First Move into TVR Ownership - Recommendations

[TV8]

On the road, the Blue 400 will do all that you need it to. That car had a very strong engine and I only changed it for the 5.3 for track days where the likes of Phazed and co were all at 60+ bhp more.

The irony is that the 5.3 has only seen the track a couple of times and whilst the power is addictive, for 95% of the time, you don't need any more than the 400!

Also, it will be safer (and for me more fun) to drive harder. I have over 300lb of torque at 1500 revs and need to be very sure of your grip before pushing too hard on the throttle and it has stepped out of line quite badly on more than one occasion at the hint of damp or cold tyres!

Who owns the 430? I know someone who has bought one of those and that is another nice car if it is the one I am thinking it is.

[deeen]

billynobrakes said:

With your budget and excepted spend I would look at Chimaeras, that was my first TVR and great cars plus there are plenty to choose from.
Wedges are on the rise but much miligened by some people but worth a look

I agree with this, they made loads more Chims than Griffs, that's why the equivalent Griff is more expensive, for the same car under the fibreglass.

That blue one looks good to me, if I find £10k down the back of the sofa tonight, I'd be tempted! I'd check that the engine rebuild included a new camshaft, also if it hasn't got power steering, drive it and see if you are happy with it. My 500 made 267hp on the rollers when I bought it, so if it really has around 280hp, that's pretty healthy!

If you can find any way to check the chassis properly, that might give you some clues about how far down the road the next big expense is.

[TV8]

I don't know what Peter has had done to the engine but it had 240 bhp / 270 lb torque on two rolling roads when I had it and pulled very well!

[rockits]

TV8 said:

On the road, the Blue 400 will do all that you need it to. That car had a very strong engine and I only changed it for the 5.3 for track days where the likes of Phazed and co were all at 60+ bhp more.

The irony is that the 5.3 has only seen the track a couple of times and whilst the power is addictive, for 95% of the time, you don't need any more than the 400!

Also, it will be safer (and for me more fun) to drive harder. I have over 300lb of torque at 1500 revs and need to be very sure of your grip before pushing too hard on the throttle and it has stepped out of line quite badly on more than one occasion at the hint of damp or cold tyres!

Who owns the 430? I know someone who has bought one of those and that is another nice car if it is the one I am thinking it is.

I'm inclined to agree that a 400 is likely plenty fast enough in the real world. I can see what I think of the 400 and the 500 so by Saturday I should have a good inclination of what is required.

The 430 is owned by Chris Wood.

[rockits]

TV8 said:

I don't know what Peter has had done to the engine but it had 240 bhp / 270 lb torque on two rolling roads when I had it and pulled very well!

I'm not sure Peter has that right and may be mistaken with the 280bhp bit. I can see your dyno print out showing the 240bhp from earlier posts. I take it that this wasn't a rebuild in your ownership and was from a previous owner?

[rockits]

Just got my brother to do me a couple of vehicle checks. The Griff 500 has 4 previous owners which is good but the Chim 400 has 9 previous which is a shame. Doesn't rule it out certainly but it won't be so easy to sell an 11 owner car to the 12th owner when/if required. Something certainly to bear in mind.

[TV8]

rockits said:

Just got my brother to do me a couple of vehicle checks. The Griff 500 has 4 previous owners which is good but the Chim 400 has 9 previous which is a shame. Doesn't rule it out certainly but it won't be so easy to sell an 11 owner car to the 12th owner when/if required. Something certainly to bear in mind.

Your choice but what has been done to the car is more important than the number of owners in my book unless you like spending money (which they will all need at some point)

The blue one happened quite quickly. Viewed it first thing Saturday, tried to look underneath it and a garage near the buyer lent me a trolley jack but I decided against that - the logic being that if the outriggers were gone, I would rather waste a couple of thousand pounds having them replaced than have the car collapse on me! A few hours later it was mine!

I liked post 7 on my appeal for help when buying - https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...

FYI - I have seen the red 430 and that is a lovely car as well.

[rockits]

I agree & the number of owners doesn't put me off. We know it is a decent example so that is one question removed from discussion. It is something to consider & price in though as the next owner likely will.

If you said 10k for the blue 400 then 14k for the 430 or 20k for the Griff 500 they are all seemingly priced about right. It is like buying a house. One always grabs you and tells you to buy it. Maybe we will see which one in the next few days.

[brownspeed]

or if your budget will stretch, you could do what I did........
I wanted a Griffith originally, then changed my mind and looked at Tuscans before finally settling on a Tam. No regrets.
https://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds/used-cars/...

[rockits]

brownspeed said:

or if your budget will stretch, you could do what I did........
I wanted a Griffith originally, then changed my mind and looked at Tuscans before finally settling on a Tam. No regrets.
https://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds/used-cars/...

Thanks.....I think. Just when I was making sense of a complicated situation it has another twist!

I have had an influx of people contact me after the posts on the forum and now have 6 cars to consider and they are a real mix. A Chim 400, 430, 450, 500 & 530. Then a Griff 500. Now a Tam.

I think it will all become clearer once I have seen and driven a couple. I have never been in a TVR even as a passenger short of sitting in a few at Motor Shows over the years. So unusual for me to have no yardstick at all. I have generally owned, driven, been driven or know someone who has had most cars/models. Not a TVR though.

It is a little bit of a minefield as so many different cars and options. Also pricing. It is hard to value some of these cars as they are so variable. Not sure any other marque has so many variations over comparatively small numbers of cars. I am nearly there though after a lot of reading and research.

I still have no number one candidate yet though. The Tam looks good but have not even had Tams on the radar so not read or researched anything about them. I looked at a Tuscan last year but it needed a full respray and didn't seem the best example out there. it was cheap but the numbers didn't stack up once you spent a load on it. It was better to buy a better one in the first place. I learnt this when buying the 4200 and bought the very best I could find.

Certainly has been a challenging exercise to get to the bottom of what is the best option.

[LeeHodges]

I'm sure you're aware, but the V8 and Speed-6 experience is *totally* different; both are great but go about their work in entirely different ways. I couldn't decide and so kept both (for now!)

[rockits]

LeeHodges said:

I'm sure you're aware, but the V8 and Speed-6 experience is *totally* different; both are great but go about their work in entirely different ways. I couldn't decide and so kept both (for now!)

Haha....best of both worlds then

Yes, I drove the Tuscan 4.0 Speed 6 last year and was very impressed. It felt like a proper race car. However I think a Rover V8 is where I want to be with this car I think. I have a Maserati 4200 with the Ferrari N/A 4.2 V8 that is very much a race engine and experience. It is very free revving and loves to rev and hit I think the rev limiter at 7k ish. Speed 6 would be too similar I think so the Rover V8 makes more sense as will be a slightly more torqueyer lazier drive.

The thing that worries me a bit more about the Speed 6 is the rebuild issues and buying one that hasn't had a rebuild. The Rover V8 seems a better bet.

Just realised and am revising my statement now as I said I had never been in or drive a TVR. Old age creeping in as forgot I looked at the Tuscan last year!

[TR4man]

I suspect that you'll struggle to get a Tamora within your budget.

[rockits]

Not sure if the one that Brownspeed linked to earlier is cheap or not a good one but seems well in budget:

https://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds/used-cars/...

I'm not sure a Speed 6 will be for me though from the sound of it.

[billynobrakes]

rockits said:

Haha....best of both worlds then

Yes, I drove the Tuscan 4.0 Speed 6 last year and was very impressed. It felt like a proper race car. However I think a Rover V8 is where I want to be with this car I think. I have a Maserati 4200 with the Ferrari N/A 4.2 V8 that is very much a race engine and experience. It is very free revving and loves to rev and hit I think the rev limiter at 7k ish. Speed 6 would be too similar I think so the Rover V8 makes more sense as will be a slightly more torqueyer lazier drive.

The thing that worries me a bit more about the Speed 6 is the rebuild issues and buying one that hasn't had a rebuild. The Rover V8 seems a better bet.

Just realised and am revising my statement now as I said I had never been in or drive a TVR. Old age creeping in as forgot I looked at the Tuscan last year!

My Speed 6 has 414BHP and 368Lb/ft of torque more torque than most Rover V8,s looks like I will be meeting Saturday at Greenwich Park

[rockits]

billynobrakes said:

My Speed 6 has 414BHP and 368Lb/ft of torque more torque than most Rover V8,s looks like I will be meeting Saturday at Greenwich Park

Gees, that sounds pretty impressive! Every day is a school day and I stand corrected. Graham just made me aware of the Greenwich Park meet. It would be great to attend but I had arranged with Peter to view his Chim 400 in Crawley at 10am. What time is the meet from/to on Saturday? Might see if I can juggle stuff around.

I am booking my Maser 4200 with a workshop and Maser specialist in Ashford so might be dropping the car off there afterwards then training back to Potters Bar.

Edited by rockits on Thursday 20th July 13:18

[billynobrakes]

rockits said:

Gees, that sounds pretty impressive! Every day is a school day and I stand corrected. Graham just made me aware of the Greenwich Park meet. It would be great to attend but I had arranged with Peter to view his Chim 400 in Crawley at 10am. What time is the meet from/to on Saturday? Might see if I can juggle stuff around.

I am booking my Maser 4200 with a workshop and Maser specialist in Ashford so might be dropping the car off there afterwards then training back to Potters Bar.

Edited by rockits on Thursday 20th July 13:18

To be fair my engine has been rebuilt from a standard 3.6 to 4.5, we meet at about 10.30am through till 12.30, I thought Chris Wood was going to meet you there must have got wires crossed, I will be in my 450SE be good if you could make it and kill a few birds as they say you could always meet Peter earlier then drive to the park

[Byker28i]

billynobrakes said:

To be fair my engine has been rebuilt from a standard 3.6 to 4.5, we meet at about 10.30am through till 12.30, I thought Chris Wood was going to meet you there must have got wires crossed, I will be in my 450SE be good if you could make it and kill a few birds as they say you could always meet Peter earlier then drive to the park

Interesting, what else have you had done to it as most of the speed 6 4.5's I've seen on rolling roads have been 380-390bhp.
Whose rollers was that tested on?

[m4tti]

Byker28i said:

Interesting, what else have you had done to it as most of the speed 6 4.5's I've seen on rolling roads have been 380-390bhp.
Whose rollers was that tested on?

The magic power roller

This is at the wheels aswell so is 470 at the fly.

Edited by m4tti on Thursday 20th July 16:58

[billynobrakes]

Yes at powers magic rollers