Chim's at the lower end of the market
Discussion
Possibly looking at getting a Chim for a weekend car, working with a budget that puts me in the lower end of the market with the earlier cars, idea being it leaves me with about £2,000 for any chassis work it will need when it comes to it.
Is there really any issue with buying at the lower end of the market?
My two options at the moment is this or try and get a rough '70 Charger imported from the US, but I want to explore both avenues properly
Is there really any issue with buying at the lower end of the market?
My two options at the moment is this or try and get a rough '70 Charger imported from the US, but I want to explore both avenues properly
Don't be afraid to get a Cat D - or even a Cat C write off as long as the chassis wasn't damaged and then not repaired properly or if it was only body damage which has been repaired well as there is then no need for the car not to be totally fine yet the values have been knocked out of them. I just picked up a low mileage year 2000 car in excellent condition but with the Cat D status, it was £10k but similar cars are advertised at £17+. Just check the chassis and outriggers as these can be expensive repairs. Also who knows that a car without the status hasn't been crashed and repaired without going through the insurance co. and therefore avoided the Cat C/D mark? Condition is more important than age/mileage but if you get a properly repaired Cat C with no chassis damage that is also older and high mileage you may find a gem for under 7 - 8K. Good luck with your search.
You do not say what your budget is.
The cars at the bottom end of the price range need not be problems but you do need to go in eyes wide open.
I got a high mileage (83000) and high owners (11) 1994 Chimaera last year for £9000. It had new outriggers, engine rebuilt from a 400 to a 500, gearbox and diff rebuild, new shocks, oil cooler, MegaSquirt ECU, coil packs and a recent front end respray. It had been used in the TVR CC Sprint events for a few years. Mechanically sorted and very quick but needed a bit of TLC as the carpets and roof were a bit tatty.
I have spent about £600 so far and done a service myself, changed the induction system to a full silicone smooth bore, and also fitted a de-catted Clive Ford Y Piece and fixed a few small issues.
Just been quoted approx £1700 to do a complete retrim of the carpets and roof, which will give me a nice 500 for less than £12000 that is not not too 'special' to need wrapping in cotton wool.
The cars at the bottom end of the price range need not be problems but you do need to go in eyes wide open.
I got a high mileage (83000) and high owners (11) 1994 Chimaera last year for £9000. It had new outriggers, engine rebuilt from a 400 to a 500, gearbox and diff rebuild, new shocks, oil cooler, MegaSquirt ECU, coil packs and a recent front end respray. It had been used in the TVR CC Sprint events for a few years. Mechanically sorted and very quick but needed a bit of TLC as the carpets and roof were a bit tatty.
I have spent about £600 so far and done a service myself, changed the induction system to a full silicone smooth bore, and also fitted a de-catted Clive Ford Y Piece and fixed a few small issues.
Just been quoted approx £1700 to do a complete retrim of the carpets and roof, which will give me a nice 500 for less than £12000 that is not not too 'special' to need wrapping in cotton wool.
chimp427 said:
Some little gems will come along now and again where the owner is realistic. I paid £7500 for a well cared for 1995 400 just over a year ago that had had the outriggers done etc. Its needed very little work, just a little tidying here and there.
Sounds like a great buy. Do you have any pics? Excuse my nosiness!pits said:
Looking around the £8,000 mark, ive got around £11,000 to play with (hopefully)
So I was thinking older car, leaves 2k for any chassis work that needs doing.
not mine but spotted this = https://www.gumtree.com/p/other-cars/tvr-chimaera-...So I was thinking older car, leaves 2k for any chassis work that needs doing.
(ps - when fishing at this end, your are not allow to use phrases like....I don't like the colour lol ;-)
gmw9666 said:
I've seen this car, it's very tidy, almost bought it, the only reason I didn't was because I was v picky and wanted the door mirror openings. gmw9666 said:
That colour looks good in the pics, not normally a fan of green but appears to be a bit different. T5 gearbox as well I think. Some nice cars, sadly I'm about a month or so away from this so just trying to finally decide on what to buy, I look at loads of Chims and decide I want one, then for some reason I end up looking at project Chargers and decide on that.
I'm aware of a lot of the gremlins that they can suffer, and it is one of those things you appreciate with the type of car and the age, I'm more concerned about an early ones mostly being nails that I'm forever going to be pouring cash into.
As for colours, not come across one I haven't liked yet, though silver wouldn't be my first choice with any car.
Cat C/D doesn't put me off either, insurance companies repair to a standard and most TVR owners wont accept a car back if it has been bodged up.
The way I see it, it's a good fun car I can use on the weekend, upset the neighbours with the exhaust, not really lose any money it as I don't think they can go much lower, maybe even gain some value, but mostly I have fallen out of love with cars of recent, I miss working on something simple, modifying a car in a way that wont piss me off every day, throatier exhaust etc
Really I can't find anything else that ticks the box.
I'm aware of a lot of the gremlins that they can suffer, and it is one of those things you appreciate with the type of car and the age, I'm more concerned about an early ones mostly being nails that I'm forever going to be pouring cash into.
As for colours, not come across one I haven't liked yet, though silver wouldn't be my first choice with any car.
Cat C/D doesn't put me off either, insurance companies repair to a standard and most TVR owners wont accept a car back if it has been bodged up.
The way I see it, it's a good fun car I can use on the weekend, upset the neighbours with the exhaust, not really lose any money it as I don't think they can go much lower, maybe even gain some value, but mostly I have fallen out of love with cars of recent, I miss working on something simple, modifying a car in a way that wont piss me off every day, throatier exhaust etc
Really I can't find anything else that ticks the box.
I got mine for a snip two years ago, it had a new roof, new rear screen, new brakes, new suspension and a complete chassis restoration by Willow sports cars, it now has 80,000 miles on it. Cost ? £8,000. It`s a great car, it now needs new c/v joints, but that`s easy to do, good cars are out there.
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