4.5 or 4.2? -It's a 4.5!
Discussion
After a lot of good advice on here I did buy the 4.5. I would like to thank you all for your help and try to do a little write up.
My first drive in a Cerbera was something like twelve years ago. Sure I wanted one right away, but it was far out of reach at that time. Instead I bought a Wedge a little later which I drive for ten years now, and I love it. -I just never really got over that other car…
In the meantime I was involved in importing two Cerberas with a friend and got to drive a speed six and a 4.5 along the way. -This didn't help either. I browsed the classifieds on here and in Germany for a long time, and started actually looking for one two years ago. Only when I was so close to buying a 4.2 house moving distracted me -and the car was gone. After that exchange rates got worse for buying in GB, there were not so many attractive cars on the market (...) whatever it was, I lost track a little bit.
Two weeks ago, killing some time during the winter holiday, I saw this green 4.5 on mobile.de and called the seller -more for the fun of it, than with a real intention of buying. The "story" to the car sounded nice. -Are we all buying a story, or is it just me? So I started asking friends for their opinion ("BUY IT!"). I called a garage with a good reputation for their work on Cerberas and found a true enthusiast who talked me through what felt like everything. Oh, and he had one for sale as well, so I drove there and had a look. (See the other post.) It turned out this was the 4.2 I wanted to buy two years ago. Quite a coincidence?
Two days later a friend and I started at five in the morning to the far end of Germany. The car looked even better than on the photos, especially under the car. I tried not to loose all rationality, to look at all the places I was told, and asked for a test drive. The only thing I tested was my bravery, though. At 4 degrees, in enormous rain and on a very bad road I did not feel so brave. At least the suspension felt good and the engine was very smooth on part throttle... The whole car felt reassuring of sorts -like being hugged by the biggest bruiser in class -just don't do anything silly... Silly? -Ok, I take it!
The drive home was much better, the rain stopped and in the background somebody did cross-country skiing. It got warmer on the way home and for the last hour I of the drive I felt comfortable enough to let it roll a little bit. It was more stable and planted at speed than any other Cerbera I was in. Back at home I had a very big grin in my face.
Since then the car passed the family test: It does not smell of oil, otherwise my wife would hate it, and my little son only wanted me to drive through that tunnel again:-) He can even talk to me at a normal voice at 100kph, so it must be the perfect family car? The car passed the test by the TVR club mates, too. This feels especially nice as they probably know more about these cars than me. My only „worries" so far were sourcing a missing rubber bobbin and removing minor stains of glue on the leather. That’s not too bad for a 17 year old car, isn't it?
I cannot stop smiling
Henning
PS: Talking about coincidences: In the paperwork I found out this is the same car I had my first Cerbera-ride in twelve years ago.
My first drive in a Cerbera was something like twelve years ago. Sure I wanted one right away, but it was far out of reach at that time. Instead I bought a Wedge a little later which I drive for ten years now, and I love it. -I just never really got over that other car…
In the meantime I was involved in importing two Cerberas with a friend and got to drive a speed six and a 4.5 along the way. -This didn't help either. I browsed the classifieds on here and in Germany for a long time, and started actually looking for one two years ago. Only when I was so close to buying a 4.2 house moving distracted me -and the car was gone. After that exchange rates got worse for buying in GB, there were not so many attractive cars on the market (...) whatever it was, I lost track a little bit.
Two weeks ago, killing some time during the winter holiday, I saw this green 4.5 on mobile.de and called the seller -more for the fun of it, than with a real intention of buying. The "story" to the car sounded nice. -Are we all buying a story, or is it just me? So I started asking friends for their opinion ("BUY IT!"). I called a garage with a good reputation for their work on Cerberas and found a true enthusiast who talked me through what felt like everything. Oh, and he had one for sale as well, so I drove there and had a look. (See the other post.) It turned out this was the 4.2 I wanted to buy two years ago. Quite a coincidence?
Two days later a friend and I started at five in the morning to the far end of Germany. The car looked even better than on the photos, especially under the car. I tried not to loose all rationality, to look at all the places I was told, and asked for a test drive. The only thing I tested was my bravery, though. At 4 degrees, in enormous rain and on a very bad road I did not feel so brave. At least the suspension felt good and the engine was very smooth on part throttle... The whole car felt reassuring of sorts -like being hugged by the biggest bruiser in class -just don't do anything silly... Silly? -Ok, I take it!
The drive home was much better, the rain stopped and in the background somebody did cross-country skiing. It got warmer on the way home and for the last hour I of the drive I felt comfortable enough to let it roll a little bit. It was more stable and planted at speed than any other Cerbera I was in. Back at home I had a very big grin in my face.
Since then the car passed the family test: It does not smell of oil, otherwise my wife would hate it, and my little son only wanted me to drive through that tunnel again:-) He can even talk to me at a normal voice at 100kph, so it must be the perfect family car? The car passed the test by the TVR club mates, too. This feels especially nice as they probably know more about these cars than me. My only „worries" so far were sourcing a missing rubber bobbin and removing minor stains of glue on the leather. That’s not too bad for a 17 year old car, isn't it?
I cannot stop smiling
Henning
PS: Talking about coincidences: In the paperwork I found out this is the same car I had my first Cerbera-ride in twelve years ago.
Ok, you are right...
...here you are:
At first I was worried about this green being too boring maybe. The colour is "pentland green", and I really like it now.
Today I did some minor work with mayor effect:
-replaced some cheap plastic item off a Peugeot to securely attach the interior mirror to the windscreen. (5min and I could see out of the back again)
-checked the HT leads are fitted correctly, 3/8 were not(!) and played with the diagnostics cable and software for the first time.
(1.5h and the best power increase for the time/money ever and proper race engineer feeling: Driving around with a laptop showing stuff I do not understand, how cool is that?)
-found out how to shut the annoying beeper up (15min worth millions)
Allow for a cup of coffee and these were two hours which transformed the car;-)
Cheers
Henning
...here you are:
At first I was worried about this green being too boring maybe. The colour is "pentland green", and I really like it now.
Today I did some minor work with mayor effect:
-replaced some cheap plastic item off a Peugeot to securely attach the interior mirror to the windscreen. (5min and I could see out of the back again)
-checked the HT leads are fitted correctly, 3/8 were not(!) and played with the diagnostics cable and software for the first time.
(1.5h and the best power increase for the time/money ever and proper race engineer feeling: Driving around with a laptop showing stuff I do not understand, how cool is that?)
-found out how to shut the annoying beeper up (15min worth millions)
Allow for a cup of coffee and these were two hours which transformed the car;-)
Cheers
Henning
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