Chimaera chassis number inquiry
Discussion
Hello to everyone. This is my first post in the PH forums.
I reside in Athens, Greece and am currently thinking of taking the brave step of purchasing a LHD Chimaera 4.0, advertised on sale locally.
I have yet to inspect the car but from the pictures in the website of the seller, it looks a rather tired example.
Anyways to the matter: after consulting various helpful posts in this forum, I have decoded the chassis number and it looks like it is an April 1994 model ("RD" in the relevant chassis number; btw it is advertised as a '96 model...).
However, two of the chassis digits have been "blanked off", namely the seventh and ninth digits. It reads as this: SDLDCC*P*RDxxxxxx (6 digits in the end, available). Moreover, judging from the pictures, the chassis number has also been blanked off in the front chassis cross-member.
Should this ring bells to me? And another question? Is there a complete register of Chim chassis numbers which I can consult and thus attempt to "recreate" the vehicle's history?
Thank you in advance for any replies and I hope to be excused for the long post (and any spelling - grammar mistakes!)
Panos
I reside in Athens, Greece and am currently thinking of taking the brave step of purchasing a LHD Chimaera 4.0, advertised on sale locally.
I have yet to inspect the car but from the pictures in the website of the seller, it looks a rather tired example.
Anyways to the matter: after consulting various helpful posts in this forum, I have decoded the chassis number and it looks like it is an April 1994 model ("RD" in the relevant chassis number; btw it is advertised as a '96 model...).
However, two of the chassis digits have been "blanked off", namely the seventh and ninth digits. It reads as this: SDLDCC*P*RDxxxxxx (6 digits in the end, available). Moreover, judging from the pictures, the chassis number has also been blanked off in the front chassis cross-member.
Should this ring bells to me? And another question? Is there a complete register of Chim chassis numbers which I can consult and thus attempt to "recreate" the vehicle's history?
Thank you in advance for any replies and I hope to be excused for the long post (and any spelling - grammar mistakes!)
Panos
I don't think you'll find any register of a '94 model ... Blackpool Thunder have obtained some "recovered" records of customer specification sheets but I don't think they'll go back that far....
The chassis number on the front chassis rail is not very clear and if the chassis has been repainted it will be obscured ... deliberate tampering of the VIN plate is odd ... In the UK the V5C/logbook would confirm any details, is a log book available? Also the handbook would record the VIN... You could also check the RV8 engine number on the block... that would also give the year of build. I think you're correct with April'94 .. so get the price reduced a little
...Good luck, can't be many TVRs in Greece
The chassis number on the front chassis rail is not very clear and if the chassis has been repainted it will be obscured ... deliberate tampering of the VIN plate is odd ... In the UK the V5C/logbook would confirm any details, is a log book available? Also the handbook would record the VIN... You could also check the RV8 engine number on the block... that would also give the year of build. I think you're correct with April'94 .. so get the price reduced a little
...Good luck, can't be many TVRs in Greece glow worm said:
I don't think you'll find any register of a '94 model ... Blackpool Thunder have obtained some "recovered" records of customer specification sheets but I don't think they'll go back that far....
The chassis number on the front chassis rail is not very clear and if the chassis has been repainted it will be obscured ... deliberate tampering of the VIN plate is odd ... In the UK the V5C/logbook would confirm any details, is a log book available? Also the handbook would record the VIN... You could also check the RV8 engine number on the block... that would also give the year of build. I think you're correct with April'94 .. so get the price reduced a little ...Good luck, can't be many TVRs in Greece
Thank you for the information!The chassis number on the front chassis rail is not very clear and if the chassis has been repainted it will be obscured ... deliberate tampering of the VIN plate is odd ... In the UK the V5C/logbook would confirm any details, is a log book available? Also the handbook would record the VIN... You could also check the RV8 engine number on the block... that would also give the year of build. I think you're correct with April'94 .. so get the price reduced a little
...Good luck, can't be many TVRs in Greece Do you have a link to any pictures (I can't see many people here nipping over to Greece to try and get it ). Around '94 they started changing bits, ie serp engine, T5 box. Do you know which it has?
When you say digits blanked off, is there nothing there or are they *s as you've shown.
). Around '94 they started changing bits, ie serp engine, T5 box. Do you know which it has?When you say digits blanked off, is there nothing there or are they *s as you've shown.
TarquinMX5 said:
Do you have a link to any pictures (I can't see many people here nipping over to Greece to try and get it ). Around '94 they started changing bits, ie serp engine, T5 box. Do you know which it has?
When you say digits blanked off, is there nothing there or are they *s as you've shown.
Here are some pictures (hope I am not breaking any copyright - no disclaimer however). Based on the gearshift pattern, It looks like a T5, which itself is strange, since this is an early (April) '94 car. Advertisement is fair to say that is wide off the mark (400 bhp - 600 kg!). Purportedly 27.5k miles...). There is nothing in the place where a digit should be. ). Around '94 they started changing bits, ie serp engine, T5 box. Do you know which it has?When you say digits blanked off, is there nothing there or are they *s as you've shown.
Edited by PK68 on Thursday 25th November 20:53
Edited by PK68 on Thursday 25th November 21:13
Edited by PK68 on Thursday 25th November 21:15
When I first looked only the chassis plate picture was showing but I found the advert (and the green one).
The white one has the later T5 box (the door opener is in a separate 'section', earlier gearbox it's beside the gear lever). Engine is a pre-serp.
The T5 was introduced approx April 1994 and there were some cars with pre-serp engine and T5; serp engine introduced late 1994; that car is a '94 one but possibly not regd until '96?
I understand that the pre-serps had a chassis plate welded onto the chassis, whereas serps had the number stamped in the chassis cross-member (but with a strengthener underneath the number, inside chassis rail). That one might have a chassis plate on a lower part of the chassis at the front, I can't see in the photos. I don't know about the chassis number in the picture, whether they ever left those 2 digits blank.
From my understanding of the chassis nos., that is a '94 number. However, I vaguely recall something about European certification requiring the chassis number to be actually stamped in the chassis, hence the change from the earlier chassis plate.
The white one has the later T5 box (the door opener is in a separate 'section', earlier gearbox it's beside the gear lever). Engine is a pre-serp.
The T5 was introduced approx April 1994 and there were some cars with pre-serp engine and T5; serp engine introduced late 1994; that car is a '94 one but possibly not regd until '96?
I understand that the pre-serps had a chassis plate welded onto the chassis, whereas serps had the number stamped in the chassis cross-member (but with a strengthener underneath the number, inside chassis rail). That one might have a chassis plate on a lower part of the chassis at the front, I can't see in the photos. I don't know about the chassis number in the picture, whether they ever left those 2 digits blank.
From my understanding of the chassis nos., that is a '94 number. However, I vaguely recall something about European certification requiring the chassis number to be actually stamped in the chassis, hence the change from the earlier chassis plate.
Thank you TarquinMX5.
Which inevitably leads to the question of whether this may be a RHD conversion.
Anyway, there is no point in continuously asking. I will contact the seller and if the price seems right, I will then pay a visit and have a lool at the car and revert.
Thank you all for the valuable input.
Which inevitably leads to the question of whether this may be a RHD conversion.
Anyway, there is no point in continuously asking. I will contact the seller and if the price seems right, I will then pay a visit and have a lool at the car and revert.
Thank you all for the valuable input.
I doubt that it's a RHD conversion, if you've concerns have a look at the finish on the inner wings as the brake fluid reservoir etc would have had holes where it was moved over, likewise the differences around the wiper motor and bonnet stay, which is also on the driver's side for rhd cars and the inner wing profiles are reversed, ie from what I can see, the inner wing profiles seem correct for what I'd expect in a LHD car, although I've not looked at a LHD one before. The wipers have also been switched from rhd.That's not to say it's not had a complete new front at some stage but it seems a lot of work.
It looks like the catalytic converter has been removed (decatted) from the Y-piece (the sports exhaust?), if that's an issue in Greece. Re the chassis, don't know if you're aware, colour changed from silver/grey to white in 1997, although many have had work/replacement etc since then; I can't tell which colour it is in the photo. From the photos, it looks to be a fairly original and unaltered (apart from exhaust, assuming Greece required cats in 1994) early car.
Good luck.
It looks like the catalytic converter has been removed (decatted) from the Y-piece (the sports exhaust?), if that's an issue in Greece. Re the chassis, don't know if you're aware, colour changed from silver/grey to white in 1997, although many have had work/replacement etc since then; I can't tell which colour it is in the photo. From the photos, it looks to be a fairly original and unaltered (apart from exhaust, assuming Greece required cats in 1994) early car.
Good luck.
Thank you for this glow worm. Very helpful.
I did a quick check on TVR VIN plate photos on the web and this really seems to be the case. Found earlier reg. cars ("P", so possibly 1992?) and the plates are completely different.
The fact that two digits are missing may also be, let's say, suspicious.
Also in this post:
https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...
of a '92 (?) car.
Can any other member provide input on the "amateurish" nature of the VIN plate?
Again, thanks in advance.
I did a quick check on TVR VIN plate photos on the web and this really seems to be the case. Found earlier reg. cars ("P", so possibly 1992?) and the plates are completely different.
The fact that two digits are missing may also be, let's say, suspicious.
Also in this post:
https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...
of a '92 (?) car.
Can any other member provide input on the "amateurish" nature of the VIN plate?
Again, thanks in advance.
Edited by PK68 on Friday 26th November 12:55
If the vin plate in the link you posted is one you think is a 92, I think that's a March 97 vin (V = 97, C = March). I've looked at the vin on the green 99 rhd car (but a 98 vin, W) also advertised in Greece; that plate is yet another version, this time incorporating the e-number.
Looking at their photos of the white car there are other stickers/plates on the other wing. One is silver, and my car has a similar looking sticker listing all the approval e-numbers. There's also another TVR plate above it which might just also show the vin? The metal plate you show might be an extra one for Greece?
I don't have a plate like the one shown above by Glow Worm.
Looking at their photos of the white car there are other stickers/plates on the other wing. One is silver, and my car has a similar looking sticker listing all the approval e-numbers. There's also another TVR plate above it which might just also show the vin? The metal plate you show might be an extra one for Greece?
I don't have a plate like the one shown above by Glow Worm.
That's a newer vin plate cut in half to get rid of the original numbers, probably. f
k sake, you can even see the two original rivet holes to the right where the vin plate used to end 
Does the car have any numbers stamped on the chassis?
Wild speculation but the above photo is from a left hand drive sagaris, it may be that this style of vin plate was needed for sales in Europe. Still doesn't explain the reason that it's been cut in half and stamped with an ebay stamp set.
Edited by s p a c e m a n on Friday 26th November 19:38
s p a c e m a n said:
That's a newer vin plate cut in half to get rid of the original numbers, probably. f
k sake, you can even see the two original rivet holes to the right where the vin plate used to end Does the car have any numbers stamped on the chassis?
Wild speculation but the above photo is from a left hand drive sagaris, it may be that this style of vin plate was needed for sales in Europe. Still doesn't explain the reason that it's been cut in half and stamped with an ebay stamp set.
Edited by s p a c e m a n on Friday 26th November 19:38
Just read the original post saying that it's got no numbers on the cross member. Admittedly mine has no numbers showing on the cross member either as I have painted the chassis in the past which covered them up, however mine hasn't got a hacked up vin plate that looks like it was stamped with an ebay kit and stuck back on with glue.
This car would have to be throw away money for me to buy it without first wire wheeling the paint off of that cross member to see the chassis number.
This car would have to be throw away money for me to buy it without first wire wheeling the paint off of that cross member to see the chassis number.
glow worm said:
I don't think you'll find any register of a '94 model ... Blackpool Thunder have obtained some "recovered" records of customer specification sheets but I don't think they'll go back that far....
The chassis number on the front chassis rail is not very clear and if the chassis has been repainted it will be obscured ... deliberate tampering of the VIN plate is odd ... In the UK the V5C/logbook would confirm any details, is a log book available? Also the handbook would record the VIN... You could also check the RV8 engine number on the block... that would also give the year of build. I think you're correct with April'94 .. so get the price reduced a little ...Good luck, can't be many TVRs in Greece
The TVR Car Club has a record of virtually every car ever made by TVR and can check and authenticate any car. As we work with the DVLA, the police and customs etc to protect the owners of any TVR we do not release records wholesale. If the OP wants to contact the TVR Car Club direct we may be able to help. The chassis number on the front chassis rail is not very clear and if the chassis has been repainted it will be obscured ... deliberate tampering of the VIN plate is odd ... In the UK the V5C/logbook would confirm any details, is a log book available? Also the handbook would record the VIN... You could also check the RV8 engine number on the block... that would also give the year of build. I think you're correct with April'94 .. so get the price reduced a little
...Good luck, can't be many TVRs in Greece s p a c e m a n][url said:
Wild speculation but the above photo is from a left hand drive sagaris, it may be that this style of vin plate was needed for sales in Europe. Still doesn't explain the reason that it's been cut in half and stamped with an ebay stamp set.
I think you have nailed it too... The reason why it's been cut in half , is because it came off another TVR (maybe a from a scrapyard) and they needed to remove the old cars information . Agreed about the old holes, it does look like different VIN plates are used on LHD cars. If you go and look at the car , check if it's changed colour. A good place to look is the channel above the window screen with the roof off, a lazy paint sprayer may have missed spraying it or inside door edges. As Richard states ,I would also contact the TVR Club and see if they have a record off it Edited by glow worm on Saturday 27th November 08:19
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