Stupid car.

[Huntsman]

The Chimaera is an utterley stupid car, ill thought out parts bin special, poor quality, poor design, suffering from failing electrics, rusting chassis, knackered cam, blowing manifolds and 20 years of road abuse. No two people pronounce the name the same. Buying one to drive everyday, about 12k a year is ridiculous proposition.

Its loud and fast, so I bought it.



Bought form a PH'er, he'd got a bit frustrated with it recently, I circled overhead like a vulture, after a couple of weeks John had made his mind up, I went to view, we did a deal. The absolute gent even filled the tank for me.

I have found that my wifes volume rises with revs....

[jamienshelly]

Congratulations, and welcome at last!, One guarantee with these cars is that you will swear and curse at it like you would a stubborn teenager, but it is a complete love affair. good luck with your new toy/project and please keep us updated with pics.

[zacherynuk]

Very nice!

What's the year / spec / specials etc ?

[Mark.]

Nice one Ben, pretty good summary apart from the poor design bit - I love the way it looks

Hope to see it around the place once you've finished fettling.

[jr6yam]

The Chim' used to be my daily driver
Here's what I've replaced it with;

[ianwayne]

Good luck with the VED on that. £490 p.a. from April. Can't see me ever buying an emissions band L or M car for that reason.

Of course, TVR were such a low volume manufacturer by 2001 that there is no emissions data so it's PLG only (like a van), £230 p.a. after April.

[LordGrover]

jr6yam said:

The Chim' used to be my daily driver
Here's what I've replaced it with;

You'll love it. Not the same push in the back, but still fun.

[jr6yam]

ianwayne said:

Good luck with the VED on that. £490 p.a. from April. Can't see me ever buying an emissions band L or M car for that reason.

Of course, TVR were such a low volume manufacturer by 2001 that there is no emissions data so it's PLG only (like a van), £230 p.a. after April.

The tax is a pain but, overall, the 350Z should be slightly cheaper to run
When the tax disc disappears later in the year I'll probably pay monthly

[jr6yam]

LordGrover said:

You'll love it. Not the same push in the back, but still fun.

Spot on

[ianwayne]

jr6yam said:

The tax is a pain but, overall, the 350Z should be slightly cheaper to run
When the tax disc disappears later in the year I'll probably pay monthly

If you were using the Chimaera every day you have a point. It's just those 'rose-tinted' specs that make me think saving £250 on VED over a whole year is important! It would disappear in one part failure, or a service.

It will put paid to some cars as time goes by though. Think of a Jag in a few years time that costs £500+ for a years tax. It's the 8th anniversary tomorrow that bands L + M were created.

I notice it's just about possible to get a 350Z 300 registered in Feb 2006 though.

[dazee]

jr6yam said:

The Chim' used to be my daily driver
Here's what I've replaced it with;

They are nice and the reliability is great. I had one for about 3-4 years with no mechanical issues at all, just an annoying rattle in the car that took Nissan ages to track down and resolve. However, now that I compare to the Chim I wonder how I lived with all the plastics in it. And the cross beam in the boot makes the Chim seam a much more practical car if you need to carry anything. Mine was also outfitted by Veilside so actually the Chim has more ground clearance. But went to a Motegi track day in it and had a blast, especially when you turn the driver aides off it can get sideways in a hurry. Do a big smokey burnout though and that dash will light up like a Christmas tree