Chimaera Prices
Discussion
Belle427 said:
Sometimes you have to compromise with colours etc but i see quite a few nice cars out there for around £15k.
If performance is your main criteria consider buying a tidy 400 and adding forced induction to it. Its not a cheap conversion but a £20k budget should see you with a nice supercharged car which will be useable and fabulous to drive.
I know where there is a mint turbo charged 400 for sale.If performance is your main criteria consider buying a tidy 400 and adding forced induction to it. Its not a cheap conversion but a £20k budget should see you with a nice supercharged car which will be useable and fabulous to drive.
rockits said:
Wow....both look like cracking examples & a credit to you both. I can see just in those pics ClassicChim how much time & money look as though has been spent.
I have a nice garage now & a 4 post lift so would be able to keep a nice example just as good as it started off & keep at that level and keep topped up or improved over time. She might have to sit under the 4200 though!
I would prefer to buy a car like either of these as a fellow enthusiast rather than much of the average stuff in the usual places.
Where are both of you guys based? Anywhere near Hertfordshire way?
What are you going replace the Chimaera with chaps if you sold....out of interest?
Norfolk I have a nice garage now & a 4 post lift so would be able to keep a nice example just as good as it started off & keep at that level and keep topped up or improved over time. She might have to sit under the 4200 though!
I would prefer to buy a car like either of these as a fellow enthusiast rather than much of the average stuff in the usual places.
Where are both of you guys based? Anywhere near Hertfordshire way?
What are you going replace the Chimaera with chaps if you sold....out of interest?
Not planning on selling yet Dean, and wouldn't need to replace the old girl if I were to
I'd offer a meet up and hoon but she's off the road for the winter now....
Here's another piccie
rockits said:
Thanks Classic Chim. Sure I'll drop you an e-mail over.
I know what you mean about something similar to a TVR and have also looked at Lotus. An S2 Elise or Exige or even an Evora seem like decent value for £25k and less.
I think that is why I had set a virtual budget of £15k for a Chimaera as at £20k or more I think I would have to serious look at the Lotus option.
Chilli's car and yours are pretty different though in looks, power-train and their drive I am guessing.
No worries Dean. I’ve tried sending some pics but my email address is playing up, I’ll try later when it’s sorted. I know what you mean about something similar to a TVR and have also looked at Lotus. An S2 Elise or Exige or even an Evora seem like decent value for £25k and less.
I think that is why I had set a virtual budget of £15k for a Chimaera as at £20k or more I think I would have to serious look at the Lotus option.
Chilli's car and yours are pretty different though in looks, power-train and their drive I am guessing.
baconsarney said:
Noooo........
Yes Mate, done all that work and have decided I fancy a new challenge. Ive had it up for a while but took it done at the weekend. Just taken off the private reg and getting a fresh MOT then ill put it back on the market.Someone will get a beauty even if I say so myself.
Nice car Sap, is it fate or what, my email address can’t receive or send any mail, jeez! Something’s gone wrong with my passwords, so I’m back to see a computer brainy Guy tomorrow to resolve it. Dean I will send pics as soon as I can. I’m still very unsure about selling mine to be really honest so I’ll send pics and detail what you wanna be looking for as we should help others prospective Tvr chaps regardless.
sapper said:
Yes Mate, done all that work and have decided I fancy a new challenge. Ive had it up for a while but took it done at the weekend. Just taken off the private reg and getting a fresh MOT then ill put it back on the market.
Someone will get a beauty even if I say so myself.
Someone will get a beauty even if I say so myself.
Looks a bit different now to my profile picture. I had the headlights covered and Tuscan indicators added.
Classic Chim said:
Nice car Sap, is it fate or what, my email address can’t receive or send any mail, jeez! Something’s gone wrong with my passwords, so I’m back to see a computer brainy Guy tomorrow to resolve it. Dean I will send pics as soon as I can. I’m still very unsure about selling mine to be really honest so I’ll send pics and detail what you wanna be looking for as we should help others prospective Tvr chaps regardless.
No worries, no rush. You need a good widely experienced tech guy that has been in the game for 25 years 😉I'm constantly busy with the business at the mo as down a man to what I would like but hey ho. I'm not complaining just gives me less time to play with cars!
baconsarney said:
Norfolk
Not planning on selling yet Dean, and wouldn't need to replace the old girl if I were to
I'd offer a meet up and hoon but she's off the road for the winter now....
Here's another piccie
Thanks. You can stop taunting & tempting though....please. Some great well looked after examples out there for sure.Not planning on selling yet Dean, and wouldn't need to replace the old girl if I were to
I'd offer a meet up and hoon but she's off the road for the winter now....
Here's another piccie
its with all car brands:
only GOOD cars will achieve GOOD prices and will profit from the price increase.
the majority on the market are runners with mot, some in better condition, some not...and exactly those cars are the ones which will NOT profit from any value-increase. (my car included-even it looks nice)
as said b4...only a few exeptional examples will climb one step higher...the rest remains down there in the sump.
only GOOD cars will achieve GOOD prices and will profit from the price increase.
the majority on the market are runners with mot, some in better condition, some not...and exactly those cars are the ones which will NOT profit from any value-increase. (my car included-even it looks nice)
as said b4...only a few exeptional examples will climb one step higher...the rest remains down there in the sump.
^^^^^^ that’s very true.
Even with so called price increases the cost of maintenance and keeping them in good order suggests very few people will actually profit as such.
I never got mine thinking I’d ever make a profit as it’s a purchase for the soul and mind oh and ears
They are cars to be enjoyed and used I think and for the money there’s not much that can give you the same pleasure.
On here it’s going to have mostly threads by owners who are fixing them when they go wrong or the likes so gives a false picture but when you break it down the four corners of the car and most other parts are basic 80’90’s tech so much if this work can be done at home if your so inclined.
We do have good parts support so it’s a great second hand sportscar for many reasons.
They might not be going up in price much but they do hold their price which shows they are still adorned by the buying public and us owners moan about them here or there but there’s truelly nothing like them for the money as far as I can see.
Even with so called price increases the cost of maintenance and keeping them in good order suggests very few people will actually profit as such.
I never got mine thinking I’d ever make a profit as it’s a purchase for the soul and mind oh and ears
They are cars to be enjoyed and used I think and for the money there’s not much that can give you the same pleasure.
On here it’s going to have mostly threads by owners who are fixing them when they go wrong or the likes so gives a false picture but when you break it down the four corners of the car and most other parts are basic 80’90’s tech so much if this work can be done at home if your so inclined.
We do have good parts support so it’s a great second hand sportscar for many reasons.
They might not be going up in price much but they do hold their price which shows they are still adorned by the buying public and us owners moan about them here or there but there’s truelly nothing like them for the money as far as I can see.
Buying a TVR is a luxury purchase, you don't really buy one to do a job of work... almost exclusively you buy a TVR to give yourself pleasure so it can only really be described as a hobby car, and lets face it hobbies are seldom cheap or rational.
However, owning and enjoying my Chimaera over the last 9 years has actually worked out to be a pretty cheap hobby that's given me a huge amount of pleasure for the money. The car has also facilitated the making of new friends, taken me on many holidays throughout France, Holland, Germany, Italy ect ect, and it just so happens it's now worth a good few grand more than I paid for it too.
But I didn't buy my TVR with view to making a profit, I bought it to use and enjoy which it exactly what I've done. Nine years ago I had some spare cash in the bank and was earning next to no interest on it, at the same time I was pretty confident Chimaeras were at a value low point and my TVR purchase would if nothing else at least hold it's value.
To be honest I choose to view the increase of my Chimaera as a happy coincidence rather than a planned strategy, and by chance this increase has exactly covered what I've spent on maintenance and upgrades over 9 years. But as we all know with car ownership there are more expenses than upgrades and maintenance, there's the annual road fund tax, MoT test, fuel and insurance all of which you never get back, over the 9 years I calculate these unrecoverable costs as being roughly £1,000 a year.
So, like I say... "owning my Chimaera has been a pretty cheap hobby".
I have mates who are into other stuff, a quick chat with them about their hobbies soon reveals you don't get much in the way of golf, fishing, clay pigeon shooting or even gym/personal training for £1,000 a year! Obviously I have other mates who are into cars, two of them bought into the classic air cooled Porsche thing just at the right time, their cars have rocketed in value but both decided they would fully restore their cars in the last few years. In the end while the value of their cars has increased greatly and is much higher than my TVR the expenditure on their restoration work has left them in a situation where they'd actually make no profit if they sold today.
Anyone who thinks restoration is a profitable business is completely diluted....
My point is people shouldn't go into TVR or any classic/hobby car ownership thinking it's a good investment, if you want to make money out of cars be a car dealer. The true enthusiast should buy the car they like and can afford, they should also absolutely buy the best example they can because this approach will definitely save money in the long run, and finally they should forget all about profiteering.
The idea from there on in should be to just enjoy the car, it will still cost you money to own (fuel, tax, insurance, MoT, servicing, maintenance ect ect) but as long as the outlay matches the pleasure the car gives back it should be seen as acceptable expenditure. By all means keep track of the cost of ownership as I do, but also be sure to compare what you're spending with the cash other's are shelling out every year on their chosen hobby.
This is my approach to TVR ownership and when I apply this logic it's quite evident my hobby is cheap as chips, on so many levels a TVR is a completely illogical purchase as I'm sure most of our wives and partners are quick to point out, but apply the hobby theory and the whole TVR/classic car ownership idea becomes an eminently sensible thing, cheap even
Man maths to the rescue again
However, owning and enjoying my Chimaera over the last 9 years has actually worked out to be a pretty cheap hobby that's given me a huge amount of pleasure for the money. The car has also facilitated the making of new friends, taken me on many holidays throughout France, Holland, Germany, Italy ect ect, and it just so happens it's now worth a good few grand more than I paid for it too.
But I didn't buy my TVR with view to making a profit, I bought it to use and enjoy which it exactly what I've done. Nine years ago I had some spare cash in the bank and was earning next to no interest on it, at the same time I was pretty confident Chimaeras were at a value low point and my TVR purchase would if nothing else at least hold it's value.
To be honest I choose to view the increase of my Chimaera as a happy coincidence rather than a planned strategy, and by chance this increase has exactly covered what I've spent on maintenance and upgrades over 9 years. But as we all know with car ownership there are more expenses than upgrades and maintenance, there's the annual road fund tax, MoT test, fuel and insurance all of which you never get back, over the 9 years I calculate these unrecoverable costs as being roughly £1,000 a year.
So, like I say... "owning my Chimaera has been a pretty cheap hobby".
I have mates who are into other stuff, a quick chat with them about their hobbies soon reveals you don't get much in the way of golf, fishing, clay pigeon shooting or even gym/personal training for £1,000 a year! Obviously I have other mates who are into cars, two of them bought into the classic air cooled Porsche thing just at the right time, their cars have rocketed in value but both decided they would fully restore their cars in the last few years. In the end while the value of their cars has increased greatly and is much higher than my TVR the expenditure on their restoration work has left them in a situation where they'd actually make no profit if they sold today.
Anyone who thinks restoration is a profitable business is completely diluted....
My point is people shouldn't go into TVR or any classic/hobby car ownership thinking it's a good investment, if you want to make money out of cars be a car dealer. The true enthusiast should buy the car they like and can afford, they should also absolutely buy the best example they can because this approach will definitely save money in the long run, and finally they should forget all about profiteering.
The idea from there on in should be to just enjoy the car, it will still cost you money to own (fuel, tax, insurance, MoT, servicing, maintenance ect ect) but as long as the outlay matches the pleasure the car gives back it should be seen as acceptable expenditure. By all means keep track of the cost of ownership as I do, but also be sure to compare what you're spending with the cash other's are shelling out every year on their chosen hobby.
This is my approach to TVR ownership and when I apply this logic it's quite evident my hobby is cheap as chips, on so many levels a TVR is a completely illogical purchase as I'm sure most of our wives and partners are quick to point out, but apply the hobby theory and the whole TVR/classic car ownership idea becomes an eminently sensible thing, cheap even
Man maths to the rescue again
wuckfitracing said:
Agree oh and I paid £4K for mine 5 years ago.
4K wtf Was it knackered or something
Be good if you could clarify this as otherwise 95% of us over payed by a good 50% have we all been ripped off
in my case it equates to + 150% I’m sort of proud of that !!! More importantly I assume you have mechanical skill and plenty of facilities which makes buying a cheap one sort of worth it, that’s if you enjoy grovelling about garage floors for weeks and months on end.
Let’s just take the average bloke, can he afford to buy such a car if he’s not mechanically minded.
If this thread is about helping people and giving them some good advice as to buying these cars what would your recommendation be.
Buy the cheapest one available and hope for the best!
More like Russian roulette to me
I’m not saying anything other than what most of us already know, a poorly underfunded ran into the ground Tvr isn’t a good purchase if you need specialists to sort it out. Even if you did all the work yourself chassis re ferbs or engine/ gearbox/ Dif or any other tired parts will end up costing a good few bob if you add in your time as part of the cost.
Take engine rebuilds, you have the skill to assemble it, what about machining of heads and block, bigger valves or ported heads engine parts etc.... 3k most likely and all the risk of it going tits up with no recall!
Not many people are in this position. Maybe the only people who should dare buy them need to be grease monkeys,,,,,,
sort of restricts the ability to sell them if that’s the honest truth. Clearly they are great cars if this sort of work turns you on but if not what do you do is my question to the Tvr massive offering advice to a friend about buying one of these cars.
Your car is either a one off or someone sold it way to cheap or in dire straights or had no idea what it’s really worth. Does it have insurance history ?
4K that’s some buying skills
I notice Amore have a yellow one with a body off rebuild incl turbo for 24 and 1/2 ( sounds cheaper this way)
I bet you that sells no problem, if it goes for that price is another question but someone’s buying a new car near enough or one that’s probably more sorted than any that left the factory. If you have the money and want one badly enough and just want to get in and go, tour Europe as you are not into repairing them and want the best a car like that over a number of years must still constitute a good buy. My mate restored a pre 66 race MBG to FIA international spec, £40,000 ( I’m sure that’s retail ) so more like 30k or less to him but every single part is brand new except the shell which itself took serious work to make good. Race Engine cost 10k alone but has all the right parts and the power to match and win, it took a good couple of years to build and lots of searching to get the rare parts etc etc.
I thought he was nuts but it’s a cracking bit of kit and considering it was a total wreck he’s transformed it into another historic race car of joy.
First race out a stone flicked up and cracked the brand new windscreen,,,,, he was well pissed.
Second meeting at Zolder the 10k engine popped, he ran the dizzy with to much advance apparently so his own fault but in his defence he was right up there with the big boys
He also raced Mazda Supercup until about a week ago when he decided to stop, he was rebuilding the body every week, rubbing is racing in that game,,,
Every thing is relevent to what you want and usually costs accordingly
4.3 too,,, your just gloating :
That’s a hell of a buy you got there
Edited by Classic Chim on Saturday 15th September 01:35
No it wasn’t knackered. I count my lucky stars that I got out of racing and bought a well priced Chim. Racing was costing me a fortune and time to race was short as I work abroad. I do have better than the average skill level at grease monkeying though. Best advise is buy a 4 post lift and enjoy your garage time as well as driving time. I do.
sapper said:
Looks a bit different now to my profile picture. I had the headlights covered and Tuscan indicators added.
I love the headlight covers and would like to get them done on mine. Can I ask where you got them done and how big a job it is? Did you replace the headlight lamps at the same time and does it involve a respray of the front end?
I think it makes the car look more sleek and so much better. - I like the Sp 12's as well, (actually have the same wheels on mine)
wuckfitracing said:
No it wasn’t knackered. I count my lucky stars that I got out of racing and bought a well priced Chim. Racing was costing me a fortune and time to race was short as I work abroad. I do have better than the average skill level at grease monkeying though. Best advise is buy a 4 post lift and enjoy your garage time as well as driving time. I do.
4 post lift. Ok that’s it then folks, buy a well priced one ( whatever that means ) but make sure you have a double garage high enough to install a 4 post lift. What if you don’t have a two story garage or skill to use a 4 post lift?
Would your advice be don’t buy one unless you have?
You might have a point but it’s not necessarily a very practical one for many people looking in and for probably hundreds of existing TVR owners.
Isn’t this why the higher priced cars that are properly sorted and I don’t just mean shiny chassis and bodywork constitute a good buy to people who don’t or never wish to own a 4 post lift let alone become mechanics.
Let’s also try and keep some perspective on repairs at the good TVR centres, compared to many car marks these garages are in fact very reasonable on labour charges and the parts might have some mark up but comparably are still very reasonable in comparison, let’s not also forget without these garages surviving TVR owners who happen to be accountants or computer whizzo’s or whatever would be stuffed! Still the best parts suppliers overall are the private ones who can’t afford to be overly arrogant and have supported these cars for years.
The Tvr dealerships are now few and far between so people already have to travel long distances in some cases to have maintenance work completed. To some extent supporting these businesses is in all our interests.
I fully agree learning to look after the cars properly is quite an important part of ownership but taking on engine builds or electrical gremlins when you are out of your depth is simply a recipe for disaster and failure of mindset!
You can learn anything if you want too, but maybe some people,, infact most people don’t wish to become rather skilled mechanics just to own a bloody TVR.
I think your point totally ignores reality for most people looking to own a TVR.
More like scare tactics. And how many people got lucky and got ( a good un) for 4K five years ago. So you got lucky. Let’s hope your luck holds. You have no idea what’s round the corner in life.
For the rest of us the advice I’ve seen so many times by experienced owners is still buy the best you can for the money you’ve got and do not discount cars at a higher pricing point ( if it’s truelly been rebuilt by someone who’s trusted ) or clearly has the knowledge and skills to do so.
It’s just common sense.
There’s no guarantees in life but knowing the common faults and problematic issues that can arise and buying cars with these problems fully and totally removed might just save you a small fortune a lot of time and no less hassle when it’s busy at the side of the road. In 8 years ownership and some 40,000 miles mines never left me stranded needing the AA or broken whilst using it,,, other than when I’d messed with the coil connections ( 10 seconds and on my way again ) then again when I’d fiddled around the fuel pump area and again sorted in similar time.
I no longer have a single coil to worry about I have 8 of them
and nothing much to worry about until my riggers get condemned which is small worry in comparison to major mechanical works. Worth its weight in gold if you want a reliable useable car. Christ why do I waste my time on here!
Gassing Station | Chimaera | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff