M11 TVR Anyone know this Griff?

[rigga]

Well being on the lookout for a nice Griffith ive stumbled accross a car for sale a long way from where i live (normal situation it seems) and i wonder if anyone has any info on the car,or even former owners? it resides on a general sales site at the moment,who freely admit to know nothing about the cars,and are not as helpfull in giving information that is relevent as they are unaware whats important when looking at these tvr's.... id like to judge as much as i can to the potential of the car before i travel a great deal to find its not what im looking for

Basic info i have is its a metalic blue 4.3 95 Griff which is in excellent condition according to the sales guy,but does anyone know more?

Thanks

[AntonyJ]

'95 4.3???

That doesnt seem right on as they moved to 500 in '93.
Any more details?

[rigga]

Not really,all that the salesperson told me,which wasnt a great help to be honest,as at first he replied to my question of "is it a 500?" with yes its a 4ltr!!...... then he said its a 4.3 so maybe he knows even less than he admited to in the first place,the only other info i could get out of him on the phone was it lacked pas,and having got him to get on is hands and knees (still on the phone mind) that the chassis was not at all corroded...... so ive no idea if its a worthwhile trip all the way to devon from Brum for something that may not be worth the while

I have though been a bit cheeky,and asked on the devon regional forum over at the trvcc to see if anyone local could pop over and have a proper look to confirm its condition and details... an excuse for a drive if nothing else maybe?

Hence my question if anyone actualy knew the car in question

Edited by rigga on Saturday 26th April 17:55

[AntonyJ]

rigga said:

Not really,all that the salesperson told me,which wasnt a great help to be honest,as at first he replied to my question of "is it a 500?" with yes its a 4ltr!!...... then he said its a 4.3 so maybe he knows even less than he admited to in the first place,the only other info i could get out of him on the phone was it lacked pas,and having got him to get on is hands and knees (still on the phone mind) that the chassis was not at all corroded...... so ive no idea if its a worthwhile trip all the way to devon from Brum for something that may not be worth the while

I have though been a bit cheeky,and asked on the devon regional forum over at the trvcc to see if anyone local could pop over and have a proper look to confirm its condition and details... an excuse for a drive if nothing else maybe?

Hence my question if anyone actualy knew the car in question

Edited by rigga on Saturday 26th April 17:55

Where is it advertised?, are there any pics? if so mail the link to me and maybe we can tell exactly what it is.

[griffter]

Here are my thoughts for what little they're worth (I don't know the car):

It will be a 5 litre (all 5 litres L plate onwards).

Someone shelled out on a private plate - this might be a good thing (money spent on car, nothing more urgent needed doing), or a bad thing (owner more concered with making his car look nice than mechanical integrity).

It's at a dealer who knows nothing about TVRs. How did it get there? Why? It's unlikely to have been sold directly by a caring, sympathetic owner. Good cars rarely end up being traded between traders to end up on TVR-anonymous forecourts/yards - they're sold privately or by specialists.

If he doesn't know about TVRs he won't have looked at the chassis properly. He was probably confirming that the sheet metal floor pan had never been welded

I know where you're coming from - chasing that elusive bargain - but buyer beware. Great idea to get a local to check it out, and good luck.

[rigga]

Ok ,here is the actual car for sale with pictures,
http://search.autotrader.co.uk/es-uk/www/cars/TVR+...

yes im searching for a bargain,and all the pitfalls that entails,but obviously do not want a car thats beyond recovery even though i fully intend to do some work to it,do not seem to see any advetised for sale that are less than 100 miles away now im in a position to buy one

[Sam Gamgee]

You need to go and get a look at it dont you? Thing is, you could buy one from a specialist/dealer/caring owner and STILL end up paying money out. I did and I gave it a good looking over etc but still ended up with a couple of large bills and felt a little sour due to the fact that I did pay what I thought at the time a bit over the odds.

Chassis been fine, tho!

To echo the above, really, go look and buy with your eyes wide open to anything that looks a bit dodgy-make sure you dont pay the full dollar either.

Oh, and good luck! There are bargains out there!

Dave.

[griffter]

It's had a headlight conversion, appears to wear decent, axle-matched rubber, has Leven interior goodies and the original dash, wheels and steering wheel. Looks like a nice cared-for largely original car. It's also got a TVRCC tax disc holder. All good signs.

How did it stack up in the plastic?

Edited by griffter on Sunday 4th May 17:44

[hot metal]

Looks like it might be worth traveling for imo.(for what mo is worth )

Edited by hot metal on Sunday 4th May 17:54

[V8 GRF]

Strange one this because they look like 4.3 instruments. If it is a 4.3 then it's had a new front end because that's a 500 front, that might explain the headlight work.

Also you can't check the chassis by getting on your hands and knees 'cos you can't see anything without being properly under it. The alloy stalk and hanbrake parts don't look like Leven bits to me either.

That said, it might still be a decent car, needs and HPI check though.

[GJR]

V8 GRF said:

Strange one this because they look like 4.3 instruments.
That said, it might still be a decent car, needs and HPI check though.

That's the first thing I noticed about the dash too. The upper dash seems pre 500 but the heater/window control panel is 500.

The guy said it was a 4.3 over the phone and I guess he has the vehicle log to refer to. Maybe the front was replaced at some time and the then owner tried to make it look like a 500 by adding appropriate badges.... or maybe it's a 500 that is using a 4.x dash !?!? Who knows ?!!?

None of this means it'd be a bad car though.... but you'd have to check it out and HPI it...

If it's some distance away maybe see if there are any other cars on route you could view to make it worth the trip??

G

[AntonyJ]

It does look like an early 500, the gauges on the early ones were precat style.
Also the carpets around the centre console arm rests are like the precats, on the later 500's the leather/vinyl on the console goes over the carpets instead of under.

[Barreti]

AntonyJ said:

It does look like an early 500, the gauges on the early ones were precat style.
Also the carpets around the centre console arm rests are like the precats, on the later 500's the leather/vinyl on the console goes over the carpets instead of under.

I had to go have a look at the pictures of the car because I didn't understand what you meant about the carpets. I've never noticed that before.

Antony - you're a geek
;)

[AntonyJ]

Barreti said:

AntonyJ said:

It does look like an early 500, the gauges on the early ones were precat style.
Also the carpets around the centre console arm rests are like the precats, on the later 500's the leather/vinyl on the console goes over the carpets instead of under.

I had to go have a look at the pictures of the car because I didn't understand what you meant about the carpets. I've never noticed that before.

Antony - you're a geek
;)

Why thank you. Its worth knowing if you ever get new carpets for a precat.

God I love my precat......

[griffter]

Barreti said:

Antony - you're a geek
;)

Seconded

[Hoover.]

have you noticed that early precats have a diff carpet layout the around the top seatbealt anchorage point

Edited by Hoover. on Monday 5th May 21:12

[Hoover.]

pre-serp 500......

[Cider Andy]

DVLA says it's a 4.3, first registered 1 August 1994.

[rigga]

Not had a chance to go view the car as ive been away with the family this weekend (and again next as it happens) but now the car has been reduced to a £1 under 10k.........

[V8 GRF]

Cider Andy said:

DVLA says it's a 4.3, first registered 1 August 1994.

...sounds more and more like a repaired 4.3 to me.