specifically talking about the price of old Fords and a chap came up with the following argument.

Things like the Escort Mexico's, or even later 80's model fast Fords are fetching a good price now because us chaps of a certain age lusted after them as kids but could never afford one. Now we all have proper jobs and disposable income we can blow say £20k on a 1970's/80's 'Classic' because it's what we always wanted.
Thing is, in another 20/30 years time very few folks will have heard of them and so prices are likely to dip again. The sad thing is that that batch of people will be wanting current Saxo type models because when they were teenagers they couldn't afford them - and so it goes round.

Not saying he is right but it's a point of view.

Ford Capri's are a good point. A reasonable one fetches a lot of money now.

Just reading last week’s Autocar (29th August) page 21, Steve Cropley’s column

For those who have not seen the article, I thought it would be interesting to quote him (hope he does not mind);

“SATURDAY – Do you ever want to ‘do a Richard Bremner’: find some barn space and start storing interesting cars for the future?
I do, all the time, and at present I’m convinced prices of modern-era TVRs are due to skyrocket very soon. The magic combination of fantastic-sounding, single-minded cars, a history stuffed with fascinating characters and declining supply of genuine cars makes me want to buy the cheapest half dozen from Pistonheads classifieds and park them somewhere safe and dry until they have doubled in price.
About the year after next.”

The word is going to get out .........

Right, so here's how I see it.

Firstly as a serial 90's V8 TVR fan I need to start by taking my emotions out of the equation, or it'll just be the bias ramblings of yet another Griff/Chimaera enthusiast.

I'll try & be objective, so lets start by analysing the recipe for an appreciating classic.

It's pretty conclusive the best performing classics are typically:

• Sports cars

• Convertibles

That's because a classic car is effectively a toy, an emotional purchase bought by people who are realising a lifelong dream, a sports convertible will always sell well in a market like that.

History plays an important role too, ask yourself:

• Was the car an icon of it's period?

• Did it have a successful competition history?

• Was production low volume?

The more of these boxes you can tick, the more likely the car will become a classic of the future.

So how does the TVR Chimaera/Griffith score?:

• Sports car = YES
• Convertible = YES
• Period Icon = YES (for some & the Griff more so)
• Competition history = NO
• Low volume production = YES (& the Griff more so)

As a recipe for an appreciating classic, that's a pretty good starting point.

Take this good starting point & let history be your objective teacher to give us an idea of how long it will take to mature.

My theory is what I call the "30 Year Rule", look at when the price of cars from the 1960's started to take off, it was 30 years later in the early 1990's.

Just look at what's had a strong rise in the last 5 years, you'll find a lot of cars from the 70's & early 80's in that list.

Now we've established a Chim/Griff nicely fits the appreciating classic recipe, simply take the 30 year rule and work it forwards.

So the theory is a 1995 Chim or Griff should come good in 2025.

As I've already pointed out, a classic car purchase is driven by emotion, and the key emotion here is nostalgia.

It therefore makes sense to try and understand exactly what nostalgia is all about.

For me nostalgia seems to be all about recreating a feeling for perceived happier less complicated times long past.

When most of us look back at when our lives were less complicated, we typically find ourselves reminiscing about our early/mid twenties.

The reality is while we may have lusted after a TVR in our twenties, not many of us had the wherewithal to buy one.

So the sweet spot is where the classic car buyer's nostalgia years finally meet up with a point where his disposable income can tolerate a frivolous emotional purchase.

That 25 year old who was lusting after a new 1995 TVR will be 55 years old in 2025, his kids would have grown up & his mortgage would have been mostly paid off.

But his salary will be at a lifetime high so his disposable income will be at it's peak, he may therefore find himself with a bit of spare cash in the bank and feeling the desire to realise that lifelong TVR dream before he gets too old to enjoy it.

Ask any classic car dealer & they'll tell you that 55 year old guy is a very typical customer, take a look around any classic car show and a good percentage of the owners exactly fit this profile too.

Lets summarise:

The mid 1990's V8 TVR's have the right appreciating recipe, history tells us classic cars start to mature 30 years after manufacture, and the customer base comes good about 30 years after production too.

So don't expect your Chim or Griff to double in price in the next year like the journalist from Autocar suggests, that's plain ridiculous.

No, you'll need to hang on a few more years for that.

But get ready for 2025, that £5,000 Chimaera I linked to above (in lightly refurbished condition) will be worth £18,000 and a time warp condition Griff will be £45,000 easy.

Remember though £45,000 in 2025 will be more like £25,000 in today's money, as a 13 year investment it's actually not an earth shattering return.

My advise is dont buy a TVR as an investment, buy one now while they're good value because you want one, and then enjoy driving it.

If by 2025 you find you've made a reasonable profit, that's just a bonus following your 13 years of TVR driving pleasure.

I purchased a Jap import MG RV8 in Oxford blue around 4 years ago .I paid £10000 for it ,it sold three months ago for £16000..Its a mid nineties car ,this car will go up in value because of it`s pedigree and only 2000 were made..

Don`t think the Chimaera will follow suit .

If you want a nineties v8 and want your car to appreciate buy a MG RV8.!This was my car

All true Daz, and it just goes to show how ill-informed and deluded the average classic car buyer is.

It really is a crying shame people fail to realise a good Chimaera is by far the better car.

There were quite a few back to back MG RV8 vs Chimaera evaluations conducted by the media when these two cars were current.

On the face of it they may have seemed like obvious competitors, but in every case the Chimaera was declared the clear victor.

Not surprising really when you understand the MG RV8 is nothing more than a worked over MGB, which itself is a design that pre-dates the Chimaera by some 30 years.

For the £16k someone paid for your old MG RV8 the buyer could have bought a very nice Chimaera and spent half of what they saved to make it the perfect example of what it should have been in the first place.

And he would still have enough left over to take his improved TVR on an epic grand tour around Europe, just like I do in mine every year.

Instead of that Mr MG RV8 will be going to dull & very safe classic car shows and spending his time telling everyone how all MGs are classics because they have an MG badge on the bonnet.

The smart money would definitely have been on a Chimaera.

Totaly agree with you the Chimaera looks better ,handles better and still looks pretty modern .
The RV8 does feel solid,steering is good and everything is well refined and better built.

Because of its limited numbers and name you will always get your money back or even make a profit.

The main difference between my RV8 (19000) and TVR is the MG looked as new but the TVR is a bit tired ..

Bravo Chimpofdarkness, probably the best written analysis/reply I've read on ph.

I believe a sports car should be an emotive purchase.

We buy 'em coz we love 'em