Cheapest V8 2 seater?

[CM2020]

cerb4.5lee said:

CM2020 said:

FHCNICK said:

CM2020 said:

They are a bit too square for me and do they handle? I think with TVR the older the worse?

For the record, I did complain the Westfield suggestion was maybe a bit too kitcar and the Ginetta was more a curiosity as I doubt they are cheap. But at least the G33 looks nice.

I manage to have fun in mine without dying, can’t make a set of tyres last between MOT’s though.

I never took to that styling. But one thing that is nice about these old V8 TVRs is the weight. Anything with a V8 will weight about 300kg more. Even the Corvettes. Compared to the TVR they are boat anchors.

With newer things even V6 is way heavier. A V6 370Z is a staggering almost 500kg heavier. Actually the heavy cars bore me. 350Z and 370Z at this point just bore me. Feel too heavy. Don't sound as nice. Just not as fun. Part of the reason I started looking at V8s. The weight is why I was looking at 2 seats only.

The Cerbera properly spoilt me weight wise too as you say and most things feel heavy after a TVR I reckon. The Z4M Roadster that I had after it felt really heavy(1485kg) and not all that quick after it either. Then I had exactly the same weight problem with the E92 M3(1650kg) after the Z4M as well.

I think that I've just got used to the 370Z Roadster weight wise now(1600kg) and I just accept it for what it is(a GT cruiser mainly). However in an ideal world I'd prefer it if it was around 400kg lighter though for sure, and I was really happy with the 200SX I had and that was around the 1200kg mark.

The weight is part of the reason I'm ok going older. You can't find anything even semi modern with a V8 which doesn't weight near 1500kg. That is lightweight for modern standards. Sure, you pay a price as older cars are what we could call crash and you are dead. But life is short anyways.

Just not as fun with a heavier car, even if power to weight is similar. Lightweight is so much more fun. V8, lightweight and manual. Can't believe TVR were the only ones doing it, and for a price normal people could afford.

[cerb4.5lee]

CM2020 said:

The weight is part of the reason I'm ok going older. You can't find anything even semi modern with a V8 which doesn't weight near 1500kg. That is lightweight for modern standards. Sure, you pay a price as older cars are what we could call crash and you are dead. But life is short anyways.

Just not as fun with a heavier car, even if power to weight is similar. Lightweight is so much more fun. V8, lightweight and manual. Can't believe TVR were the only ones doing it, and for a price normal people could afford.

You just feel at one with the car in a TVR I reckon, and the weight plays a big part in that, plus I love how the engines generally dominate the car. The weight obviously helps in terms of not wearing the tyres/brakes out either in comparison to the newer stuff. Plus their lightness helps in terms of the mpg too, which is a nice little bonus I reckon.

You're making me want another TVR now!

[C5_Steve]

CM2020 said:

Yeah I noticed C4 prices climbing. I guess it was just matter of time. They couldn't stay underappreciated forever. Between C4 and C5 I think I would lean towards the C4 for the 80's vibe. But finding a C4 with a manual is away more difficult than a C5.

What have always put me off Corvettes is the mass produced cheap feeling. TVRs might not be well made. But they at least have a bespoke more special feeling to them. Specially the interiors. My problem with them is more the vulgar or loud designs.

But I supposed a nice well sorted manual C4 for the right price could scratch the itch, if nothing else is viable. A C5 would need to be of the right colour. Probably black. I find the body so badly proportioned.

Fishy Dave on here was thinking about selling his Black manual C4 at the end of last year (he's also got a C6 featured in the £7700 Corvette readers car thread) but I think he's hanging on to it through spring now after he sorted some issues and got a new interior. One of the best-looking C4s I've seen. Worth a chat maybe.

[CM2020]

cerb4.5lee said:

CM2020 said:

The weight is part of the reason I'm ok going older. You can't find anything even semi modern with a V8 which doesn't weight near 1500kg. That is lightweight for modern standards. Sure, you pay a price as older cars are what we could call crash and you are dead. But life is short anyways.

Just not as fun with a heavier car, even if power to weight is similar. Lightweight is so much more fun. V8, lightweight and manual. Can't believe TVR were the only ones doing it, and for a price normal people could afford.

You just feel at one with the car in a TVR I reckon, and the weight plays a big part in that, plus I love how the engines generally dominate the car. The weight obviously helps in terms of not wearing the tyres/brakes out either in comparison to the newer stuff. Plus their lightness helps in terms of the mpg too, which is a nice little bonus I reckon.

You're making me want another TVR now!

Hahaha. Did you have many problems with the one you had?

By the way, a Chimaera has been suggested several times. I wonder why there was no suggestion for a Griffith ? Is the Chimaera just better or the updated version? I find the Chimaera one of the ugliest TVRs.

[CM2020]

C5_Steve said:

CM2020 said:

Yeah I noticed C4 prices climbing. I guess it was just matter of time. They couldn't stay underappreciated forever. Between C4 and C5 I think I would lean towards the C4 for the 80's vibe. But finding a C4 with a manual is away more difficult than a C5.

What have always put me off Corvettes is the mass produced cheap feeling. TVRs might not be well made. But they at least have a bespoke more special feeling to them. Specially the interiors. My problem with them is more the vulgar or loud designs.

But I supposed a nice well sorted manual C4 for the right price could scratch the itch, if nothing else is viable. A C5 would need to be of the right colour. Probably black. I find the body so badly proportioned.

Fishy Dave on here was thinking about selling his Black manual C4 at the end of last year (he's also got a C6 featured in the £7700 Corvette readers car thread) but I think he's hanging on to it through spring now after he sorted some issues and got a new interior. One of the best-looking C4s I've seen. Worth a chat maybe.

I see. I will try to find it. Is it a 90s or 80s C4?

[Belle427]

CM2020 said:

cerb4.5lee said:

CM2020 said:

The weight is part of the reason I'm ok going older. You can't find anything even semi modern with a V8 which doesn't weight near 1500kg. That is lightweight for modern standards. Sure, you pay a price as older cars are what we could call crash and you are dead. But life is short anyways.

Just not as fun with a heavier car, even if power to weight is similar. Lightweight is so much more fun. V8, lightweight and manual. Can't believe TVR were the only ones doing it, and for a price normal people could afford.

You just feel at one with the car in a TVR I reckon, and the weight plays a big part in that, plus I love how the engines generally dominate the car. The weight obviously helps in terms of not wearing the tyres/brakes out either in comparison to the newer stuff. Plus their lightness helps in terms of the mpg too, which is a nice little bonus I reckon.

You're making me want another TVR now!

Hahaha. Did you have many problems with the one you had?

By the way, a Chimaera has been suggested several times. I wonder why there was no suggestion for a Griffith ? Is the Chimaera just better or the updated version? I find the Chimaera one of the ugliest TVRs.

Same car underneath but obviously most prefer the griffs looks and it's got somewhat of an iconic status, the chim hasn't.
Easier to buy a larger engined variant in the griff too.
You do pay for it though.

[KTMsm]

CM2020 said:

By the way, a Chimaera has been suggested several times. I wonder why there was no suggestion for a Griffith ?.

Griffith is far rarer and more expensive, you said you wanted a cheap one

Thinking about it I seem to recall there were a few S models with the V8 S3 ?

I had an S2 and that sounded lovely with a V6 (wasn't a great car but was only £4k ish)

[Hol]

Shifter1 said:

8IKERDAVE said:

AMG SLK55?

Manual?

Where there is a will, there will be a way..


https://youtu.be/jNRhCOO4ng4
SLK55 Manual conversion.

[ChocolateFrog]

Hol said:

Shifter1 said:

8IKERDAVE said:

AMG SLK55?

Manual?

Where there is a will, there will be a way..


https://youtu.be/jNRhCOO4ng4
SLK55 Manual conversion.

"Cheapest"

[C5_Steve]

CM2020 said:

I see. I will try to find it. Is it a 90s or 80s C4?

See here: https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...

I follow him on Insta which is where I saw he was previously selling the C4, it's an F reg.

[maz8062]

ChocolateFrog said:

Hol said:

Shifter1 said:

8IKERDAVE said:

AMG SLK55?

Manual?

Where there is a will, there will be a way..


https://youtu.be/jNRhCOO4ng4
SLK55 Manual conversion.

"Cheapest"

The OP is not interested in answering this question.

What is the budget!?

[cerb4.5lee]

CM2020 said:

cerb4.5lee said:

CM2020 said:

The weight is part of the reason I'm ok going older. You can't find anything even semi modern with a V8 which doesn't weight near 1500kg. That is lightweight for modern standards. Sure, you pay a price as older cars are what we could call crash and you are dead. But life is short anyways.

Just not as fun with a heavier car, even if power to weight is similar. Lightweight is so much more fun. V8, lightweight and manual. Can't believe TVR were the only ones doing it, and for a price normal people could afford.

You just feel at one with the car in a TVR I reckon, and the weight plays a big part in that, plus I love how the engines generally dominate the car. The weight obviously helps in terms of not wearing the tyres/brakes out either in comparison to the newer stuff. Plus their lightness helps in terms of the mpg too, which is a nice little bonus I reckon.

You're making me want another TVR now!

Hahaha. Did you have many problems with the one you had?

By the way, a Chimaera has been suggested several times. I wonder why there was no suggestion for a Griffith ? Is the Chimaera just better or the updated version? I find the Chimaera one of the ugliest TVRs.

I did have a lot of problems with mine to be fair. I had a lot of problems regarding starter motors/boot locks/wiper motors, but I believe that is quite common with them though.

I also needed a full rebuild of the engine/new cylinder head/new crank, but that was self inflicted though because I lost oil pressure(I later found out that the oil relief spring snapped), and my missus suggested driving back home(she was pregnant at the time and we were on the way to the TVR Chatsworth gathering). So that basically ruined the engine, but that was my fault and not the cars fault. If I'd been on my own I wouldn't have moved the car once I'd seen the oil pressure drop though(because I knew that it was going to end in tears).

The repair bill came to £11k! That was back in 2009 and I could've purchased another Cerbera for that money at the time as well.

[CM2020]

Belle427 said:

CM2020 said:

cerb4.5lee said:

CM2020 said:

The weight is part of the reason I'm ok going older. You can't find anything even semi modern with a V8 which doesn't weight near 1500kg. That is lightweight for modern standards. Sure, you pay a price as older cars are what we could call crash and you are dead. But life is short anyways.

Just not as fun with a heavier car, even if power to weight is similar. Lightweight is so much more fun. V8, lightweight and manual. Can't believe TVR were the only ones doing it, and for a price normal people could afford.

You just feel at one with the car in a TVR I reckon, and the weight plays a big part in that, plus I love how the engines generally dominate the car. The weight obviously helps in terms of not wearing the tyres/brakes out either in comparison to the newer stuff. Plus their lightness helps in terms of the mpg too, which is a nice little bonus I reckon.

You're making me want another TVR now!

Hahaha. Did you have many problems with the one you had?

By the way, a Chimaera has been suggested several times. I wonder why there was no suggestion for a Griffith ? Is the Chimaera just better or the updated version? I find the Chimaera one of the ugliest TVRs.

Same car underneath but obviously most prefer the griffs looks and it's got somewhat of an iconic status, the chim hasn't.
Easier to buy a larger engined variant in the griff too.
You do pay for it though.

KTMsm said:

CM2020 said:

By the way, a Chimaera has been suggested several times. I wonder why there was no suggestion for a Griffith ?.

Griffith is far rarer and more expensive, you said you wanted a cheap one

Thinking about it I seem to recall there were a few S models with the V8 S3 ?

I had an S2 and that sounded lovely with a V6 (wasn't a great car but was only £4k ish)

I see. Thanks. Well, I guess it's easy to see why the Griffith is more expensive.

[CM2020]

Hol said:

Shifter1 said:

8IKERDAVE said:

AMG SLK55?

Manual?

Where there is a will, there will be a way..


https://youtu.be/jNRhCOO4ng4
SLK55 Manual conversion.

These cars are very heavy for their size though right? Not to mention with the trouble and expense of converting it, I can't see this as being worth it.

[CM2020]

C5_Steve said:

CM2020 said:

I see. I will try to find it. Is it a 90s or 80s C4?

See here: https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...

I follow him on Insta which is where I saw he was previously selling the C4, it's an F reg.

Thanks. Will have a look.

[CM2020]

cerb4.5lee said:

CM2020 said:

cerb4.5lee said:

CM2020 said:

The weight is part of the reason I'm ok going older. You can't find anything even semi modern with a V8 which doesn't weight near 1500kg. That is lightweight for modern standards. Sure, you pay a price as older cars are what we could call crash and you are dead. But life is short anyways.

Just not as fun with a heavier car, even if power to weight is similar. Lightweight is so much more fun. V8, lightweight and manual. Can't believe TVR were the only ones doing it, and for a price normal people could afford.

You just feel at one with the car in a TVR I reckon, and the weight plays a big part in that, plus I love how the engines generally dominate the car. The weight obviously helps in terms of not wearing the tyres/brakes out either in comparison to the newer stuff. Plus their lightness helps in terms of the mpg too, which is a nice little bonus I reckon.

You're making me want another TVR now!

Hahaha. Did you have many problems with the one you had?

By the way, a Chimaera has been suggested several times. I wonder why there was no suggestion for a Griffith ? Is the Chimaera just better or the updated version? I find the Chimaera one of the ugliest TVRs.

I did have a lot of problems with mine to be fair. I had a lot of problems regarding starter motors/boot locks/wiper motors, but I believe that is quite common with them though.

I also needed a full rebuild of the engine/new cylinder head/new crank, but that was self inflicted though because I lost oil pressure(I later found out that the oil relief spring snapped), and my missus suggested driving back home(she was pregnant at the time and we were on the way to the TVR Chatsworth gathering). So that basically ruined the engine, but that was my fault and not the cars fault. If I'd been on my own I wouldn't have moved the car once I'd seen the oil pressure drop though(because I knew that it was going to end in tears).

The repair bill came to £11k! That was back in 2009 and I could've purchased another Cerbera for that money at the time as well.

Ah, my worst TVR nightmare then. But the Cerbera has a more problematic engine than the simple Rover V8 in the earlier cars right? Although I hear the problem with the earlier cars is not really the engine but things like the electrics and other smaller but annoying things?

I think I said this before, but I quite like the idea of a Rover V8 in a sports car. They sound brilliant. I remember not long ago somebody I know talking about somebody near selling a V6 80s TVR without an engine or bad engine. The gearbox swap suggestion made me think of it. No idea if it is still there or if I can find another. But maybe this is a good cheap way of doing this? Will a Rover V8 easily drop in one of the cheaper V6 cars? Or is it a different chassis or suspension? If it all could be done very cheaply, a lot could be forgiven.

[tr7v8]

TR7V8 would be a thought, getting more expensive these days as people look for them, but still a few around for sensible money.

[cerb4.5lee]

CM2020 said:

cerb4.5lee said:

CM2020 said:

cerb4.5lee said:

CM2020 said:

The weight is part of the reason I'm ok going older. You can't find anything even semi modern with a V8 which doesn't weight near 1500kg. That is lightweight for modern standards. Sure, you pay a price as older cars are what we could call crash and you are dead. But life is short anyways.

Just not as fun with a heavier car, even if power to weight is similar. Lightweight is so much more fun. V8, lightweight and manual. Can't believe TVR were the only ones doing it, and for a price normal people could afford.

You just feel at one with the car in a TVR I reckon, and the weight plays a big part in that, plus I love how the engines generally dominate the car. The weight obviously helps in terms of not wearing the tyres/brakes out either in comparison to the newer stuff. Plus their lightness helps in terms of the mpg too, which is a nice little bonus I reckon.

You're making me want another TVR now!

Hahaha. Did you have many problems with the one you had?

By the way, a Chimaera has been suggested several times. I wonder why there was no suggestion for a Griffith ? Is the Chimaera just better or the updated version? I find the Chimaera one of the ugliest TVRs.

I did have a lot of problems with mine to be fair. I had a lot of problems regarding starter motors/boot locks/wiper motors, but I believe that is quite common with them though.

I also needed a full rebuild of the engine/new cylinder head/new crank, but that was self inflicted though because I lost oil pressure(I later found out that the oil relief spring snapped), and my missus suggested driving back home(she was pregnant at the time and we were on the way to the TVR Chatsworth gathering). So that basically ruined the engine, but that was my fault and not the cars fault. If I'd been on my own I wouldn't have moved the car once I'd seen the oil pressure drop though(because I knew that it was going to end in tears).

The repair bill came to £11k! That was back in 2009 and I could've purchased another Cerbera for that money at the time as well.

Ah, my worst TVR nightmare then. But the Cerbera has a more problematic engine than the simple Rover V8 in the earlier cars right? Although I hear the problem with the earlier cars is not really the engine but things like the electrics and other smaller but annoying things?

I think I said this before, but I quite like the idea of a Rover V8 in a sports car. They sound brilliant. I remember not long ago somebody I know talking about somebody near selling a V6 80s TVR without an engine or bad engine. The gearbox swap suggestion made me think of it. No idea if it is still there or if I can find another. But maybe this is a good cheap way of doing this? Will a Rover V8 easily drop in one of the cheaper V6 cars? Or is it a different chassis or suspension? If it all could be done very cheaply, a lot could be forgiven.

The Rover V8 is pretty robust as far as I know. The Cerb is also known for being the most expensive TVR to run as well, and given my time again I would've gone with the Rover V8 in a TVR.

The Rover V8 will go into the V6 S cars because they actually made a V8 S from the factory.

[KTMsm]

cerb4.5lee said:

The Rover V8 is pretty robust as far as I know.

There are entire books stating otherwise but it's all relative

The biggest issue is that the liners move, less of an issue on the smaller displacements

I was going to put a Rover V8 in an MX5 after I'd read the book on how to build reliable power, I decided to use a Lexus V8 instead

[cerb4.5lee]

KTMsm said:

There are entire books stating otherwise but it's all relative

The biggest issue is that the liners move, less of an issue on the smaller displacements

I was going to put a Rover V8 in an MX5 after I'd read the book on how to build reliable power, I decided to use a Lexus V8 instead

I don't have any ownership experience with it to be fair(although I have driven a Land Rover with the Rover V8 in it), and I just go on how many cars it has been in over the years as a gauge that's all.

I can't fault you using a Lexus V8, and they have a great reputation for sure.