Best mate just killed 'my' car
Discussion
Sadly my Chimaera has just suffered a similar fate to Ace'T's 
I had owned the car for 8 years and in spite of also owning much more expensive and faster cars, just couldn't bring myself to sell it. Finally, the insane costs of my rallying (www.team-notax.co.uk) encouraged me to sell it at a knock down price to my best mate on condition that I could (and probably would) buy it back in the future...
Just two weeks later he hit unmarked, freshly laid gravel, spun into a field and hit a tree going backwards at fairly high speed
Fortunately he was ok -although as you may have heard on the news, another driver very sadly lost their life at the same spot the next day.
The Chimaera was obviously going to be written off - in fact the repair estimate was for £18,750 and that didn't include the new suspension, fuel tank and roof which I found also needed replacing after buying the car back blind from the insurer
It would have been easier (and more sensible) to let the car go, but I regretted selling it as soon as it had gone and decided to buy it back in a moment of weakness! As the car was being stored in Northumberland I took a gamble buying it unseen. I have just delivered it to a bodyshop and haven't even had a chance to check the chassis yet. Wish me luck! Will post photos tonight.
List of known damage:
Complete rear end
Front bumper
N/S headlight and surround
Exhaust
Fuel tank (large tree impression!)
N/S Sill
Roof (fuel tank smashed through the stored roof)
N/S front wishbones
Car scratched all over by branches
Driver seat heavily soiled (joke
)
Assuming the car can be saved for vaguely sensible money I hope to have it back on the road in a couple of months and will post details of progress
I had owned the car for 8 years and in spite of also owning much more expensive and faster cars, just couldn't bring myself to sell it. Finally, the insane costs of my rallying (www.team-notax.co.uk) encouraged me to sell it at a knock down price to my best mate on condition that I could (and probably would) buy it back in the future...
Just two weeks later he hit unmarked, freshly laid gravel, spun into a field and hit a tree going backwards at fairly high speed
Fortunately he was ok -although as you may have heard on the news, another driver very sadly lost their life at the same spot the next day.The Chimaera was obviously going to be written off - in fact the repair estimate was for £18,750 and that didn't include the new suspension, fuel tank and roof which I found also needed replacing after buying the car back blind from the insurer
It would have been easier (and more sensible) to let the car go, but I regretted selling it as soon as it had gone and decided to buy it back in a moment of weakness! As the car was being stored in Northumberland I took a gamble buying it unseen. I have just delivered it to a bodyshop and haven't even had a chance to check the chassis yet. Wish me luck! Will post photos tonight.
List of known damage:
Complete rear end
Front bumper
N/S headlight and surround
Exhaust
Fuel tank (large tree impression!)
N/S Sill
Roof (fuel tank smashed through the stored roof
)N/S front wishbones
Car scratched all over by branches
Driver seat heavily soiled (joke
)Assuming the car can be saved for vaguely sensible money I hope to have it back on the road in a couple of months and will post details of progress
That doesn't look as bad as I thought it was going to. In the pictures anyway.
Looks like the front can be re-glassed and a new rear quarter section. If all the bits are there they can be "stuck" back together without the need for new panels.
Not sure where you are based but I hear good reports about PR wood regarding bodywork.
Good luck.
Looks like the front can be re-glassed and a new rear quarter section. If all the bits are there they can be "stuck" back together without the need for new panels.
Not sure where you are based but I hear good reports about PR wood regarding bodywork.
Good luck.
scotty_d said:
Hexham Have a spare rear end for a mk2 Chim. I seen it a few weeks ago on there open day they did. Might be worth giving them a call about it?
To add they are brand new saved from the factory.
We called them about it when we were looking for bits for our car - it's £750 + vat.To add they are brand new saved from the factory.
Edited by scotty_d on Wednesday 11th July 09:58
Thanks for the good luck messages
The car is probably worse than it looks in the photos - both sides are damaged at the rear and the boot floor has largely gone so an entire back end is needed. Front can apparently be saved though.
Fuel tank is damaged even worse than I had thought - the driver is very lucky it didn't burst on impact.
The chassis seems ok with the exception of the front wishbones on the N/S. Apart from that the only other issue we saw with it on a ramp is that the rear anti rollbar and drop links have been bent - not the end of the world!
The car is probably worse than it looks in the photos - both sides are damaged at the rear and the boot floor has largely gone so an entire back end is needed. Front can apparently be saved though.
Fuel tank is damaged even worse than I had thought - the driver is very lucky it didn't burst on impact.
The chassis seems ok with the exception of the front wishbones on the N/S. Apart from that the only other issue we saw with it on a ramp is that the rear anti rollbar and drop links have been bent - not the end of the world!
Defcon5 said:
Nasty! How much did it cost to buy it back?
I think I got it for a fair price - however the insurance estimate for the repair was £18,750 and that didn't include half of what needs doing! Having said that I am getting it repaired for substantially less and as the bodyshop intends to partially lift the body it will give us a good opportunity to check the chassis for rust in the hard to reach places - everywhere visible it looks fine and has never been welded. Car has only covered 32k miles and I've owned it since 8k miles.I hope to get it back on the road for what I sold it for - possibly plus the cost of the respray which it needed anyway.
I went through my friend's insurance company (I had just sold the car to him)He actually bought it back from them and I then bought it from him! Had I sold it to someone I didn't know I would probably neever have seen it again and it would almost certainly have been scrapped. At least this way another TVR lives on 
Certainly can be rebuilt for well under £18k
I now have everything I need except an exhaust and a replacement roof. I have a few offers of exhausts but still on the look out for a good condition dark blue roof. Allthe parts should arrive this week so I hope there will be progress soon. I'll post piccies when there is...
I will also be treating the car to new carpets, again dark blue. Again recommendations?
I now have everything I need except an exhaust and a replacement roof. I have a few offers of exhausts but still on the look out for a good condition dark blue roof. Allthe parts should arrive this week so I hope there will be progress soon. I'll post piccies when there is...
I will also be treating the car to new carpets, again dark blue. Again recommendations?
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