Discussion
As many of you will now know I bought a Cerbera in the summer, what you might not know is what I paid for it..
96 P 4.2, FSH, leather and air..
£13k, I'll be posting proper running reports via the PH readers cars sections but I thought I'd list it here first.
So the car, it is a dark red (Burgandy wine I think) metallic and was owned from new by a very good friend, in fact those of you who have long memories might remember I did a factory tour some years ago, well it was to see this car in build.
It has a good history, still on it's first engine and clutch although the engine did have a new sump fitted a couple of years ago. It had done 35k miles and is a little bit tatty (nothing bad, just a few stonechips here and there) and my friend needed to sell it in a hurry so we came to an agreement and I got it.
The car had been sitting for a year and needed a few bits including a full service (although he tappets are fine), it also needed a new radiator, some wiring, a battery and lots of other little bits, total bill inc inspection was around £800.
I've also had to do a few bits, like stop the bloody thing leaking, rebuild the boot catch, rewire the window switches, sort the alarm out etc, etc. All time consuming but all very doable by me.
I've now done nearly 3k miles in the thing and it is utterly great, stupidly fast, great fun and it feels very fantastic. I expect there will be a few large bills on the way but I know Ian (the chap who had the car before me) is as anal about warming cars up as I am, and he never took it on a track day nor performed many high rev clutch dropping antics so I'm hopeful it will last as well as my Griff.
I think it is the performance bargain of the decade.
D.
96 P 4.2, FSH, leather and air..
£13k, I'll be posting proper running reports via the PH readers cars sections but I thought I'd list it here first.
So the car, it is a dark red (Burgandy wine I think) metallic and was owned from new by a very good friend, in fact those of you who have long memories might remember I did a factory tour some years ago, well it was to see this car in build.
It has a good history, still on it's first engine and clutch although the engine did have a new sump fitted a couple of years ago. It had done 35k miles and is a little bit tatty (nothing bad, just a few stonechips here and there) and my friend needed to sell it in a hurry so we came to an agreement and I got it.
The car had been sitting for a year and needed a few bits including a full service (although he tappets are fine), it also needed a new radiator, some wiring, a battery and lots of other little bits, total bill inc inspection was around £800.
I've also had to do a few bits, like stop the bloody thing leaking, rebuild the boot catch, rewire the window switches, sort the alarm out etc, etc. All time consuming but all very doable by me.
I've now done nearly 3k miles in the thing and it is utterly great, stupidly fast, great fun and it feels very fantastic. I expect there will be a few large bills on the way but I know Ian (the chap who had the car before me) is as anal about warming cars up as I am, and he never took it on a track day nor performed many high rev clutch dropping antics so I'm hopeful it will last as well as my Griff.
I think it is the performance bargain of the decade.
D.
Early Cerberas? Well, I got mine about the same time as Davidd, and I have to say that it is going very well at the moment.
I think it is fair to say that the history of documents with mine is "comprehensive" which is important on a car like this. It has the original engine, but has had a new clutch (with the 4.5 upgrade) and a couple of lambda sensors to mention a few.
People say that the earlier Cerbies are noisier and nothing like as smooth and refined(?) as later ones. This is definitely true. I drove later Cerbies before I got this one, and they we slower (comparing 4.2 with 4.2) and quieter.
Long term I could not comment on the reliability, but it has done 4k in my hands now, and although I don't drop the clutch, I have been known to drive it quickly
I think it is true for all of these types of car - if you get a good one, your impression of TVR reliabilty and foibles will be very different to someone who didn't get a sorted one.
Best of Luck in your choice.
Steve
I think it is fair to say that the history of documents with mine is "comprehensive" which is important on a car like this. It has the original engine, but has had a new clutch (with the 4.5 upgrade) and a couple of lambda sensors to mention a few.
People say that the earlier Cerbies are noisier and nothing like as smooth and refined(?) as later ones. This is definitely true. I drove later Cerbies before I got this one, and they we slower (comparing 4.2 with 4.2) and quieter.
Long term I could not comment on the reliability, but it has done 4k in my hands now, and although I don't drop the clutch, I have been known to drive it quickly
I think it is true for all of these types of car - if you get a good one, your impression of TVR reliabilty and foibles will be very different to someone who didn't get a sorted one.
Best of Luck in your choice.
Steve
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