What to replace a TVR Chimaera 500 with?
Discussion
TV8 said:
Good work! Macs old car or another one?
Unfortunately Mac's one sailed and went so a different car. Some elements for me are better....some I'll never know as never saw or drove Mac's. Maybe it worked out for the better.....maybe not.....I'll never know. However I am really happy so that is all that matters and I'm no longer looking back frustrated I missed out. Which is great 😀
deeen said:
Wow, great colour, nice wheels, nice seats!
Thanks. Yes, half of the attraction for me was the colour. Rolex Blue. The car isn't stock so very different to my red 500 that will be up for sale shortly which is very much stock.Many won't like the wheels or the seats but I actually don't mind them at all. As a modified Chimaera I guess it allows more customisation from stock and almost demands it in a way.
Classic Chim said:
It’s great you have got this car though Dean, bang on 
Now open the bonnet and take some proper pictures and now let’s see the chassis lol. M8 you know if you do it’s critical acclaim we are going to lavish the beast. Not many Tvr around like this fecker.
On another positive note on a personal level, I should be rebuilding mine with garage and ramp time towards the end of January so a few meets have just got to happen next year surely
The way I look at cars like this one specifically is the supercharger is but one aspect, if this car is a keeper and needed new riggers a couple of years down the line, that steering wheel probably cost the same as one side rigger completed
so you have bought into a tonne of improvements 10 years ago people did at huge expense for fun and to make a better car so the odd fault that needs fixing is ok because you know full well it cost 30k to keep a car like this looking this good and now operating on such a performance level.
Be interesting how you get on with it as many of us want lots of power but rarely have the gonads to do it or live with it.
What tyres has it got and check the age. I’d change em if in doubt. I don’t think I’d be happy using anything but top end grip tyres that are new and getting used.
Awesome
In fact my first test of this car would be to drive it upto temp then stop, if you have good heat in the tyres your half way there, if not they are not reacting, wrong tyres so that is my focus and always has been on a light car with lots of power. I ignored this rule of thumb for years on my Chim and drove around in a death trap.
I think those tyres should be great but don’t rely on chance. You want to feel warmth in the tyres and it wants to start happening very soon after setting off.
This is a very serious car at the end of the day. Setting tyre pressures wrong can see a winning drivers car slither back down the order it’s so critical and something drivers and mechanics toy over for hours at times. Focus on your tyres and make sure this car switches on which by the look of it I have no doubt it will. Should be utterly brilliant to drive really and I’m sure hsving had a number of top cars your on it.
Anyway it’s great news I think
Respect mister
Thanks Alun.....it has been a long patient journey to get to this point but I'm happy now with the car/colour and all about it. The tyres are in good condition and not old or cracked. It has been stored well when not used which is good. The chassis and outriggers look goo but I won't know for sure until I get it in the air and have a good look around. It certainly looks good on initial inspection but we all know this is no guarantee.Now open the bonnet and take some proper pictures and now let’s see the chassis lol. M8 you know if you do it’s critical acclaim we are going to lavish the beast. Not many Tvr around like this fecker.
On another positive note on a personal level, I should be rebuilding mine with garage and ramp time towards the end of January so a few meets have just got to happen next year surely
The way I look at cars like this one specifically is the supercharger is but one aspect, if this car is a keeper and needed new riggers a couple of years down the line, that steering wheel probably cost the same as one side rigger completed
so you have bought into a tonne of improvements 10 years ago people did at huge expense for fun and to make a better car so the odd fault that needs fixing is ok because you know full well it cost 30k to keep a car like this looking this good and now operating on such a performance level. Be interesting how you get on with it as many of us want lots of power but rarely have the gonads to do it or live with it.
What tyres has it got and check the age. I’d change em if in doubt. I don’t think I’d be happy using anything but top end grip tyres that are new and getting used.
Awesome
In fact my first test of this car would be to drive it upto temp then stop, if you have good heat in the tyres your half way there, if not they are not reacting, wrong tyres so that is my focus and always has been on a light car with lots of power. I ignored this rule of thumb for years on my Chim and drove around in a death trap.
I think those tyres should be great but don’t rely on chance. You want to feel warmth in the tyres and it wants to start happening very soon after setting off.
This is a very serious car at the end of the day. Setting tyre pressures wrong can see a winning drivers car slither back down the order it’s so critical and something drivers and mechanics toy over for hours at times. Focus on your tyres and make sure this car switches on which by the look of it I have no doubt it will. Should be utterly brilliant to drive really and I’m sure hsving had a number of top cars your on it.
Anyway it’s great news I think
Respect mister
Edited by Classic Chim on Tuesday 29th December 10:23
I will try to do some further driver tuition/training days @ North Weald this year if permitted. It is a great chance to explore and get to know the car in reasonable safety. The trainer always like to give it a good go as well so always good to see what a real proper driver thinks.
It will need much respect of course with 490bhp at the wheels!
Hopefully some meets can be done next year as well so all for meeting up with any body privately or at any events. I am Bell Bar, Hertfordshire.
Hope your rebuild work goes well and it isn't too cold! I was working outside yesterday and it was chuffing freezing!!
Thanks Peter & Alun. Much appreciated.
I have done a day at North Weald before in my 2nd Chimaera 400 and really enjoyed it. Also got to know the car so much more. The biggest thing that surprised me the most is how much the braking improvements were. Obviously in a car with no aids it is much more driver dependent. I think on the brake test after 5 or 6 goes I had reduced my 60mph to zero stopping distance by I think it was 11 car space widths or about 70ft!! The first one was clearly not great.
Once understanding a small roll of the ball style motion was enough to stop the lock up the re-apply the technique clearly makes a massive difference. The 70mph 90 degree turn using one finger starting at 12 o'clock was fun too.
The kind of auto test round the cones was brilliant fun and the perfect car. Light on brakes and tyres too! The other 3 cars I went on the day with from the Sports Maserati forum was an Aston Vantage V12 S and 2 x Maserati Gransport's. One each had issues as don't like being given the same treatment you could dish out to the TVR. One Gransport de-laminated its tyres and the Vantage had a gearbox/clutch fault. Needed a new clutch a short while after that day! Not sure it liked spinning around much!
I learnt a great deal that day and will do at least one in the new car hopefully more if I can. It was a great fun and useful way to spend a day and not expensive at £125 I thought from memory.
The sync'ing steering hand to eye coordination was new to me as well. So to look where you are steering. Clearly experienced people know but I've only done maybe a dozen track days ever so still pretty green.
The 400 was all the car you needed but I'm sure a supercharged 450 will add a little more spice
I have done a day at North Weald before in my 2nd Chimaera 400 and really enjoyed it. Also got to know the car so much more. The biggest thing that surprised me the most is how much the braking improvements were. Obviously in a car with no aids it is much more driver dependent. I think on the brake test after 5 or 6 goes I had reduced my 60mph to zero stopping distance by I think it was 11 car space widths or about 70ft!! The first one was clearly not great.
Once understanding a small roll of the ball style motion was enough to stop the lock up the re-apply the technique clearly makes a massive difference. The 70mph 90 degree turn using one finger starting at 12 o'clock was fun too.
The kind of auto test round the cones was brilliant fun and the perfect car. Light on brakes and tyres too! The other 3 cars I went on the day with from the Sports Maserati forum was an Aston Vantage V12 S and 2 x Maserati Gransport's. One each had issues as don't like being given the same treatment you could dish out to the TVR. One Gransport de-laminated its tyres and the Vantage had a gearbox/clutch fault. Needed a new clutch a short while after that day! Not sure it liked spinning around much!
I learnt a great deal that day and will do at least one in the new car hopefully more if I can. It was a great fun and useful way to spend a day and not expensive at £125 I thought from memory.
The sync'ing steering hand to eye coordination was new to me as well. So to look where you are steering. Clearly experienced people know but I've only done maybe a dozen track days ever so still pretty green.
The 400 was all the car you needed but I'm sure a supercharged 450 will add a little more spice
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
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!
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.
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.
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