Gone but not forgotten

[Rawhide]

Hi all, I have had to sell my lovely 4.5 to fund a building project and keep SWMBO happy. In truth emotions aside there were a shed load of reasons to sell the car and a short list to keep it.

Cons;

Wife could not see over the dashboard
Wife has to sit bolt upright when the childseat and our 2 year old son is in the back
Maintenance bills were becoming hard to hide from the family :S
Lack of practicality
New puppy joined the family
Cash needed for house developments (budget managed by SWMBO)
Only managed to do about 2.5k this year
Less usage expected during winter

Pros;

Being able to look at the most beautiful car made on my driveway
The noises and performance
Owning a part of British motoring history
The squeals of delight from a two year old boy as 'Daddy car go fast'

Added to that I'm probably not the best fit for a TVR owner. I don't have enough time to fettle as much as I'd like due to family/work commitments. I also like my cars 'fault free' which is hard to maintain on an ageing TVR.

The inevitable question follows - what do you replace a Cerbera with? Porsche, Lotus? Well on the day of sale whilst on holiday I put a deposit down blind on one of these.



For those that don't know their Renault's it's a very desirable limited run Trophy model with Sachs dampers. It's a totally different ownership proposition but it's a lot of fun to drive, especially in winter and I hope to do some more trackdays this year. The balance is fantastic and it begs to be driven hard.

I managed to bag a very cheap low mileage (26k) car which will be used as a second car so should keep some of it's value. It needs it's dampers rebuilt (being done) and cambelt done (just replaced) but other than that drives fantastic.

I shall really miss Cerbera ownership. What a fantastic experience. I am happy that I passed the car on in better condition to it's new owner than when I bought it at auction. I am sorry that it's off to Germany and won't be on the UK roads for much longer.

Thanks to those who helped me with my numpty questions in the last year or so

[ukkid35]

Great meeting you and going to Bedford in your Cerb, sorry you've left, but understand where you're coming from. Have fun with the Clio, hope to see you at a track day soon.

[DarrenRGD]

I've just gone the other way, Clio to Cerb!
Difference being, mine was 200kgs lighter than a trophy, and 60 more Bhp, and it still wasn't a scratch on the tvr.
I can understand your reasoning, tho, but dont expect the french tin can to be fault free motoring, i actually expect to spend less time and money on my tvr! lol

[alphaone]

My pal has had 4 different versions of clio cup editions and had faults with them all, so I wouldnt expect too much on the reliability front.

[Mark.]

Make the bloke feel better you two!

[Rawhide]

I know the Clio reputation as a cheap French stbox so I'm not too concerned. I remember my friends cup shedding its parts during a hard ring trip! However it's less likely to sulk or leak with minimal use.

I've already replaced the melted steering wheel!

[Mark.]

My neighbour has a bogey green Clio Cup somethingorother, new-ish with black spoiler on the top of the hatch.

Looks a decent little car and he appears to love it, the only thing I think lets it down (apart from the colour but that's useful coming home in the dark as you just follow the glow) is the tail pipes - lack of. It has 2 holes in the rear valence that look like exhausts bit are actually fake as the real one exists behind the bumper.

[cerb4.5lee]

Sorry to see the cerb go, but I do love trophys a lot, a mate had one & I still think its the best handling car I've ever been in, my cerb 4.5 went in August after just over six years swapped it for a z4 m roadster... But I have to admit I am missing the cerb massively I have decided that the cerb just can't be replaced its just too special, my zed has 343bhp but feels lacklustre in performance terms compared the cerb.

I want another TVR already!

[FUBAR]

cerb4.5lee said:

I want another TVR already!

Come home buddy, we'll forgive you

[cerb4.5lee]

FUBAR said:

cerb4.5lee said:

I want another TVR already!

Come home buddy, we'll forgive you

Thanks Fubar, I don't know what I was thinking letting it go, i appreciate your sentiment loads!

[EdT]

I've had 4 TVRs now.. currently TVR less. Was 'doing fine' until a shiny 4.5 overtook my on way to work early this morning. It actually hurts.

[bobbins]

Nothing wrong with French hot hatches, hope it's as good to you as it can be.