PH Fleet: Chimaera 4.0 And Supporting Cast
Two Germans and a Brit, all are good but one really stirs the soul
It’s been a while since I have chatted about my cars on PistonHeads and, in a rare moment of sanity, I seem to have kept hold of a couple of cars for more than a week or so. There is one newish addition that you might not know about and some old favourites that continue to impress. So let’s start with the newest German to make its home within the fleet.
1994 Mercedes-Benz E220 Estate
E220 looking like new
As a result, I needed a new car to use as a daily. I say this, but my ‘daily’ is never used more than a couple of times a week - the temptation to use the TVR is usually too strong - but my intentions are good and that’s all that counts.
Once again I was inexorably drawn to the PH classifieds, and found myself loitering in the Mercedes section as my addiction to anything built by Benz remains too strong to ignore. I considered S, SE, SEC, CE and SEL models with a variety of engines before a rare sensible moment hit me.
What I needed, I decided, was a smallish engine to cope with business miles and general pottering about. It also ought to be mid-sized, and it had to be as solid a Merc as was ever built. I needed a W124. A few weeks of looking and nothing caught my eye, until I spotted the car I eventually bought – a 1994 E220 estate in blue/black metallic, with grey cloth, walnut wood, seven seats and an automatic gearbox.
At the old house. TVR has a driveway now...
After viewing the car I noticed a few minor bits that needed attention and mentioned them; nothing serious but worth using as a bargaining tool. Instead of instantly giving me a load of excuses, the owner whisked the car away to get everything sorted, on the understanding that I would buy the car if he did. A week later I collected the Merc, cleaned and ready to go.
The car does not creak, rattle or groan. It starts immediately to a steady idle, and the auto 'box changes gear as smoothly as you could wish for. The chrome is bright, and the panels are straight. On a run it will do around 30mpg in true Merc silence, and it feels like it will last forever.
Problems? It’s long, and that means I sometime find that it takes me a while to find a suitably sized parking space in London, it has no air-con, so it’s a touch warm on a sunny day and, err, that’s it. Bargain motoring with bags of class. I love it and, if kept in good condition I doubt it will lose me much money either. Finally I have a car that can take my bicycle, the weekly shop and a few passengers, too. It's nice to have a big, reliable car again, especially one with the three-pointed star on the bonnet.
1990 Porsche 944S2
The Porsche soldiers on untroubled. Recently it sailed through the MOT and needed absolutely nothing doing to pass; it has been treated to a new set of Dunlop SP Sport rear tyres which set me back £180 fitted, and has been taxed for another year. That’s it.
Still looks great to me
I guess that I should expect it to feel good mechanically after having the engine worked on extensively at an OPC, but the sheer reliability and effectiveness of the front-engined Pork continues to impress. I think the styling has stood the test of time, too, and it looks very modern finished in white. Speaking of the bodywork, it remains corrosion-free in all of the usual trouble areas - which is a huge relief - and, while a few superficial blemishes are visible here and there, it is remarkably solid after all these years. In fact, the only really apparent wear is on the driver’s seat bolster, which lets the car down, but is something I can live with.
Still going strong at 155,000 miles
The Porsche is an effective tool, and has far more dynamic ability than its current market value suggests. It does lack one thing, though, and that is character. It does everything you ask of it and it does it well. It copes with whatever you throw at it and will sit in the street waiting for the next time you need it. But that’s what lets it down; it can be too effective and too sensible for its own good. I still love it, but I need another car for proper excitement...good thing i've got a TVR as well...
1999 TVR Chimaera 4.0
Perfect. Sunny day with the TVR
I don’t care that my car has the baby 4.0 engine fitted; it’s more than fast enough for most conditions and I’m as happy burbling along on a summers day as I am looking to wring every last ounce of power from it as I abuse the redline. The sleeved exhaust continues to make me smile every time I hear it, and watching pedestrians jump as the lift off bangs hurt their ears is a childish pleasure.
About to go on the rollers. The car, not Garlick
A few items have been replaced under the excellent Fernhurst warranty that came with the car, but nothing too dramatic. I’ve had a new thermostat fitted to cure a slightly weak heater, a new clutch slave cylinder (replaced after the Fernhurst team spotted a leak), new exhaust manifolds and a new boot release - nowhere near the poor TVR reliability that is so often mentioned and no worse than any other older, hand-built specialist car in my opinion. If you were more knowledgeable than me, most of this work could be carried out easily enough in the garage at home too.
On display at Dunsfold
It’s the car I should have bought a long time ago, and one that will make me shed a tear should I ever be in a position where I am forced to sell it. After working my way through many cars to find the perfect one, it seems that the car I was looking for was built in Blackpool around a Rover V8 by a bunch of enthusiasts. Thanks guys, you did a great job and have opened my eyes to what a real car is all about. I just don't want to drive anything else.
Your cars have done 340k miles between the 3, including a TVR that has done 50k.
And people moan that car has got too many miles on it etc when it's done 20k or 30k miles.
The old stuff is really well made.
I await a motorcycle article on the front page of PH with baited breath....
I ran a Yamaha TZR125R for about 2 years and then ran an R6 for a couple of years.
Whilst there is no question I preferred the R6, I absolutely loved my TZR and I doubt it was any less 'fun' than the bigger bike.
Best memory is outrunning a 911 C4S at 2am in the centre of Brussels at 5 consecutive sets of lights. The owner must have been a chimp as I was easily outgunned but I could see he was trying hard which made it all the sweeter.
The sound was glorious and anyone who has been been in some of the longer tunnels on the Brussels inner ring will appreciate how little need there is for a radio.
Only issues I had where starter motor heat soak on really hot days meaning I had to sit for a few minutes longer than expected at petrol stations and once the windscreen wipers stopped for no reason (only the once mind you which made me nervous of rain for a while).
If only TVR where still producing I may have had another.
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