When did wedges get so cheap?

[Chris71]

Just been browsing the classifieds and noticed you can now get a nice 400SE for barely more than £5k it appears. That's an awful lot of car for the money!

http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/2822015.htm

http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/2734088.htm

There are some nice S-Series cars on the market for that sort of price too. Wish I had more money and garage space...

[haircutmike]

If the red one had been for sale when buying my chim, I would have bought it and spent the money saved on a good 5.0 engine for it, looks perfect.

[Chris71]

Seems to have all the right stuff done to it already that one.

[grahamw48]

I thought you didn't like Wedges.

Actually prices have been pretty static for maybe 5 years now.

Having previously owned this car, I'd say it was the biggest bargain of the past few months, and I was sick at not being able to buy it back.
A particularly quick one too.

http://www.pistonheads.co.uk/sales/2794146.htm



...Hope they don't go up before I get my next one.

[Chris71]

I'm warming to them!

Don't think I'd seriously be able to get one, though, as I'll probably have to do something sensible with the money whenever I move on from the Chim. But it is a lot of car for the money.

[pwd95]

Ridiculous bargains at the mo. £3k for a V8 TVR!!! £10k for a rusty old Triumph.......

http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/2930735.htm


http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/2866139.htm

Crazy.

[haircutmike]

pwd95 said:

Ridiculous bargains at the mo. £3k for a V8 TVR!!! £10k for a rusty old Triumph.......

http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/2930735.htm


http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/2866139.htm

Crazy.

True, but the Triumph still has that iconic British charm and character, I guess that's what people pay for.
Of course those in the know get something similar, but not such a household name for considerably less!

[grahamw48]

Triumph TR6 = rust rust and more rust.

I have driven newish ones, and already rusting of course.

The 280 Wedge is quicker and sooo much more exclusive, still British but not stamped out by the thousand.

- Happy to be one of those 'in the know'.

[JMF894]

One of the reasons wedges have always attracted me is because of the 'bang for your buck' value. But, you need to be careful. Before I bought my 450 I had a wanted add on Pistonheads and one car I considered was a 400SE that the owner wanted around 5k for. Looked quite good in the pictures but I had Rob Ingleby inspect it for me. He valued it at around 3k and to be honest it sounded a bit of a basket case. Shagged interior, needed paint, oil leaks, shot bushes, dials not working, rusty rim bolts..................to name but a few issues.


A car isn't cheap until you've seen it, driven it, inspected it. And it still hits all the buttons...........

Jimbo

[grahamw48]

Agree absolutely.

I think you hit the nail on the head with 'bang for your buck' though.

[Mr MoJo]

Yep, the bargain of TVR ownership at the moment. Would love a 400 SE to add the stable but funds are limited at present. A sure fire investment IMHO.

The grey one above is stunning

Eta Just noticed a you can pick up a very nice looking SEAC in the classifieds for £12k right now !!

Luckily I can't place my hands on 12k spare cash at this moment or I could be in serious trouble with the 710 !!

Edited by Mr MoJo on Monday 20th June 01:25

[Chris71]

JMF894 said:

A car isn't cheap until you've seen it, driven it, inspected it. And it still hits all the buttons...

True. But the going rate for a wedge seems to be remarkably low for what they are. Some will be dogs, but even the last production TVRs can be hiding rusty chassis and ropey engines by now. Coincidentally, when I looked at S-Series cars before I bought my previous TVR the condition was almost inversely proportional to price! There were some pretty tired S2s and 3s going for top money, but the second best one I saw was ancient S1 going for peanuts.

Talking about the age of the wedges does raise an interesting point. Maybe they're on the verge of (widely regarded) classic status? Thinking about it, the Chimaera and Griffith were still relatively current until a few years ago, leaving them as the '2nd hand modern TVR', older machinery like Ms and Taimars as the true classics and the wedges as simply 'something in between' neither modern nor classic. Maybe now the '90s cars are transitioning from contemporary to classic themselves it'll cause people to re-evaluate the wedges too?

[JMF894]

Chris71 said:

True. But the going rate for a wedge seems to be remarkably low for what they are. Some will be dogs, but even the last production TVRs can be hiding rusty chassis and ropey engines by now. Coincidentally, when I looked at S-Series cars before I bought my previous TVR the condition was almost inversely proportional to price! There were some pretty tired S2s and 3s going for top money, but the second best one I saw was ancient S1 going for peanuts.

Talking about the age of the wedges does raise an interesting point. Maybe they're on the verge of (widely regarded) classic status? Thinking about it, the Chimaera and Griffith were still relatively current until a few years ago, leaving them as the '2nd hand modern TVR', older machinery like Ms and Taimars as the true classics and the wedges as simply 'something in between' neither modern nor classic. Maybe now the '90s cars are transitioning from contemporary to classic themselves it'll cause people to re-evaluate the wedges too?

Well let's hope so. I've always felt they are underrated. You are right of course, every now and then a genuine bargain can be found. But you have to be canny and quick.

And I really really really want those wheels off that grey 390 se above.......

[grahamw48]

Very rare and sought after 16 x 9 OZ Tuscan racer splits (re-furbed).

[LordGrover]

Wedges. They just look like evil s.
Definitely growing on me. One day, maybe...

[grahamw48]

Can be made to handle, and go quickly too.

This is the car in the video:



... at Oulton:

.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b5nEARx0PD4&fea...

[haircutmike]

Very nice, right up my street!

OK, I'll swap for my chim .

[grahamw48]

That's a lovely Chim you have, and I always remember it from those beautiful wheels, which IMO set it off so well.

It looks to be the same colour as my old 400SE.

Edited by grahamw48 on Monday 20th June 15:28

[LordGrover]

Get a room you two!

[grahamw48]