How long a road trip would you do in your TVR?
Discussion
It's car change time again. Front runner is a Toyota GT86 because it's a great drive, totally reliable and a car I can use every day. I would also have no worries about doing a Surrey-Austria-Poland-Surrey road trip next summer. However.....the TVR classifieds are awfully seductive. A Tamora or T350 would be far more exciting than the GT86, but would it be sensible to take one on that kind of road trip? I used to have a Griff 500 and would only buy another TVR with air con, but other than this I still love the cars. I just don't have much faith they would hold together over about 4000 miles of full on touring.
So my question is how far have you been in your TVR and were you continually listening out for something about to go wrong?
So my question is how far have you been in your TVR and were you continually listening out for something about to go wrong?
You can get a Griff 500 with AC
...and it'll probably work by now! Mine did and I went to EU in it all the time.
A Rover engined car is easier to fix when in EU to.
You just need a Range Rover dealer.
Seriously though, sorted cars like Cerbs, Ts and Sags are all great GTs.
Fabulous abroad. Just look around and get a well sorted one.
...and it'll probably work by now! Mine did and I went to EU in it all the time.
A Rover engined car is easier to fix when in EU to.
You just need a Range Rover dealer.
Seriously though, sorted cars like Cerbs, Ts and Sags are all great GTs.
Fabulous abroad. Just look around and get a well sorted one.
SonicHedgeHog said:
I just don't have much faith they would hold together over about 4000 miles of full on touring.
Only did a 3000 mile road trip last year in the Tamora that ranged from snow to sun to soaking.No problems. It didn't use any oil or coolant either.
You would want to know it was in good condition before setting off, but the same goes for any car.
Trip report
Don't have a TVR (do have several other classics - including one which will do a 4000km trip over the next couple of weeks).
Just posting here to say I wouldn't take anything decent to Poland - the roads are s
t and aything decent gets nicked, sometimes even from so-called guarded car parks.
ETA: I know several people who regularly do long trips in TVR's
Just posting here to say I wouldn't take anything decent to Poland - the roads are s
t and aything decent gets nicked, sometimes even from so-called guarded car parks.ETA: I know several people who regularly do long trips in TVR's
Chimaera - 3000 miles across France, Switzerland and Italy
- 2000 miles across France to Millau and the surrounding gorges
- 1000 miles across Northern France visiting WW2 sites around Normandy and WW1 around the French/Belgian border
T350 - 2000 miles around Scotland
- 1000 miles around Wales
Why everyone seems to think these cars will break down/fall apart the minute you get 5 minutes away from home I don't know. Buy a dog and you'll be going for lots of walks, buy a good one and it'll be your best friend!!
- 2000 miles across France to Millau and the surrounding gorges
- 1000 miles across Northern France visiting WW2 sites around Normandy and WW1 around the French/Belgian border
T350 - 2000 miles around Scotland
- 1000 miles around Wales
Why everyone seems to think these cars will break down/fall apart the minute you get 5 minutes away from home I don't know. Buy a dog and you'll be going for lots of walks, buy a good one and it'll be your best friend!!
Fair points, fair points. I'm not being down on TVRs. Heck, I spent half my time defending their reliability to non-believers when I owned my Griff. It's more that I was just talking myself into buying another one when every other thread on this forum involved helping someone who had had something catastrophic go wrong with their car. Catastrophic is fine when you're close to home. It is most definitely not fine when you're in another country miles from anyone who knows how TVRs work.
I'll keep my eyes peeled for the right car. Maybe I'll just know when I see it.
I'll keep my eyes peeled for the right car. Maybe I'll just know when I see it.
the trouble with forums is that only bad stuff gets a lot of coverage on here, that's not a bad thing as 90% of the time people are asking for help with tips on where to get it fixed or how to do it themselves, I`ve had a couple of mates look on here and say "why do you love TVRs the forums all about them breaking down!"
Not many will come on here and say I`ve just done 1000k on some great roads and it never missed a beat.
Not many will come on here and say I`ve just done 1000k on some great roads and it never missed a beat.
Well said Clive.
The Oxford group did a trip to south Belgium this year, my Cerbera a Tuscan, 350, tamora, griff 500, a couple of chimps and a couple more Cerbs and not one incident ..... I know you come to expect this from the modern family tin top but these cars are high performance and averaging 10 years old.
I'd trust my Cerbera to finish any trip I start!
D
The Oxford group did a trip to south Belgium this year, my Cerbera a Tuscan, 350, tamora, griff 500, a couple of chimps and a couple more Cerbs and not one incident ..... I know you come to expect this from the modern family tin top but these cars are high performance and averaging 10 years old.
I'd trust my Cerbera to finish any trip I start!
D
see you there, if not beforehand
clive f said:
the trouble with forums is that only bad stuff gets a lot of coverage on here, that's not a bad thing as 90% of the time people are asking for help with tips on where to get it fixed or how to do it themselves, I`ve had a couple of mates look on here and say "why do you love TVRs the forums all about them breaking down!"
Not many will come on here and say I`ve just done 1000k on some great roads and it never missed a beat.
I'll start it off then!Not many will come on here and say I`ve just done 1000k on some great roads and it never missed a beat.
Hi all, I have an issue with my Chim and need some advise.
I drove all round London on Saturday morning, sat in traffic on the M25 for 4 1/2 hours, drove to Longleat at warp speed and returned to East Sussex on Sunday, The problem being reliability, she never moaned once, not even the stop start on the M25 and then just hunkered down and did exactly what I asked when the traffic cleared.
When people mentioned reliability issues on other forums regarding our TVR's,
I thought they meant poor reliability, not better than many other German cars of the same age!!
jamienshelly said:
When people mentioned reliability issues on other forums regarding our TVR's,
I thought they meant poor reliability, not better than many other German cars of the same age!!
It's quite simple: when a BMW/Merc/VW breaks down at the side of the road, it's just BAU and nobody notices.I thought they meant poor reliability, not better than many other German cars of the same age!!
When a great-looking TVR breaks down, everybody notices.
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