What to replace a TVR Chimaera 500 with?
Discussion
rockits said:
I think I had the price wrong there at £125! I am sure it was £225 each for a 4 person day.
Yeah you must be right £125 book me up quick, I can do that much worths damage in 1/2 hr 
I did a lot of driver learning for years before buying my Chim but never felt fully comfortable with it, didn’t feel on top of it, nervous sort of feeling until I took it to a few places that allowed me and the car to do its thing. I,leant it’s pretty delicate when you first hit the brakes so getting the car neutral very important before coming down from high speed and how it can snap away from the rear very easily.
These cars make you drive better as quick reaction steering is not usual in a road car I found myself being reminded of an ARDS instructor years before talking of setting the car up for the corner or braking zones and how braking in a straight line was always better than not lol but it’s true, the more you put these known facts and practices into operation the safer and faster you are. It takes years or a few really consistent learning days.
It took me 10 years from the first Jackie Stewart driving book I read as a 15 year old before I had all the mental tools and fitness to drive consistently fast. 100’s and actually 1000’s of laps in carts practicing as I’d do those Iron man endurance races in pro carts so racing for at least 1 hr solid at a time. I managed 72 laps in a 1 hr race round Buckmore park once in the rain and pro carts are not very fast 70 mph maybe and heavy as they had two engines. Slicks!! Best lessons I ever had I suppose. I once raced some top nascar driver round Buckmore, I was determined to stuff him but I flew off on the second corner then spent 1 hr 20 seconds behind him and could not take a tenth out the guy. Great race that was and at night. I’m to old and to slow to careless but if I was getting into something very fast I’d go practice in a cart or i’d never have the reaction times required to control it with confidence. Most racing drivers won’t drive anything with a power to weight ratio of 500 hp per tonne until they get to F1 so the learning curve is steep when you buy a road car with such power,, but what a thing to learn then be able to use.
So now you’ve had the thrill of the chase and bought the thing how are you feeling.
Is it as good as you were hoping from an aesthetics and engineering point of view as the pictures suggested a spotless polished car which takes years lol
I don’t suppose you can drive it yet as gritters have been out.
As Peter mentioned earlier they can still be very quick in the right conditions and reading the words of other owners on Facebook it’s clear it’s the driving experience and how it engages you and one chap even mentioned the quick action steering as something few of his other performance cars possessed. I love my gearbox for instance, it’s just chunky in operation but solid and smooth, feels brand new and I love changing gear, it’s all this stuff that matters more than the speed so this car should offer all that.
A chap said something like he’s owned his maybe 17 years and still it gives him a thrill driving it it’s so unique.
My motivation when rebuilding is driving it, it comes to my mind every now and then and thrills me, I could not be bothered to bloody grease monkey any other car but this ones worth it for the end result..
We moan about handling or bumpy roads and we want it to be better, I went for a drive with my mate, I followed him in his E Type Jag, I think the handling and road manners are better in the Chim by miles and about twice as fast. His is worth 100k mines worth 18
I’m not knocking E types as it’s my favourite car but I can see why given a big V8 an old Tvr obliterates E types in its class when racing which I think is why they were virtually banned from competing in the 60’s.
A lot of car for the money. Tvr are a breath of fresh air in many ways. Not as good as a Porsche let’s be honest but what they do do they do really well and for that they have a very individual charm and if your from a racing background or like performance cars these are that link between rich expensive cars and basic brutal monsters blokes built in a back lanes and only because nobody else was making it for them.We had a company making 1960’s racing cars for the road in the 1990’s which at the time gave me an admiration and hearty respect for TVR.
We still believed in a thing called drivers cars, no self help aids, big balls and all that, but it was, you were brave to own one ( must be a driving god ) I looked at TVR drivers like I would a tight rope Walker or an Everest climber in ore of there flagrant disregard for their own health and braver than boxers
Hah you gotta have fun
Is it as good as you were hoping from an aesthetics and engineering point of view as the pictures suggested a spotless polished car which takes years lol
I don’t suppose you can drive it yet as gritters have been out.
As Peter mentioned earlier they can still be very quick in the right conditions and reading the words of other owners on Facebook it’s clear it’s the driving experience and how it engages you and one chap even mentioned the quick action steering as something few of his other performance cars possessed. I love my gearbox for instance, it’s just chunky in operation but solid and smooth, feels brand new and I love changing gear, it’s all this stuff that matters more than the speed so this car should offer all that.
A chap said something like he’s owned his maybe 17 years and still it gives him a thrill driving it it’s so unique.
My motivation when rebuilding is driving it, it comes to my mind every now and then and thrills me, I could not be bothered to bloody grease monkey any other car but this ones worth it for the end result..
We moan about handling or bumpy roads and we want it to be better, I went for a drive with my mate, I followed him in his E Type Jag, I think the handling and road manners are better in the Chim by miles and about twice as fast. His is worth 100k mines worth 18
I’m not knocking E types as it’s my favourite car but I can see why given a big V8 an old Tvr obliterates E types in its class when racing which I think is why they were virtually banned from competing in the 60’s.
A lot of car for the money. Tvr are a breath of fresh air in many ways. Not as good as a Porsche let’s be honest but what they do do they do really well and for that they have a very individual charm and if your from a racing background or like performance cars these are that link between rich expensive cars and basic brutal monsters blokes built in a back lanes and only because nobody else was making it for them.We had a company making 1960’s racing cars for the road in the 1990’s which at the time gave me an admiration and hearty respect for TVR.
We still believed in a thing called drivers cars, no self help aids, big balls and all that, but it was, you were brave to own one ( must be a driving god ) I looked at TVR drivers like I would a tight rope Walker or an Everest climber
in ore of there flagrant disregard for their own health and braver than boxers Hah you gotta have fun
Classic Chim said:
So now you’ve had the thrill of the chase and bought the thing how are you feeling.
Is it as good as you were hoping from an aesthetics and engineering point of view as the pictures suggested a spotless polished car which takes years lol
I don’t suppose you can drive it yet as gritters have been out.
As Peter mentioned earlier they can still be very quick in the right conditions and reading the words of other owners on Facebook it’s clear it’s the driving experience and how it engages you and one chap even mentioned the quick action steering as something few of his other performance cars possessed. I love my gearbox for instance, it’s just chunky in operation but solid and smooth, feels brand new and I love changing gear, it’s all this stuff that matters more than the speed so this car should offer all that.
A chap said something like he’s owned his maybe 17 years and still it gives him a thrill driving it it’s so unique.
My motivation when rebuilding is driving it, it comes to my mind every now and then and thrills me, I could not be bothered to bloody grease monkey any other car but this ones worth it for the end result..
We moan about handling or bumpy roads and we want it to be better, I went for a drive with my mate, I followed him in his E Type Jag, I think the handling and road manners are better in the Chim by miles and about twice as fast. His is worth 100k mines worth 18
I’m not knocking E types as it’s my favourite car but I can see why given a big V8 an old Tvr obliterates E types in its class when racing which I think is why they were virtually banned from competing in the 60’s.
A lot of car for the money. Tvr are a breath of fresh air in many ways. Not as good as a Porsche let’s be honest but what they do do they do really well and for that they have a very individual charm and if your from a racing background or like performance cars these are that link between rich expensive cars and basic brutal monsters blokes built in a back lanes and only because nobody else was making it for them.We had a company making 1960’s racing cars for the road in the 1990’s which at the time gave me an admiration and hearty respect for TVR.
We still believed in a thing called drivers cars, no self help aids, big balls and all that, but it was, you were brave to own one ( must be a driving god ) I looked at TVR drivers like I would a tight rope Walker or an Everest climber in ore of there flagrant disregard for their own health and braver than boxers
Hah you gotta have fun
Yes, Alun all happy now with the new Chim subject to actually driving it Is it as good as you were hoping from an aesthetics and engineering point of view as the pictures suggested a spotless polished car which takes years lol
I don’t suppose you can drive it yet as gritters have been out.
As Peter mentioned earlier they can still be very quick in the right conditions and reading the words of other owners on Facebook it’s clear it’s the driving experience and how it engages you and one chap even mentioned the quick action steering as something few of his other performance cars possessed. I love my gearbox for instance, it’s just chunky in operation but solid and smooth, feels brand new and I love changing gear, it’s all this stuff that matters more than the speed so this car should offer all that.
A chap said something like he’s owned his maybe 17 years and still it gives him a thrill driving it it’s so unique.
My motivation when rebuilding is driving it, it comes to my mind every now and then and thrills me, I could not be bothered to bloody grease monkey any other car but this ones worth it for the end result..
We moan about handling or bumpy roads and we want it to be better, I went for a drive with my mate, I followed him in his E Type Jag, I think the handling and road manners are better in the Chim by miles and about twice as fast. His is worth 100k mines worth 18
I’m not knocking E types as it’s my favourite car but I can see why given a big V8 an old Tvr obliterates E types in its class when racing which I think is why they were virtually banned from competing in the 60’s.
A lot of car for the money. Tvr are a breath of fresh air in many ways. Not as good as a Porsche let’s be honest but what they do do they do really well and for that they have a very individual charm and if your from a racing background or like performance cars these are that link between rich expensive cars and basic brutal monsters blokes built in a back lanes and only because nobody else was making it for them.We had a company making 1960’s racing cars for the road in the 1990’s which at the time gave me an admiration and hearty respect for TVR.
We still believed in a thing called drivers cars, no self help aids, big balls and all that, but it was, you were brave to own one ( must be a driving god ) I looked at TVR drivers like I would a tight rope Walker or an Everest climber
in ore of there flagrant disregard for their own health and braver than boxers Hah you gotta have fun
As we all know there isn't much around that offers what these cars do. I love looking at E-Type's and my BiL has one but I don;t really want to own one as a bit too old mechanically/reliability for me. Also as you say I'm not sure they are they great to drive in comparison to something a little newer.
My red 500 is up for sale officially now as of this morning so will see what the market thinks of it.
SkemJazzer said:
How did you get on with Collecting Cars Rockits?
Well.....it has been interesting also a little confusing. It has been my first experience but there seems a fair bit to learn and understand.Still engaged at the moment so reserving judgement until there is closer. I can update further once there is some clarity.
I've had three people contact me about the car wanting to buy it but none have been able to complete on a purchase yet. I have two waiting to sell their existing cars so will be a few weeks off being in a position to take it. However I would really like a garage space back so have listed on Pistonheads.
Listed on Pistonheads for a quick sale @ £16k. If anyone is interested in a quick winter bargain @ £16k just let me know
https://www.pistonheads.com/buy/listing/11201649
https://www.pistonheads.com/buy/listing/11201649
[quote=rockits]Listed on Pistonheads for a quick sale @ £16k. If anyone is interested in a quick winter bargain @ £16k just let me know
https://www.pistonheads.com/buy/listing/11201649
Covid is going on right now let’s not forget.
I think if you had been patient by spring you would have sold this car so obviously it turns out the money never mattered anyway and after all your procrastinating over other peoples cars and prices being far to high your now giving this car away it seems.
I think a few of the TVR boys on FB have picked up on the quality of this rebuild so hopefully one at least will see the potential and take it off your hands.
Goodluck with it Dean as it deserves a good home.
https://www.pistonheads.com/buy/listing/11201649
Covid is going on right now let’s not forget.
I think if you had been patient by spring you would have sold this car so obviously it turns out the money never mattered anyway and after all your procrastinating over other peoples cars and prices being far to high your now giving this car away it seems.
I think a few of the TVR boys on FB have picked up on the quality of this rebuild so hopefully one at least will see the potential and take it off your hands.
Goodluck with it Dean as it deserves a good home.
Edited by Classic Chim on Sunday 24th January 01:01
rockits said:
Listed on Pistonheads for a quick sale @ £16k. If anyone is interested in a quick winter bargain @ £16k just let me know
https://www.pistonheads.com/buy/listing/11201649
Bloody lovely condition and spec for £16k Dean - I'm sure someone will be along soon enough.https://www.pistonheads.com/buy/listing/11201649
If you'd said that price against my Cerb when we were in conversation, we might have come to some agreement!
Hindsight etc.
ATB
Classic Chim ]ockits said:
Listed on Pistonheads for a quick sale @ £16k. If anyone is interested in a quick winter bargain @ £16k just let me know
https://www.pistonheads.com/buy/listing/11201649
Covid is going on right now let’s not forget.
I think if you had been patient by spring you would have sold this car so obviously it turns out the money never mattered anyway and after all your procrastinating over other peoples cars and prices being far to high your now giving this car away it seems.
I think a few of the TVR boys on FB have picked up on the quality of this rebuild so hopefully one at least will see the potential and take it off your hands.
Goodluck with it Dean as it deserves a good home.
Thanks Alun. Agreed I think it would have been better to wait until the spring but I have a car outside now I would like inside. Also I'm not greedy so would prefer the car to go quickly and easily rather then a long drawn out affair.https://www.pistonheads.com/buy/listing/11201649
Covid is going on right now let’s not forget.
I think if you had been patient by spring you would have sold this car so obviously it turns out the money never mattered anyway and after all your procrastinating over other peoples cars and prices being far to high your now giving this car away it seems.
I think a few of the TVR boys on FB have picked up on the quality of this rebuild so hopefully one at least will see the potential and take it off your hands.
Goodluck with it Dean as it deserves a good home.
Edited by Classic Chim on Sunday 24th January 01:01
rossybee said:
Bloody lovely condition and spec for £16k Dean - I'm sure someone will be along soon enough.
If you'd said that price against my Cerb when we were in conversation, we might have come to some agreement!
Hindsight etc.
ATB
Thanks Ross. I think when we discussed a potential deal back in Sept I hadn't really done much research and was sticking my finger in the air to try to work out what it was worth. I think I suggested at the time I would have advertised the car a sticker price of £19995 in order to achieve maybe £18k after the typical sales games and mucking around that often is endured.If you'd said that price against my Cerb when we were in conversation, we might have come to some agreement!
Hindsight etc.
ATB
After a chat with a few people and some discussion with Bespoke that £18k was probably the right price as a max figure to achieve over time and wait until spring. I still think it is worth £18k to someone if I waited to the spring and waited for the right buyer. I realise now is not the best time to sell a car let alone a TVR so I guess I have discounted it down to a very keen price at £16k.
I think the blue Chimaera I have bought actually suits me better for my tastes. That is not to say your car is not a good car as we both know it clearly is. Just that a Yellow Cerbera is a little step out of my understated comfort zone a little more. I would have made it work of course but the blue Chimaera is bang on and right up my street.
Gees, just like busses.....I have had 3 offers to buy the car now so just trying to be fair and manage these in order. The first guy had first option earlier this week and has sold his Cerbera to fund the purchase of mine. However, he is still waiting for his sale to complete to receive the funds . I've had contacted from another buyer on FB that wants the car and is a cash buyer with no car to sell. Then just had a third option in response to the PH ad this morning who has offered to buy it.
Nice to have a few options within 24 hours but I still have to be fair and prioritise offers and give anyone a fair opportunity. However, until the money is in my account then the car is still available I guess. Hard to balance and to be fair. It is easier if you only have one buyer sometimes!
Nice to have a few options within 24 hours but I still have to be fair and prioritise offers and give anyone a fair opportunity. However, until the money is in my account then the car is still available I guess. Hard to balance and to be fair. It is easier if you only have one buyer sometimes!
rockits said:
rossybee said:
Bloody lovely condition and spec for £16k Dean - I'm sure someone will be along soon enough.
If you'd said that price against my Cerb when we were in conversation, we might have come to some agreement!
Hindsight etc.
ATB
Thanks Ross. I think when we discussed a potential deal back in Sept I hadn't really done much research and was sticking my finger in the air to try to work out what it was worth. I think I suggested at the time I would have advertised the car a sticker price of £19995 in order to achieve maybe £18k after the typical sales games and mucking around that often is endured.If you'd said that price against my Cerb when we were in conversation, we might have come to some agreement!
Hindsight etc.
ATB
After a chat with a few people and some discussion with Bespoke that £18k was probably the right price as a max figure to achieve over time and wait until spring. I still think it is worth £18k to someone if I waited to the spring and waited for the right buyer. I realise now is not the best time to sell a car let alone a TVR so I guess I have discounted it down to a very keen price at £16k.
I think the blue Chimaera I have bought actually suits me better for my tastes. That is not to say your car is not a good car as we both know it clearly is. Just that a Yellow Cerbera is a little step out of my understated comfort zone a little more. I would have made it work of course but the blue Chimaera is bang on and right up my street.
I'm delaying selling my Cerb now as I really can't think of what I'd replace her with......
rossybee said:
I sometimes think things turn out for a reason, and you've ended up with a beautiful Chim (I had a good look at it when it was on CC Auction) which is more to your taste!
I'm delaying selling my Cerb now as I really can't think of what I'd replace her with......
Agreed, I think you are right about things happening for a reason. When I lost out on Mac's old Chimaera 450 Turbo a while back I wasn't so sure as it was disappointing at the time. Maybe now though it has worked out OK.I'm delaying selling my Cerb now as I really can't think of what I'd replace her with......
I think you are right on what you replace it with though which is why I still have a TVR and think I will always have one. There just isn't anything out there that is close to being what a TVR is. This is becoming even more the case as time marches on.
rockits said:
Agreed, I think you are right about things happening for a reason. When I lost out on Mac's old Chimaera 450 Turbo a while back I wasn't so sure as it was disappointing at the time. Maybe now though it has worked out OK.
I think you are right on what you replace it with though which is why I still have a TVR and think I will always have one. There just isn't anything out there that is close to being what a TVR is. This is becoming even more the case as time marches on.
..or more specifically nothing comes close at similar money. The usual scope creep with surfing PH and Autotrader has me only getting excited over stuff double the value of my Cerb hahaI think you are right on what you replace it with though which is why I still have a TVR and think I will always have one. There just isn't anything out there that is close to being what a TVR is. This is becoming even more the case as time marches on.
rossybee said:
..or more specifically nothing comes close at similar money. The usual scope creep with surfing PH and Autotrader has me only getting excited over stuff double the value of my Cerb haha
I am sure we have all been there looking then realising there isn't a better option. I thought at one point I might go and but a new or newish MX5 ND. Then came to my senses. I am sure they are great and I would enjoy it but it is not V8 or TVR.Unlikely we will ever get anything else like it again now.
rockits said:
Listed on Pistonheads for a quick sale @ £16k. If anyone is interested in a quick winter bargain @ £16k just let me know
https://www.pistonheads.com/buy/listing/11201649
Wow, that's looks amazing. Very impressive restoration work.https://www.pistonheads.com/buy/listing/11201649
I wish I was in a position to be looking at another TVR. This was one of my favourites although not my preferred colour but the restoration work just makes this one so tempting.
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