How many 3000M's are left?
Discussion
Been thinking lately about how many 3000M's there are left on the road in this country. I've seen figures that suggest 654 of them were made, of that i'd guess that about 150 went to the states, and probably half of the rest have ben destroyed or used for parts, leaving in the region of 250.
What do you reckon? What about a classic/Pre '80 TVR PH meet in the summer (when mine is built
)
Tony
www.tvr-3000m.co.uk
What do you reckon? What about a classic/Pre '80 TVR PH meet in the summer (when mine is built
) Tony
www.tvr-3000m.co.uk
So what's wrong with the few '81 and '82 registered Ms?
When did they stop building them then? I wondered if there were a few about, but thought the last ones in the early 80's were Taimars...
Does that increase the 654 total figure then? How many Taimars were built? Questions questions!!
Tony
M-series production officially stopped in November/December 1979 and the Tasmin was launched in Feb 1980 (a year ahead of the original date, but thats another story). Many dealers still had unsold cars, mainly Taimars and 3000Ss for sale during 1980 and 1981, hence the W & X registered M-series cars you see. I also know of a Y and an A reg Taimar. A number of convertibles were salvaged from US Customs and those that weren't rebuilt as LHD for Holland & Germany were sold here, on an X plate. The rules prior to 1984 meant that a car could be stored for a number of years unregistered, then registered with the current year letter.
I've heard of several owners of cars that have 'certificates' showing their car to be the last built. It was probably true at the time, until the factory were persuaded to build another one
I've heard of several owners of cars that have 'certificates' showing their car to be the last built. It was probably true at the time, until the factory were persuaded to build another one
This year is the 25th Anniversary of the 3000S. A few of members of 'ARSE' (Association of Real S Enthusiasts) are hoping to have a meet to celebrate this and I'm sure that all other M-series owners will be welcome. Time to dust off the calendar, find a wally, I mean volunteer, to organise a venue. Watch this space and Sprint for details.
When exactly did M series production start? Does this also co-incide with the 30th anniversary of the M?
I'd definitely be up for a meet in the summer, it'll give us a target for getting everything bolted back together and run in.
I'd be happy to help with an event too, sprintmp - what needs to happen from a TVRCC point of view, any ideas?
I'd definitely be up for a meet in the summer, it'll give us a target for getting everything bolted back together and run in.
I'd be happy to help with an event too, sprintmp - what needs to happen from a TVRCC point of view, any ideas?
bigtone said: When exactly did M series production start? Does this also co-incide with the 30th anniversary of the M?
Nope, I think that was last year. The 1972 Motor Show 1600M is currently for sale in the classifieds and I think I've seen tax exempt Ms in the past.....although I could be wrong.
Kris..
According to Graham Robson's book, he lists 3000M production stretching from the first one (#2410FM) in 1972 with the last one reportedly being #4940FM in 1979 with a total production number of 654.
The generally accepted figure of Taimar production has been 395 cars from 1976-1979 with the last Taimar listed as being #4966FM. However, Titty Ho Motor Co. in England has advertised a "1981/86 Taimar/Tuscan" with a stretched wheelbase by 10 inches that supposedly has serial number 5001FM.
The 3000S production was 258 cars. Robson lists the
last one of those as #4968FM but also lists the last Turbo convertible as #4970FM.
Registering a car by the year in which it was sold rather than the production/model year happened both in England and here in the States where it is not uncommon to find M-series and Wedge-series cars titled
a year or two later than the true model year of the car.
The generally accepted figure of Taimar production has been 395 cars from 1976-1979 with the last Taimar listed as being #4966FM. However, Titty Ho Motor Co. in England has advertised a "1981/86 Taimar/Tuscan" with a stretched wheelbase by 10 inches that supposedly has serial number 5001FM.
The 3000S production was 258 cars. Robson lists the
last one of those as #4968FM but also lists the last Turbo convertible as #4970FM.
Registering a car by the year in which it was sold rather than the production/model year happened both in England and here in the States where it is not uncommon to find M-series and Wedge-series cars titled
a year or two later than the true model year of the car.
Robson's figures are broadly correct, but don't tell the whole story.
Robson wrote his information based on the 'official' TVR build records available to him at the time. A few years later, I was at the factory and saw some 'unofficial' build records . I was given, in my capacity as a TVRCC officer at the time, all the original official build records for 'most' of the cars from when Martin Lilley took over TVR in 1965 and these were passed over to the Club's Model Register for safe keeping (I'm not sure whether it's common knowledge that Mervyn has these, I'll probably get a bollocking from him if it wasn't up 'til now).
Robson wrote his information based on the 'official' TVR build records available to him at the time. A few years later, I was at the factory and saw some 'unofficial' build records . I was given, in my capacity as a TVRCC officer at the time, all the original official build records for 'most' of the cars from when Martin Lilley took over TVR in 1965 and these were passed over to the Club's Model Register for safe keeping (I'm not sure whether it's common knowledge that Mervyn has these, I'll probably get a bollocking from him if it wasn't up 'til now).
Tony,
To expand on your suggestion of a register, I think what we really ought to think about putting together is some kind of consolidated information source on the web. Your site has now got an awful lot of useful stuff on it, there's a minifix site about a restoration of a 3000M (anyone seen that?) which is starting to look pretty good, there is a load of stuff at TVRCCNA. It would be a huge undertaking, but imagine just being able to look up almost any part of the car and find pictures, restoration help, part numbers and suppliers.
Any thoughts?
Kris..
To expand on your suggestion of a register, I think what we really ought to think about putting together is some kind of consolidated information source on the web. Your site has now got an awful lot of useful stuff on it, there's a minifix site about a restoration of a 3000M (anyone seen that?) which is starting to look pretty good, there is a load of stuff at TVRCCNA. It would be a huge undertaking, but imagine just being able to look up almost any part of the car and find pictures, restoration help, part numbers and suppliers.
Any thoughts?
Kris..
I suggested a similar project on the Pre 80's TVR Yahoo group http://autos.groups.yahoo.com/group/TVR_Pre1980/. There is a resource there to share files, photos etc and it seems a good place to put write ups of tasks carried out. For example, I replaced the starter motor on my Taimar, wrote up the work and put it in the shared area. The idea behind this was, that if eventually everyone did the same a "workshop manual" would evolve to fill the hole left by Haynes!
Sadly not many write ups were posted and the whole thing seems to have suffered from a lack of interest from owners
Why not take the contents of the yahoo group shared files and use them to help start off??
Sadly not many write ups were posted and the whole thing seems to have suffered from a lack of interest from owners
Why not take the contents of the yahoo group shared files and use them to help start off??
Gassing Station | TVR Classics | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff