Chimaera or Wedge on a budget?

[A900ss]

OK, let me start of by saying ‘I am a ditherer’…..

I have (or about to at the end of this month) come into some spare cash and have decided to get a V8 TVR; a boyhood dream that I want to realise.

It will be used as a pure weekend toy and I am planning on doing most (the easy stuff) of the maintenance myself. If the car breaks down, it isn’t the end of the world as I have a nice 5 series for the day to day family stuff.

I have been doing a fair bit of research over the past week or so and am fairly decided that I’ll be going down the Wedge route. My budget is up to £5k (can stretch a bit more for the right car if needed but I don’t really want to) and I have always loved the Wedge since I was a boy. I’m also keen on the fact that these (old) cars can have the sills easily removed for outrigger work at a cost of about £250 I believe.

Here comes the ditherer bit….

Whatever I get I will love I know but before I purchase, I’m thinking ‘What about a Chimaera?’

If I don’t look at one I’ll never know….

So, what are the watch-outs on a Chimaera? I know the outriggers need a body life/body off for repairs can be expensive (£2k?).

Also, can I get an OK one for £5k (plus a bit more if needed) – PM me if you don’t want to discuss prices that you have bought/sold Chimaeras if you don’t want it public.

Please help a ditherer…..

[Jon Brown]

If you get a £5k chimaera, budget for at least another £2k to get it up to scratch.

At the end of the day it all depends on the car, go and have a look at a few cheap ones and ideally take a TVR owner with you. People are usually happy to help out in this world, I certainly would if you were local.

There are a couple of buyers guides on the net, which should help. Just ignore the mileage and buy on conditon (regardless if its a wedge or Chim).

Have you looked at the S series as well, although I have no idea how much these go for

[phillpot]

Jon Brown said:

Have you looked at the S series as well, although I have no idea how much these go for

You'd get a nice V6 one for that money but struggle for a V8.


Wedge and Chimaera are so different, I'd try and at least get a ride in each if not a drive and then search in ernest for the model you decide upon.

[TV8]

Hi there, your profile says Tetbury. Is that the Tetbury near Neil Garners? If so, there will allsorts of TVR's there in a months time if you can wait that long.

[K4TRV]

TV8 said:

Hi there, your profile says Tetbury. Is that the Tetbury near Neil Garners? If so, there will allsorts of TVR's there in a months time if you can wait that long.

Good plug!!

An even better one is that my Chimaera will be up for sale, price yet to be determined, at Neils.

Pop in and ask Neil what he knows about Chim's (and mine?)

Trev

[A900ss]

K4TRV said:

Good plug!!

An even better one is that my Chimaera will be up for sale, price yet to be determined, at Neils.

Pop in and ask Neil what he knows about Chim's (and mine?)

Trev

Price to be determined? - can you let me know (PM if you want) what a Chim of that age is likely to go for? I guess condition is more importnat than age.

[TV8]

K4TRV said:

Good plug!!

An even better one is that my Chimaera will be up for sale, price yet to be determined, at Neils.

Pop in and ask Neil what he knows about Chim's (and mine?)

Trev

Hi Trevor, the Tamora won over the Chimaera then?

[Julesprivate]

OP - the offer of taking my Chim out for a spin is still there, I'm only in Churchdown so not that far from you. I paid £6k for mine in October 2012 and it is immaculate and has less than 24k miles on her (it's a 1996 Mark 2 front, Mark 1 back). I'm NOT even remotely thinking of selling her, that's just an example of what you might find if you shop around.

[LMMAC]

Had 4 Chims and every time was tempted by wedges ! One day I will have a wedge too ! Drive both and buy what you prefer. Although a 5k Chim might come with large bills too !

Good luck with what ever you buy .

[K4TRV]

TV8 said:

Hi Trevor, the Tamora won over the Chimaera then?

Ribbed with Trev two TIVs, by fellow competitors.........8-))

I Sprint/Speed Hillclimb my TVR(s) - after the Tamora went up my favourite hill 1.5 secs faster without much practise - couldn't stop smiling all weekend back in Sep12.

Yup, after 10-years, I have decided to "recycle" the Chimaera 8-/

Trev

[SILICONEKID350HP]

What about a fully sorted S ? 16k spent on it and a Cosworth v6 24V engine on TB`s

http://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds/used-cars/t...

Edited by SILICONEKID350HP on Friday 22 February 20:37

[A900ss]

SILICONEKID350HP said:

What about a fully sorted S ? 16k spent on it and a Cosworth v6 24V engine on TB`s

http://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds/used-cars/t...

Edited by SILICONEKID350HP on Friday 22 February 20:37

Thanks for posting and I have seen the advert but the S just doesn't do it for me. They may be better than the Wedge/Chim dynamically and I probably could get a good one for my cash but I know it wouldn't scratch the itch like a Wedge/Chim would.

[SILICONEKID350HP]

A900ss said:

SILICONEKID350HP said:

What about a fully sorted S ? 16k spent on it and a Cosworth v6 24V engine on TB`s

http://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds/used-cars/t...

Edited by SILICONEKID350HP on Friday 22 February 20:37

Thanks for posting and I have seen the advert but the S just doesn't do it for me. They may be better than the Wedge/Chim dynamically and I probably could get a good one for my cash but I know it wouldn't scratch the itch like a Wedge/Chim would.

If you like the shape of the wedge you can get a real beast for little money .The engines were hand built by TVR to the owners specification ,some of them are animals .

Alot are being sent to America ,they seem to love them out there ..Willow Sports cars were doing a nut and bolt restro a few months back ,it was being shipped out to the States.

This one is a corker ,got to say they do sound nice .

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1985-TVR-350i-Wedge-Road...

Edited by SILICONEKID350HP on Friday 22 February 21:03

Edited by SILICONEKID350HP on Friday 22 February 21:07

[QBee]

That looks enough of a cracker to warrant a trip up there with the deposit in your pocket. I put down £500 down on mine and collected it a month later when i was ready.

[A900ss]

QBee said:

That looks enough of a cracker to warrant a trip up there with the deposit in your pocket. I put down £500 down on mine and collected it a month later when i was ready.

I'm a bit worried about the insurance for a modified car.

I have zero NCB as I have a company car but RH Insurance will still do comp cover on a standard 350i for less than £150. I guessing a modified car with no NCB will be a lot more.

Interestingly a Chim comes in at £350 with a lot of classic insurers refusing to cover me as I have no experience of high performance cars. It wasn't that long ago though that I rode a Kawasaki 1200cc sports bike that would thrash a Chim/Wedge in the performance stakes.

[SILICONEKID350HP]

A900ss said:

QBee said:

That looks enough of a cracker to warrant a trip up there with the deposit in your pocket. I put down £500 down on mine and collected it a month later when i was ready.

I'm a bit worried about the insurance for a modified car.

I have zero NCB as I have a company car but RH Insurance will still do comp cover on a standard 350i for less than £150. I guessing a modified car with no NCB will be a lot more.

Interestingly a Chim comes in at £350 with a lot of classic insurers refusing to cover me as I have no experience of high performance cars. It wasn't that long ago though that I rode a Kawasaki 1200cc sports bike that would thrash a Chim/Wedge in the performance stakes.

R&H don`t use NCB ,its a classic policy .I declared the after market ECU ,engine change,wheel change ,brake upgrade etc and i did not cost a penny extra.

Only problem with my policy ,they don`t do track day cover .

If it was anothr £50 it would not be the end of the world.

Go for it ! you will love it .A standard Chimaera 4l is going to cost you more than double that .

I`m with R&H ,if its fully sorted it will be cheap motoring .

Edited by SILICONEKID350HP on Friday 22 February 22:41

[BountyHunter]

SILICONEKID350HP said:

If you like the shape of the wedge you can get a real beast for little money .The engines were hand built by TVR to the owners specification ,some of them are animals

the engines were hand built by TVR to owners specs ?
im pretty sure you will find that 99% of 350i's were bog standard sd1 rover vitesse engines

some of the other models were a bit special, but even within the same model theres lots of differences - luck of the draw/what they had on hand at the time etc

[TA14]

You don't want a carb: more maintenance, more fuel, fire risk... stick with the standard set up.

[QBee]

This looks like a decent one - leather interior, nice colour combo

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2011...

I went to the dealer's website, and he has a 2001 SLK and a 2002 Audi TT at about the same mileage and price.......makes you think about in what high esteem TVRs are held

Edited by QBee on Friday 22 February 23:08

[Julesprivate]

A900ss said:

It wasn't that long ago though that I rode a Kawasaki 1200cc sports bike that would thrash a Chim/Wedge in the performance stakes.

LOL - wait till you look in my garage tomorrow, you'll see my Victory Vegas sat alongside my B-King and believe me the Chim is more of a handful than the B-King.

Even with the 1340 Hayabusa motor in the B-King (all 170+ HP of it) it's still much easier to go fast on than the Chimaera is to go fast in. But exiting a wet roundabout (or even a dry one for that matter) is more fun in the Chim LOL