One and a half TVRs...
Discussion
Hi folks,
Meet 'Kermit', my very green, very charismatic Chimaera.
It's a 1996 4.0l, with 43,000 on the clock. I've owned it for a year, during which it's been almost faultless, and has gone from being a car I was simply curious about (being someone simply 'ticking the TVR box', and not expecting to get on with the brand overly) to a car which has completely won me over to the charms of plastic cars from the North, and which I now can't really ever see me selling.
My previous sports car experience had mostly came from 5 years of Porsche 944 ownership, a lovely car which I miss still. However the '944 and TVR could not be any more different if they tried, and comparing the two serves only to illustrate just how different two modes of transport linked by the 'sports car' moniker can be. Where the Porsche was surefooted and competent, the TVR shakes and scrabbles; where the Porsche was quiet and sober, the TVR is extrovert and loud, and where the Porsche would entertain through it's balanced, predictable chassis, the TVR thrills with it's relative lack of balance or predictability. Before, I respected the way the Porsche's sheer depth of engineering ensured reliability. Now, I love the way the TVR just keeps going in spite of it's humble beginnings.
In short, over the last year I have learnt that in a car whose ultimate purpose is pleasure, for me at least, sheer extrovert drama wins over subtle engineering excellence.
Right, back to the TVR. In the past year it has covered nearly 5,000 miles without any major problems. It's been camping in a French forest and taken me to a wedding in Ireland. It's stood in as my work car when my normal car has been in the garage. It's covered many happy miles with the roof down across sun-dappled Dartmoor, and been down to Lands End. It's been pressed into service to transport beer kegs, and has even driven through a French village with the roof down and a stuffed fox peering out, raising a few eyebrows. And shrieks of laughter. And actual, horrified shrieks. Yes, really
:
So far it hasn't used a drop of oil, and other than a thorough service when I bought it, the only mechanical issue has been a bearing going in the pulley tensioner - I seem to remember about £50 and 5 minutes work to fix.
So, that's one TVR. What's this about a half? Well, allow me to introduce Kermit's big brother - the Toad.
Yes, it's a Range Rover - however as any true pistonhead knows, winter, offers the perfect excuse to splash out on some pointlessly big old 4x4, and justify the purchase by saying 'you won't be laughing when it snows'. Hence in November, we splashed out on a 1992 Range Rover Vogue SE, in Ardennes green, with a brown leather interior. So how is this half a TVR? Well, as I'm sure you've guessed, under the hood lies a slightly more excitable engine than standard:
A 4.0l, 240hp (ish) TVR V8, hooked up to the auto box, running on LPG and expelling it's fumes through a rather boisterous custom exhaust. I think the best way of describing the result of this very English merger is 'hilarious'.
Obviously, the performance is blunted by the auto box, the 2.2 tonne weight and the 4x4 system, but the Rangie still accelerates just well enough to entertain, and the exhaust note is 100% TVR, so scaring passers-by is only a blip of the throttle away. All this combines to make a car which you just have to drive flat out, purely for the hilarity of it. And as it doesn't accelerate as fast as a more conventional TVR, you find yourself on the gas for longer down the straights, you and your 4 passengers reveling in the awesome exhaust note as the revs slowly rise - and then you arrive at a corner, and remember the brakes are standard, the suspension is standard, and the fact you're sitting so far off the ground had disguised just how much speed you'd gained. So you pitch into the bend like some tacking sailing boat, and repeat the experience on the next straight. And for some reason you find that everywhere you drive to smells of burning brakes, and every mile you cover seems to cost a quid in gas. And despite the fact it hasn't snowed once in your corner of Devon, you don't regret your purchase one bit. Such a preposterous, entertaining vehicle!
In a way, 'the Toad' is more TVR than Land Rover. It's completely flawed - but that's what makes it what it is. Just like a TVR, the flaws equate to a unique character. And both Kermit and the Toad have more character than they know what to do with.
Meet 'Kermit', my very green, very charismatic Chimaera.
It's a 1996 4.0l, with 43,000 on the clock. I've owned it for a year, during which it's been almost faultless, and has gone from being a car I was simply curious about (being someone simply 'ticking the TVR box', and not expecting to get on with the brand overly) to a car which has completely won me over to the charms of plastic cars from the North, and which I now can't really ever see me selling.
My previous sports car experience had mostly came from 5 years of Porsche 944 ownership, a lovely car which I miss still. However the '944 and TVR could not be any more different if they tried, and comparing the two serves only to illustrate just how different two modes of transport linked by the 'sports car' moniker can be. Where the Porsche was surefooted and competent, the TVR shakes and scrabbles; where the Porsche was quiet and sober, the TVR is extrovert and loud, and where the Porsche would entertain through it's balanced, predictable chassis, the TVR thrills with it's relative lack of balance or predictability. Before, I respected the way the Porsche's sheer depth of engineering ensured reliability. Now, I love the way the TVR just keeps going in spite of it's humble beginnings.
In short, over the last year I have learnt that in a car whose ultimate purpose is pleasure, for me at least, sheer extrovert drama wins over subtle engineering excellence.
Right, back to the TVR. In the past year it has covered nearly 5,000 miles without any major problems. It's been camping in a French forest and taken me to a wedding in Ireland. It's stood in as my work car when my normal car has been in the garage. It's covered many happy miles with the roof down across sun-dappled Dartmoor, and been down to Lands End. It's been pressed into service to transport beer kegs, and has even driven through a French village with the roof down and a stuffed fox peering out, raising a few eyebrows. And shrieks of laughter. And actual, horrified shrieks. Yes, really
:So far it hasn't used a drop of oil, and other than a thorough service when I bought it, the only mechanical issue has been a bearing going in the pulley tensioner - I seem to remember about £50 and 5 minutes work to fix.
So, that's one TVR. What's this about a half? Well, allow me to introduce Kermit's big brother - the Toad.
Yes, it's a Range Rover - however as any true pistonhead knows, winter, offers the perfect excuse to splash out on some pointlessly big old 4x4, and justify the purchase by saying 'you won't be laughing when it snows'. Hence in November, we splashed out on a 1992 Range Rover Vogue SE, in Ardennes green, with a brown leather interior. So how is this half a TVR? Well, as I'm sure you've guessed, under the hood lies a slightly more excitable engine than standard:
A 4.0l, 240hp (ish) TVR V8, hooked up to the auto box, running on LPG and expelling it's fumes through a rather boisterous custom exhaust. I think the best way of describing the result of this very English merger is 'hilarious'.
Obviously, the performance is blunted by the auto box, the 2.2 tonne weight and the 4x4 system, but the Rangie still accelerates just well enough to entertain, and the exhaust note is 100% TVR, so scaring passers-by is only a blip of the throttle away. All this combines to make a car which you just have to drive flat out, purely for the hilarity of it. And as it doesn't accelerate as fast as a more conventional TVR, you find yourself on the gas for longer down the straights, you and your 4 passengers reveling in the awesome exhaust note as the revs slowly rise - and then you arrive at a corner, and remember the brakes are standard, the suspension is standard, and the fact you're sitting so far off the ground had disguised just how much speed you'd gained. So you pitch into the bend like some tacking sailing boat, and repeat the experience on the next straight. And for some reason you find that everywhere you drive to smells of burning brakes, and every mile you cover seems to cost a quid in gas. And despite the fact it hasn't snowed once in your corner of Devon, you don't regret your purchase one bit. Such a preposterous, entertaining vehicle!
In a way, 'the Toad' is more TVR than Land Rover. It's completely flawed - but that's what makes it what it is. Just like a TVR, the flaws equate to a unique character. And both Kermit and the Toad have more character than they know what to do with.
Edited by fivetenben on Thursday 8th March 16:25
Good proase and love the stuffed renard 
The Chimera is one car on the must be bought list. We already have a fleet of Land Rovers and previously tooled about in a Ginetta G33 with the 3.9 V8 RR lump so used to all the mechanicals...
Just have to convince SWMBO that she doesn't really 'need' an MX5 when a Chim would be a better bet and could go on a classic policy to boot?
The Chimera is one car on the must be bought list. We already have a fleet of Land Rovers and previously tooled about in a Ginetta G33 with the 3.9 V8 RR lump so used to all the mechanicals...
Just have to convince SWMBO that she doesn't really 'need' an MX5 when a Chim would be a better bet and could go on a classic policy to boot?
m3jappa said:
Nice cars but there appears to be a fox sitting behing you in one of the shots 
That's no fox! That's my car alarm... Seriously, the stuffed fox is the result of us stumbling across an antiques fair in a French village. For some reason, my friend decided to haggle it's price down to 12 euros and buy it for me - a somewhat unusual impulse buy I'm sure you'll agree. Still, it was worth it purely for the looks on the faces of the residents of Milly-le-Foret as they first spotted 'le TVR', watched it burble past, then became thoroughly confused when they noticed a fox proudly looking out across the lowered hood! Far from being a one-off, 'Fred the Fontainebleau fox' has started a bit of a tradition, as he's recently been joined by 'Percy the polecat'. Who knows where this might lead...
Thanks for all the positive comments folks.
Well, Kermit has just sailed through its MOT, and spring is in the air, so yesterday morning saw its first roof-down Dartmoor burble of the year. A few pics, in a landscape which will be familiar to anyone who's seen Stephen Spielberg's 'Warhorse':
And one that Speilberg probably wouldn't recognize:
I was glad to see that despite not being used much over the last few months, the TVR ran like clockwork; however I was also reminded of a few jobs which I've put off, but need doing before it's trip to France next month. Firstly, the brake system appears to have what sounds like a vacuum leak - I'm guessing this is from the air line that goes from the master cylinder to the servo? I'll peruse 'The Bible' later, but this issue has all the hallmarks of being a rather excruciating experience to rectify! Also, the clutch pedal has acquired a squeak, and the dashboard lights between the speedo and rev counter need re-aligning, as I knocked them out of place when I took the dash top off a few months ago. Still, once these jobs and a service are done, Kermit should be all ready to head to the continent for Easter.
PS- I lied about the MOT; it actually failed on a lack of lighting to the rear number-plate. Once I pointed out it was backlit, it passed.
As for the Range Rover, it continues to provoke laughter from of it's occupants every time the key is turned. However, the ownership experience is being soured slightly by the lack of LPG stations nearby - would you believe that there appear to be no petrol stations selling LPG whatsoever in Plymouth?! This means that far too much seems to be being spent on 98 unleaded for our liking, so the beast will probably go up for sale in the spring, to make way for something more suited to summer fun. However, as we brought it to tackle the harsh challenges of a Dartmoor winter (which didn't materialize, probably for the sole reason that we were actually prepared this year) it would be a shame to part with it without even testing it's 4x4 credentials one bit. In light of this, can anyone recommend any non-damaging 4x4 routes in Devon that would make a nice day out for it?!
And one that Speilberg probably wouldn't recognize:
I was glad to see that despite not being used much over the last few months, the TVR ran like clockwork; however I was also reminded of a few jobs which I've put off, but need doing before it's trip to France next month. Firstly, the brake system appears to have what sounds like a vacuum leak - I'm guessing this is from the air line that goes from the master cylinder to the servo? I'll peruse 'The Bible' later, but this issue has all the hallmarks of being a rather excruciating experience to rectify! Also, the clutch pedal has acquired a squeak, and the dashboard lights between the speedo and rev counter need re-aligning, as I knocked them out of place when I took the dash top off a few months ago. Still, once these jobs and a service are done, Kermit should be all ready to head to the continent for Easter.
PS- I lied about the MOT; it actually failed on a lack of lighting to the rear number-plate. Once I pointed out it was backlit, it passed.
As for the Range Rover, it continues to provoke laughter from of it's occupants every time the key is turned. However, the ownership experience is being soured slightly by the lack of LPG stations nearby - would you believe that there appear to be no petrol stations selling LPG whatsoever in Plymouth?! This means that far too much seems to be being spent on 98 unleaded for our liking, so the beast will probably go up for sale in the spring, to make way for something more suited to summer fun. However, as we brought it to tackle the harsh challenges of a Dartmoor winter (which didn't materialize, probably for the sole reason that we were actually prepared this year) it would be a shame to part with it without even testing it's 4x4 credentials one bit. In light of this, can anyone recommend any non-damaging 4x4 routes in Devon that would make a nice day out for it?!
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