December 1980 Factary List DH5142 to DH5150

[TasminTR7]

There is a December 1980 factory press car for sale on e-bay in ferrari red, there was a white press car on the bay last June sold for £3200 in very good condition. this one though is in bits but most have already been restored looks like all it needs is putting together the bid so far £1000, but the owner also has a sheet of paper that looks to be a factory list of cars just been made or going to be made, it starts with the car for sale here chassis number DH5142F1 in ferrari red with press car next to it then a name either the owners there going to or the men building the cars also brown trim with black hood in right hand drive, then DH5143F1 also in ferrari red with brown trim and black hood right hand drive, DH5144F1 black with brown trim, DH5145F1 Artic blue with blue trim and right hand drive, DH5146F1 white with brown trim in left hand drive, DH5147F1 silver with blue trim in right hand drive, DH5148F1 cosmos blue with blue trim in rh drive, DH5149F1 silver with brown trim in Lh drive, DH5150F1 oister gold, that is all i can make out but there is a phone number that i am going to ring to get some more info. but this is all amazing stuff if anyone here has owned any of these cars this tells you its date original trim and maybe name of the first owner or who signed it off, it has dates next to each car all in December 1980 but i can not make out the day.

[TasminTR7]

Just an observation but why is it that the few remaining early wedges are in such a state there are 2 in bits on e-bay at the moment and mine looks like it has been through a hedge backwards ripped seats wires everywhere a testament to 35 years and 16 owners i suppose, my w reg TR7 is the same age and in much better condition ok its metal body has rust here and there but the interior is good but then again only 2 owners in that time, but i would still like to get all 16 previous owners of my Tasmin together and say to them "hay look how you have treated this car just look at it now", there again some TVR owners fast and loose i suppose. Also numbers ok only 25 dhc made in 1980 but 91 made in 1981 why so few around, at BBWF you get one or two 280i'S if your lucky that's w reg to b reg where as at the TR Drivers Club national sixty w reg, x reg TR7s turned up, tomorrow i am at TVRCC Burghly house event last year if Andy (MrTank) had not turned up with all his range of wedges there would have been just one red Tasmin in the main show ring/area if you looked at the Taimar's which are older 1970s cars there was every model type there from 1960 to 1979 all immaculate a quite impressive line up. So that is one reason why i have just purchased this old Tasmin of mine to do it up and represent the wedges at shows along with my other Tasmins. So wedger's just as loyal and passionate about our cars as other types but the problem only a small band of us, if only we could get some of the young people that love our cars as we drive past them to actually go out and buy one. Anyway back to the main topic my excitement is growing now ok you guys maybe have already done this with the TVRCC or Heritage certificate but not me, i contacted the bloke selling the "in bits" Tasmin and it turns out he used to work for the TVR factory and his contact also used to work there since the 1980s and has the lists of all the wedges made at the factory so now he is finding out the day when my cars where completed the original colour's and trim and the names of the first owners and what number sequence dhc my early car is all amazing stuff, i will report back next week.

[mrzigazaga]

Hi Martin...That is a good question...I wish i had an answer, From personal experience if i had listened early on to people then i wouldn't of bought Delilah and brought her back to a reliable driving condition or experienced what i did, Okay the interior needed doing but wasn't too bad and if the current owner was to contact me then i would love to re-trim her...After the disastrous attempt of supercharging her i couldn't plough any more money in her but did want a bit more wellie...After driving Poppy Delilah felt really slow and sluggish and i was bitten by the V8 having never owned one.

However saying all of this Delilah was certainly a journey of love..Hate..Frustration..Ridicule...Fun & Laughter, She literally brought me out of the darkness after 28 years of illness...She brought me new and wonderful friends and even helped me find my father after 30 years who unfortunately passed away two weeks later, He loved her and called her "Posh" bless him..If only he knew.

I still love that car in my heart and without her would not of been here today...There were a couple of sad moments tied to her one of them being my father passing away so i couldn't keep her, The help and knowledge from this forum is what drives me to create the yearly Wedge calendar and now organise the BBWF, And to be fair its the least i can do for something that burns with so much passion.

I guess in the bigger picture the fact that there are not many left is a good thing in terms of increasing values..A good investment for the little ones..

If i could do it all over again i would....

Long live the Wedge...Long live TVR.

[TasminTR7]

Hi Mark, Yes mate like you say restoring an old car i imagine is fun, frustrating, gives you something to do with your spare time and at the end if done well must give you a sense of satisfaction, its a rare british beast. I will give you a call when i start to see what spares you have but i am well pleased that Delilah did help you in your life indeed turned it around so that we have the best man at the helm of BBWF every year and to do so much for the wedge cause, god bless Zig, i will be at this years BBWF and count me in when you get a price for the new TVR book cheers.