Phasing out of the Chimaera 400. When exactly?

[ianwayne]

Does anyone have a definitive answer on this? Can't find out much myself, but a bout of paranoia about the value of my 2000 reg. 400 led me to some valuation websites (which vary wildly), all of which insist that 1999 was the last year of the 400. At least, the drop down menus stop at '99 V.

A friend of mine had a brand new one in late 2000 but by then you had to have a 450 or 500. I believe the last few were 450s only too. Mine was a company car for it's first 2 years ( ) so was perhaps on order for a while.

[Chimaeraman]

My X reg 400 was first registered in September 2000.

[Trevor450]

This will help with decoding the VIN which should tell you the build year and number.

http://www.tvrblog.com/chassis-number-meaning-for-...

My 450 was built in Feb 2000 and was the 312th build for MY 2000. TVR model years run from October each year. It was registered in May 2000.

Edited by Trevor450 on Wednesday 2nd April 15:19

[ianwayne]

Chimaeraman said:

My X reg 400 was first registered in September 2000.

That is a late one, I thought my W reg was fairly late!

You may have the last one. The 1st buyer must have waited a wile to get the new reg on 1st Sept. It was a fairly new concept then, 2 new plate issues a year. It started in 1998.

[ianwayne]

Trevor450 said:

This will help with decoding the VIN which should tell you the build year and number.

http://www.tvrblog.com/chassis-number-meaning-for-...

My 450 was built in Feb 2000 and was the 312th build for MY 2000. TVR model years run from October each year. It was registered in May 2000.

Edited by Trevor450 on Wednesday 2nd April 15:19

I don't think all the information there is correct. There are many threads on VIN numbers suggestingg, for instance that character number 10 indicates the year,i.e. T-95, U-96 and so on, but this is the case in the USA. In the UK, it seems, T is 1996 so subsequently my X for 2000 is correct.

Also, many threads have characters 4 to 6 as DCC for the Chimaera (D for drophead) but mine are BA0. Also, character 8 is P for petrol but mine is R!

Edited by ianwayne on Wednesday 2nd April 17:46