New member from Norway, in the market for first TVR
Discussion
Hello guys, Ive been drooling over TVRs for a time now, and Ive allways loved the styling of the Chimaera, so thats my choice 
Furthermore, here in Norway there are no TVRs, and therefore no TVR dealers or repairshops... but we have experts on the rover engine, so thats another point to the chim.
Im handy with tools and run my own wheel/rim repair shop where I can fix easy stuff...
We have quite high importtaxes on engine size here so Ill go for a 400 from 95-97, I want PAS, Serpentine / T5, excellent chassis and outriggers, good history... a generally sorted car. I have about 10.000 to spend and I found this car at Drivestyle:
http://www.dhctvr.co.uk/used_car_tvr_chimaera_conv...
Anyone know anything about it?
Looking forward to most likely owning the only Chimaera in Norway
Furthermore, here in Norway there are no TVRs, and therefore no TVR dealers or repairshops... but we have experts on the rover engine, so thats another point to the chim.
Im handy with tools and run my own wheel/rim repair shop where I can fix easy stuff...
We have quite high importtaxes on engine size here so Ill go for a 400 from 95-97, I want PAS, Serpentine / T5, excellent chassis and outriggers, good history... a generally sorted car. I have about 10.000 to spend and I found this car at Drivestyle:
http://www.dhctvr.co.uk/used_car_tvr_chimaera_conv...
Anyone know anything about it?
Looking forward to most likely owning the only Chimaera in Norway
No knowledge on that particular car, the comment on a fantastic conditon of the underneath would need to be confirmed by an inspection as the outrigger rot starts from the top, generally, and is difficult to see.
Theres some buying advice here;
http://www.chimaerapages.com/resources_buyers.php
Good luck with your search.
Theres some buying advice here;
http://www.chimaerapages.com/resources_buyers.php
Good luck with your search.
I went to see this one before previous owner traded it in.
Overall in very good condition and had a stack of paperwork to back up the service history. The outriggers appeared solid and the owner had just treated and painted them.
It did though have a whine from back end ? diff possibly
Price wise previous owner was selling for far less private and I assume that the trade in value was lower still so maybe room for negotiation there
Overall in very good condition and had a stack of paperwork to back up the service history. The outriggers appeared solid and the owner had just treated and painted them.
It did though have a whine from back end ? diff possibly
Price wise previous owner was selling for far less private and I assume that the trade in value was lower still so maybe room for negotiation there
My method of buying at a good price, without travelling the country, was to buy private and ask the seller to take it to a local tvr service centre for the mechanics to check it over (for this service the price ranges from £25 to £100, and can all be arranged by phone).
You will get an honest independent/profesional opinion on the car. After two or three dissapointments, I bought a 98 Chimaera, 70k miles this way.I was advised to buy, which after 12 month of ownership I can say was good advice.
The chim you are interested in looks good, but about £1k to £1.5k overpriced in my opinion.
Visited Norway for last two years, love the country and the people, I didn't see a tvr by the way.
Good luck with your venture.
You will get an honest independent/profesional opinion on the car. After two or three dissapointments, I bought a 98 Chimaera, 70k miles this way.I was advised to buy, which after 12 month of ownership I can say was good advice.
The chim you are interested in looks good, but about £1k to £1.5k overpriced in my opinion.
Visited Norway for last two years, love the country and the people, I didn't see a tvr by the way.
Good luck with your venture.
phillpot said:
Just a shame about the price of beer (and nearly everything else)! 
Yea prices here are rediculous, but its easy to earn a good bit of money... dont understand why people vacate Oslo, but the mountains, fjords and Lofoten is awesome Car prices are the worst... 2or 3x England, a new Chim in 93 cost 100.000 pounds
My car only spends 4 month of the year in Norway due to the import tax! which is over £47,000 just can't justify paying that. Although the Chim. will be cheaper due to the age/engine size and power output. Please post what you find out as I might one day buy a Griff to import.
There are some Chims/Griffs and older TVR's registered in Norway as there used to be a rule you could bring in 1 car if you were going to move here and a few people registered their TVR's. Unfortunalely they stopped this about 10 years ago
There are some Chims/Griffs and older TVR's registered in Norway as there used to be a rule you could bring in 1 car if you were going to move here and a few people registered their TVR's. Unfortunalely they stopped this about 10 years ago
Per has a Griff in northern Norway (or did last time he was at the Growl). This is his profile:
http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/profile.asp?mem...
FFG
http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/profile.asp?mem...
FFG
Getsis said:
My car only spends 4 month of the year in Norway due to the import tax! which is over £47,000 just can't justify paying that. Although the Chim. will be cheaper due to the age/engine size and power output. Please post what you find out as I might one day buy a Griff to import.
There are some Chims/Griffs and older TVR's registered in Norway as there used to be a rule you could bring in 1 car if you were going to move here and a few people registered their TVR's. Unfortunalely they stopped this about 10 years ago
Ditch the car and spend the money on the lovley Norwegion women ! good value for money There are some Chims/Griffs and older TVR's registered in Norway as there used to be a rule you could bring in 1 car if you were going to move here and a few people registered their TVR's. Unfortunalely they stopped this about 10 years ago
Im getting excited thinking about it !Can`t forget "Randy" when i went to Turkey
....i could be tempted to sell as I fancy a Tuscan at some point this year.
1996 4.0 HC, Starmist green,Serpentine and T5 gearbox. 500 wheels, Magnolia and biscuit interior, lots & lots of history, new rear window, recent clutch,suspension rebuilt with Powerflex bushes and new Spax dampers and the list goes on.
PM me if you want pictures.
Regards
Rob.
1996 4.0 HC, Starmist green,Serpentine and T5 gearbox. 500 wheels, Magnolia and biscuit interior, lots & lots of history, new rear window, recent clutch,suspension rebuilt with Powerflex bushes and new Spax dampers and the list goes on.
PM me if you want pictures.
Regards
Rob.
Heres one for you, just come up for sale, a fellow P.H er and a very good car by all accounts.
http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/3554109.htm
http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/3554109.htm
TJC46 said:
Heres one for you, just come up for sale, a fellow P.H er and a very good car by all accounts.
http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/3554109.htm
yea this one looks nice, but I guess the papers on it says 275 bhp, which gives some hefty norwegian toll over the 400s 240bhp...http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/3554109.htm
Im hoping to get this one, I love the exterior(aston) and interior colours... Ive talked to them and will get a good discount since its export... the lexus rears and wooden steeringwheel has to go away though... not my cup of pee... If you know something about this car please tell!
http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/2881419.htm
Hi there,
I live in Sweden and have just bought a Chimaera 4.0 1998.
I saw many cars on pistonhead and like everyone got excited, then I took a flight to England with a friend of mine who is a mechanic.
I saw a few that were with dealers and I got very excited, but my mechanic friend was not impressed with the cars we saw. Me personally I got carried away looking at the cars and they all shined and looked great but my friend quickly checked the cars out and soon brought me back down to earth, they were well polished and many things were covered up underneath with new wax oil plus other various problems.
I eventually found a good one from a private seller, the car was still with the usual stone chips on the front and he had the full service history of the car which is so important, and the vehicle was original with no modifications except new wheels and tyres and drove very well.
So my advice
1 Take a friend who has done his homework on the car you are looking for, a mechanic with good knowledge of performance cars.
2 just because it looks shiny don't get to impressed
3 listened to your mechanic as he has your interest at heart and he probably will be doing any servicing so he does not want you to buy a bad one.
4 Be carefully of extremely low mileage Tvrs if the service book and full history is not available ( Its important you see the last 4 or 5 Not certificates) they have the mileage of the car. MOT is the same as the Bil provning.
5 Low price cars does not mean its a good one, sometimes can mean owner fed up of the car as had a lot of problems, little extra more money you pay initially can save you a lot of money in the long run.
6 Remember these cars are more than 12 years old so expect some problems but not major ones e.g lift the car up on ramp check the chassis and out riggers, exhaust,wish bones and general suspension.
7 As I said I live in Sweden and am importing my new car now, make sure you get registration document with car and owner does not send it back to DVLA ( Department of vehicles Uk) if this happens its a nightmare to get it back as required by the vehicle registration here in Sweden. I have spent the last 3 weeks getting it back after many phone calls. So ring your import or vehicle registration department in Norway to ask what you need to get from England.
8 Make sure you insure car to bring it back to ferry to get it to Norway, English police have a system that reads number plates and can tell them the car is not insured, or taxed or mot'd, if you drive without these items they can and will impound your new car until you get the right paperwork to drive. Doesn't matter whether you are from another country you have to abide by the law in England, its not worth chancing it, impound fees are expensive per day. I got my insurance company to give me a temporary insurance to get it back to Sweden..
If you need anymore info let me know
Good luck
Regards
Paul
I live in Sweden and have just bought a Chimaera 4.0 1998.
I saw many cars on pistonhead and like everyone got excited, then I took a flight to England with a friend of mine who is a mechanic.
I saw a few that were with dealers and I got very excited, but my mechanic friend was not impressed with the cars we saw. Me personally I got carried away looking at the cars and they all shined and looked great but my friend quickly checked the cars out and soon brought me back down to earth, they were well polished and many things were covered up underneath with new wax oil plus other various problems.
I eventually found a good one from a private seller, the car was still with the usual stone chips on the front and he had the full service history of the car which is so important, and the vehicle was original with no modifications except new wheels and tyres and drove very well.
So my advice
1 Take a friend who has done his homework on the car you are looking for, a mechanic with good knowledge of performance cars.
2 just because it looks shiny don't get to impressed
3 listened to your mechanic as he has your interest at heart and he probably will be doing any servicing so he does not want you to buy a bad one.
4 Be carefully of extremely low mileage Tvrs if the service book and full history is not available ( Its important you see the last 4 or 5 Not certificates) they have the mileage of the car. MOT is the same as the Bil provning.
5 Low price cars does not mean its a good one, sometimes can mean owner fed up of the car as had a lot of problems, little extra more money you pay initially can save you a lot of money in the long run.
6 Remember these cars are more than 12 years old so expect some problems but not major ones e.g lift the car up on ramp check the chassis and out riggers, exhaust,wish bones and general suspension.
7 As I said I live in Sweden and am importing my new car now, make sure you get registration document with car and owner does not send it back to DVLA ( Department of vehicles Uk) if this happens its a nightmare to get it back as required by the vehicle registration here in Sweden. I have spent the last 3 weeks getting it back after many phone calls. So ring your import or vehicle registration department in Norway to ask what you need to get from England.
8 Make sure you insure car to bring it back to ferry to get it to Norway, English police have a system that reads number plates and can tell them the car is not insured, or taxed or mot'd, if you drive without these items they can and will impound your new car until you get the right paperwork to drive. Doesn't matter whether you are from another country you have to abide by the law in England, its not worth chancing it, impound fees are expensive per day. I got my insurance company to give me a temporary insurance to get it back to Sweden..
If you need anymore info let me know
Good luck
Regards
Paul
paulskel said:
5 Low price cars does not mean its a good one, sometimes can mean owner fed up of the car as had a lot of problems, little extra more money you pay initially can save you a lot of money in the long run.
Very true, but also be aware there are some very optimistically priced 'pride and joys' out there. I always remember searching through S-Series for my first TVR and the roughest examples I saw were all asking top dollar. I put my finger through the chassis of one of them!
OleVix said:
Hello guys, Ive been drooling over TVRs for a time now, and Ive allways loved the styling of the Chimaera, so thats my choice
Furthermore, here in Norway there are no TVRs, and therefore no TVR dealers or repairshops... but we have experts on the rover engine, so thats another point to the chim.
Im handy with tools and run my own wheel/rim repair shop where I can fix easy stuff...
We have quite high importtaxes on engine size here so Ill go for a 400 from 95-97, I want PAS, Serpentine / T5, excellent chassis and outriggers, good history... a generally sorted car. I have about 10.000 to spend and I found this car at Drivestyle:
http://www.dhctvr.co.uk/used_car_tvr_chimaera_conv...
Anyone know anything about it?
Looking forward to most likely owning the only Chimaera in Norway
Ole, there is a better one here: http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/3401346.htmFurthermore, here in Norway there are no TVRs, and therefore no TVR dealers or repairshops... but we have experts on the rover engine, so thats another point to the chim.
Im handy with tools and run my own wheel/rim repair shop where I can fix easy stuff...
We have quite high importtaxes on engine size here so Ill go for a 400 from 95-97, I want PAS, Serpentine / T5, excellent chassis and outriggers, good history... a generally sorted car. I have about 10.000 to spend and I found this car at Drivestyle:
http://www.dhctvr.co.uk/used_car_tvr_chimaera_conv...
Anyone know anything about it?
Looking forward to most likely owning the only Chimaera in Norway
I have sent you an email about it. My friend has put a deposit on a Tuscan 2 S now and needs to raise the difference by selling this Chimaera which he has only had for 4 months. The car can be bought directly from my friend at considerably less than the advertised price, if a quick sale can be negotiated. I believe the car was previously owned by John Simpson's wife, so it is a supreme example and has never needed for anything.
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