Tasmin 200 FHC!

[Mr Tank]

Hi

I see the Blue Tasmin 200 FHC is up for sale on E-bay for the same price £2,900.
Some people don't learn!
I was considering it as a project for my collection. Rob Ingleby inspected it for me! It needs a complete chassis off rebuild and respray, plus retrim.

But a rare car!

Here's a few pics for you to see!















The inside is just as bad!







Andy

Edited by Mr Tank on Saturday 19th May 15:36

[vampire222]

Would be a cool project, but not nearly for that price.

[Mr Tank]

Hi

Yes it would be if the car was max 1K price because you would spend at least 6K to 8K to sort it.

Here's a few pics of the engine compartment!










Andy

Edited by Mr Tank on Saturday 19th May 16:57

[pk500]

Think that's 1 of 9 coupes ?

[Tasmin200]

Wow, that's in quite a state for three grand. I've been watching it on e-bay as I've got a 200 too. I'm pretty shocked by the state of the chassis.

We're you thinking out buying it Andy? It wold be great to have another one on PH as I've never heard of anyone else with a FHC. You'd make a cracking job of it when you get back on your feet.

As you know mine has a V6 in it at the moment and I'm considering getting a Pinto for it again to put it back to original. Do you think I should do that? There can't be many of the 16 left.

Edited by Tasmin200 on Saturday 19th May 19:55

[Mr Tank]

Hi

I would be interested in doing it if the owner would drop his price, at 1K it's still expensive, as it needs a complete rebuild! The only thing is, it appears to be fairly original!

I have a had a mad few weeks with cars so I will have to wait and see!

Andy

[Wedg1e]

Surely what it 'needs' is down to the individual who wants to drive it? Granted it 'needs' the chassis sorting but it may well 'need' not too much more (certainly not £7-8K as has been suggested) to make a road-legal car out of it. More of a shed than a concours contender but most Wedges aren't THAT immaculate anyway. Plenty of people have the skills and tools to do most if not all of the work themselves so their perception of what the car 'needs' and is worth may well differ from some opinions here.
There seems to be an undercurrent of 'buy cheap, sell for top whack'...

[Mr Tank]

Ian

Sorry mate but I have seen/got the pics!
If you have to take the body off and do the chassis its silly not to do the rest! A paint job alone would be £1,500 to £2,000 the interior is a state, the passengers side is a swimming pool!
Yes if you buy a car like Zigs which is bascally sound but needs a lot of TLC yes you can do it cheaper.
But this car needs a lot more than TLC.
Zig has done a great job on his car and that has not been cheap! Plus he's still having to do work on it now.

A full restoration can end up cheaper.

Yes some people can do it cheaper, but not everybody is skilled at it and the bits they can't do costs them when they have it done by garages etc!

For £3K this car is expensive! To just get it roadworthy would cost at least £1K to £1.5K then you would be driving around in a very poor example of a "Wedge"
"Hatters" SEAC last year was in better condition than this FHC would be if you just got it roadworthy. True its fairly original which is a good bases for a full restoration. But to just get it roadworthy NO! you can buy much better cars with a MOT than what this is!

Here's a few more shots!










As I said its a rare car so it deserves to be properly restored, not just a quickey to get it road worthy. To do a full job even with a lot of work done buy the new owner it will still cost! Unless they want to drive about in a water shed which looks like its been polished by a Brillo pad :
Andy

Edited by Mr Tank on Sunday 20th May 01:26

[NTEL]

At the end of the day, a knacker is a knacker and that car is a knacker! Should go to some body who is willing to refurb it for next to nothing. Who ever does refurb it will never make their money back on it anyway.

[Wedg1e]

I can see the pics Andy. A few bits of crazing on the GRP is neither here nor there, many Wedges (and Lotuses and other kit cars) have them too, it's not the end of the road. Nor is a bit of flaking epoxy on the chassis. Yes the sill tubes need doing, no you don't need to take the body off to do them. The interior could be replaced/repaired with ex-racecar trim or even seats from another car, like Zig's in fact. Some of the panels and all of the carpet could be made by eye. The mechanicals are simple and cheap.
In some ways Mark (Zig) is going about it the right way: he's using the car, which gives him the incentive to sort it as and when problems arise. Too many projects stay just that: projects, being bought by a procession of dreamers who rip bits off, lose them, lose interest and pass the whole sorry shebang onto the next hopeful. I'd rather see shabby cars (not Marks! ) on the road (and at the 'Fest) than piles of bits on Ebay.

[Mr Tank]

NTEL said:

At the end of the day, a knacker is a knacker and that car is a knacker! Should go to some body who is willing to refurb it. Who ever does refurb it will never make their money back on it anyway.

Hi

Yes never a true word spoken!

You would never get your money back at £1K or £3K asking price, plus the basic resto cost!
This car needs a lot of work.
Because its a rare example it should be saved in any form!

But why do a quicky when its deserves a "PROPER JOB"

If it's still around later in the year at a slighly better price. I may be able to persuad her indoors it needs saving!

Andy

[Mr Tank]

Ian

I am sorry if you want to drive around in a s _ _ _ c _ _ t then you can!
But at £3K you can buy a lot better.
The FHC I recently sold cost a little bit more than this but was in far better condition, I then spent a bit of time and money to get it sorted.
Yes things are cheap for the wedge that's why alot of us a drawn to them! But this one will not be cheap to get back on the road. Yes the sills can be done with the body on, but to do the rest it needs the body off to do a decent job!

The best thing I think is for us is to agree to disagree on this one.

I like my cars in the best condition I can get them into and no matter how good you are with you hands etc it still cost's.
Other people don't that's what makes us wedge owners the individual people we are!

Andy

[pk500]

I fancy a project but that would break the bank !

[Mr Tank]

pk500 said:

I fancy a project but that would break the bank !

This is from a mechanic and MOT tester! who by chance ownes a 200 DH O! and a Chim

Andy

[Mr Tank]

Tasmin200 said:

Wow, that's in quite a state for three grand. I've been watching it on e-bay as I've got a 200 too. I'm pretty shocked by the state of the chassis.

We're you thinking out buying it Andy? It wold be great to have another one on PH as I've never heard of anyone else with a FHC. You'd make a cracking job of it when you get back on your feet.

As you know mine has a V6 in it at the moment and I'm considering getting a Pinto for it again to put it back to original. Do you think I should do that? There can't be many of the 16 left.

Edited by Tasmin200 on Saturday 19th May 19:55

Roy

It's hard to say leave your car as it is as it goes and looks OK. Or do you put back an original engine. There is one school who says keep it original and then there's the other who like to customise there car. It's all down to personel choice.

Me I am in the origanilaty camp if I can.

That's the reason for selling my FHC. It's a great car looks great inside and out. It runs OK but it has a few small problems. I sold it because to put it back to original in this case would be shame as its shuch a good example. It would have ment a respray a complete retrim and other work, so I sold it so somebody else, who can enjoy it as it is!

Andy

[mrzigazaga]

Hi Peeps..personally i think its a shame that any of these cars get left to rot and the fact that its a rarer model is even more pitiful, Perhaps we need to knock heads and design a price structure which is realistic with its valuations as far as wedges and their conditions are concerned..It would be good if someone was to buy and restore this rare car, Especially if they are capable of doing everything themselves and have a couple of spare garages to strip it in..As i understand it the pinto can be tuned fairly cheaply and can give a good 200bhp..But i think it is a bit too ambitious to ask what they are asking..What would be a satisfactory price?..£500-700..
I paid 1400 for mine which maybe was a couple of hundred over what it should of been worth and although it was in a sorry state it wasnt in half as bad a condition as this one..In all fairness i was initially looking for a rolling restoration which is what i have ended up with but the joy of driving it as it progresses it very rewarding and i can understand that if it had been stuck in a garage for the time i have owned it then i probably would of given up on it..I now have learnt that these cars deserve people that are passionate about them and who will endeavour to resurrect an iconic british hand built sports car even at a greater cost than what it is worth..
I agree that to restore it would cost a small fortune if you have to pay for people to do the work but if you are competent then the biggest cost is dedication..
If it wasnt so complicated i think it would be wonderful if there was a Wedge rescue fund that restores the rarer cars when they come up for sale, Especially ones in this condition..Or should we just chuck british history on the scrap heap!!......Ziga

[Wedg1e]

Mr Tank said:

This is from a mechanic and MOT tester! who by chance ownes a 200 DH O! and a Chim

Andy

So? Just because he doesn't fancy spending the money doesn't mean someone else won't do it. Chimaeras are as much rot-boxes as wedges if they're not looked after and as the 90s saw a glut of IT-moneyed young buyers who wouldn't know a spanner from their elbow then guess what, most of those (and there are a lot more of them about than there are wedges) are piles of poo underneath too. In fact that goes for Cerberas as well: I remember Joolz Lane (of HHC) showing me round a Cerbera in about 2002 that was raggy from the windscreen forward, some things never changed at TVR and corrosion protection was one of them.

[Wedg1e]

Mr Tank said:

Hi

Yes never a true word spoken!

You would never get your money back at £1K or £3K asking price, plus the basic resto cost!
This car needs a lot of work.
Because its a rare example it should be saved in any form!

But why do a quicky when its deserves a "PROPER JOB"
Andy

So what you're saying is that cars should only be restored to as-new (or better than) condition, implying that only a select few well-off people should do it... cheque-book restoration I think it's called. That's why E-type Jags went from being bargain-basement bangers in the early 80s to so expensive now that only Lotto winners can afford them. Well headline news mate: Wedges aren't E-types and nobody loves them enough to throw that sort of money at them. They are however ideal for home mechanics who, with a bit of patience and plenty of time, can more than keep them serviceable - sadly not always the way Peter Wheeler or Martin Lilley envisaged, but keep them going nonetheless.

[Mr Tank]

Ian

I completly understand what you have been saying. But at a starting price of £2,900 for a car in the conditon this one is in?
Even for somebody with you experance etc to just get it to running/MOT condition will take £1K if you are lucky!
Yes you will have a possibly a runner for £4K but it will still be a basket case!

Yes the car needs to be preserved and if the owner would just come down to a sensable price then I would have a go at saving it!
But he will not!
This is the third time he's had it up for sale at the same price! He will not drop his price far. Believe me I have tried to get him to do that but at the price it's at now and the money it would take to get it back to a condition I like it's to much at present.

Espacially for me with my recent purchases!

If anybody is brave enough to buy it at this price and sort it for less than £6K to £7K. I wish them luck and thank them for saving another wedge from the scrape pile.

Andy

[Wedg1e]

Mr Tank said:

Ian

I am sorry if you want to drive around in a s _ _ _ c _ _ t then you can!
But at £3K you can buy a lot better.
The FHC I recently sold cost a little bit more than this but was in far better condition, I then spent a bit of time and money to get it sorted.
Yes things are cheap for the wedge that's why alot of us a drawn to them! But this one will not be cheap to get back on the road. Yes the sills can be done with the body on, but to do the rest it needs the body off to do a decent job!

The best thing I think is for us is to agree to disagree on this one.

I like my cars in the best condition I can get them into and no matter how good you are with you hands etc it still cost's.
Other people don't that's what makes us wedge owners the individual people we are!

Andy

There are more than a handful of people even just on this forum who have lifted Wedge bodyshells for chassis work in the confines of the average domestic garage, so the suggestion that that automatically 'costs' is nonsense.
Granted if you want to hand the car over to a 'specialist' then your wallet will be rapidly lightened, and maybe - just maybe - they will do a better job than you could do yourself but I've seen chassis welding on cars - including Wedges - that frankly was bloody crap and likely to fail in an impact. I know Hotty and 1FingerBandit have too.
Last time I charged someone for doing both sill rails and plates, including materials, it was £250 and two days work for one - not professional - person. If you think that spending more guarantees a better job then the motor industry will thank you for it
I know I could make money from repairing TVRs but I also know that by and large the owners do NOT want to spend it, so a regular income wouldn't be assured. The whole ethos of my website is to show and encourage Wedge owners that they CAN do it themselves. The Lotus Esprit is even more cloaked in mystique and black magic than TVRs are, but it's only a car built from bits of other cars and a not-particularly-complex engine, yet I still get emails from people telling me I'm some sort of wizard for daring to strip and rebuild one.
I also know that my 390SE isn't the tidiest example of a Wedge that ever turned a wheel but in 12 years it has never left me stranded; personally I'd rather know that the oily bits work fine even if the shiny bits aren't as shiny as they could be. If you prefer it differently then that's your choice but I think you do other potential owners a disservice if you suggest that they should only 'do it properly' by spending lots of money - and potential sellers a disservice by suggesting that they should effectively give their cars away cheap.
Finally, not everyone views cars or other possessions in terms of what their future return on 'investment' might be.
So yes, I agree to disagree with you.