Cerbera to a Chimaera thoughts...
Discussion
Hi all, closing in on nearly 4 years Cerb stewardship. It's a 4.5, mapped (Joolz) and very low miles (17500). I have thoroughly enjoyed it but none of the kids fit in the back now and I've come to the conclusion that 2 seats might be a move worth making. Anyone here done similar? I'm not really interested in the 'T' car route and a Chimaera might offer a 'slightly-ish' more relaxed bit of fun, I also rather fancy one of Clive F's pipes!
Just curious as to folks thoughts on it?
Cheers
sticky.
Just curious as to folks thoughts on it?
Cheers
sticky.
Long term Chimaera owner here. Had a Cerb as a loan car for a few weeks & loved it.
I love the roof off thing, so Chimaera is perfect for me. It's not such a beast as the Cerb, but a decent one will go well enough.
Only real answer if to have a go & see if it floats your boat!
(if you look at my profile you'll see I've had a varied experience of most of the Chimaera variants)
I love the roof off thing, so Chimaera is perfect for me. It's not such a beast as the Cerb, but a decent one will go well enough.
Only real answer if to have a go & see if it floats your boat!
(if you look at my profile you'll see I've had a varied experience of most of the Chimaera variants)
I had a 400se for 7 years then a cerb for 7 years and now a griff 500 for the last 10 years. I still really miss the cerbs ridiculous outright grunt but that is the only thing I miss, partly because mine kept breaking. The griff is much nicer in top down decent weather, a generally more relaxing drive and is massively cheaper to maintain.
Eleven years ago and when considering my first TVR a well respected and long standing TVR specialist told me a Cerbera is the most costly TVR to own and maintain, while a Chimaera is one of the cheapest and most reliable. The Chimaera is also the model TVR made in the highest numbers, and not just by a little bit, they made twice as many Chimaeras than the nearest other model so that means there's lots of choice out there on the used market.
Given no TVR is especially reliable I chose to seek out the best Chimaera I could afford which has definitely worked out well as it's taken me everywhere and has been very reasonable to maintain, think MGB cheap. To solve the reliability concerns I've studied these pages for what can go wrong and have tried to preempt issues by upgrading the problematic elements with stronger, better, more durable components wherever I can.
A standard Chimaera is never going to be a fast as a Cerbera, but my thinking was a running Chimaera I can afford to keep on the road is going to be massively faster than a Cerbera that's laid up and immobile because I cant afford to fix it, saying that the best TVR I've ever driven was a friends LS engined Cerbera and if I had the funds I'd love to own that car.
I'll end by saying if the OP finds a Chimaera too slow adding forced induction can easily make it Cerbera fast, a supercharger installation could cost £6k but I've seen lots of Cerbera owners spend £6k in a year or so just keeping their mighty Cerb on the road, which kind of puts things into perspective.
Given no TVR is especially reliable I chose to seek out the best Chimaera I could afford which has definitely worked out well as it's taken me everywhere and has been very reasonable to maintain, think MGB cheap. To solve the reliability concerns I've studied these pages for what can go wrong and have tried to preempt issues by upgrading the problematic elements with stronger, better, more durable components wherever I can.
A standard Chimaera is never going to be a fast as a Cerbera, but my thinking was a running Chimaera I can afford to keep on the road is going to be massively faster than a Cerbera that's laid up and immobile because I cant afford to fix it, saying that the best TVR I've ever driven was a friends LS engined Cerbera and if I had the funds I'd love to own that car.
I'll end by saying if the OP finds a Chimaera too slow adding forced induction can easily make it Cerbera fast, a supercharger installation could cost £6k but I've seen lots of Cerbera owners spend £6k in a year or so just keeping their mighty Cerb on the road, which kind of puts things into perspective.
Thanks for the info CoG, I have been reading a number of your threads about Chimaeras (and others) to get a 'feel' for them. It's not so much running costs (although those are always a factor), it's more a different experience/sound, a little more mellow if you like but still with more of an edge than some Pork would offer for example.
There were 2 or 3 cars (at dealers) that I enquired about that I liked the look of, but the px offers were in the WBAC league, or Half (!) what they are selling their own stock for. Yes, they have to make a profit etc and I have no issues with that but it was real take your pants down time. One even waffled on about how the AJP could need a rebuild at any time, I politely pointed out that his RV8 had already needed one...............he quickly changed the topic as you can imagine.
Long story short, I'll do it the hard way and look to try to sell mine privately depending on where the country goes next, then I can pick from anywhere.
cheers
sticky.
There were 2 or 3 cars (at dealers) that I enquired about that I liked the look of, but the px offers were in the WBAC league, or Half (!) what they are selling their own stock for. Yes, they have to make a profit etc and I have no issues with that but it was real take your pants down time. One even waffled on about how the AJP could need a rebuild at any time, I politely pointed out that his RV8 had already needed one...............he quickly changed the topic as you can imagine.
Long story short, I'll do it the hard way and look to try to sell mine privately depending on where the country goes next, then I can pick from anywhere.
cheers
sticky.
Chim with 4.0 or 4.3 engines are still in a soft-stage of tune, unstressed and reliable as it would be an engine in a rover.
roof options (closed, targa, open). suspension quite comfortable
hence: easy to maintain, (and often neglected but still running), low running costs (spare parts widely available) and fresh air around you driving open.
Cerbera: more tvr-gimmicks (which could fail..and they do fail), AJP V8 enigne (as this would be THE only engine i would accept in a Cerb) is rare, low volume produced, expensive, parts difficult to source. fixed roof. suspension more sportier
now its up to you to decide what are your preferences and what your pocket allows to pay.
roof options (closed, targa, open). suspension quite comfortable
hence: easy to maintain, (and often neglected but still running), low running costs (spare parts widely available) and fresh air around you driving open.
Cerbera: more tvr-gimmicks (which could fail..and they do fail), AJP V8 enigne (as this would be THE only engine i would accept in a Cerb) is rare, low volume produced, expensive, parts difficult to source. fixed roof. suspension more sportier
now its up to you to decide what are your preferences and what your pocket allows to pay.
^^^^^ aww that’s just showin’ off!! Now for the sentence of doom…… Cerb has been brill without any real issues other than the usual TVR phaff which is why we own the bloody things! However it does want you to err ‘make progress’ all the time, it does actually cruise beautifully but at a number of leptons more than you are supposed to….gratuitous piccy…..
![](https://thumbsnap.com/sc/MrBwq93t.jpg[/img]</a> <a href="https://thumbsnap.com/MrBwq93t" Target="_blank" rel="nofollow">[img]https://thumbsnap.com/sc/MrBwq93t.jpg)
cheers ,
sticky
cheers ,
sticky
My experience comparing Cerbera with Chimaera is not so well balanced as far as length of time.
I had my first Chimaera in 1999. Kept her for around 7 years and she was my daily for most of that time.
Work was based in Germany so there were plenty of UK to Germany drives.
The Chimaera is a very 'soft' and comfortable car with plenty of power for those long drives in Europe.
My second I had for only 1 year and bought it to scratch the 'I miss the V8 rumble' itch.
In 2006 I bought a Mk1 Tuscan. Had to sell the Chimaera to pay for the Speed6 engine rebuild (after only 34 miles of ownership.
).
Used as a daily but I wrote her off after only 3 years.
After that, in 2009, I bought a Tuscan Convertible which I still have and again, for the first 8 years or so, used as my daily.
In 2015 I bought a Cerbera AJP 4.2.
I loved it but unfortunately, from day 1, I had many problems.
I didn't get a chance to make any trips to Germany in it. just a few drives into Wales.
The drives I had were great and I was sure it would have been a real pleasure on the Continent.
Unfortunately a contract ended out of the blue and so after only 2 years I decided to sell the Cerbera. Hay ho she had to go.
So again back to only 1 TVR.
So, Cerbera, or Chimaera.
I have come to the conclusion that if the Tuscan ever has to go, I will get a Chimaera 4.5 or 5.
Its the flexibility with the roof configuration that makes it for me.
Its funny how I've been day dreaming about the Cerbera while typing Chimaera.
Hard decision, good luck.
I had my first Chimaera in 1999. Kept her for around 7 years and she was my daily for most of that time.
Work was based in Germany so there were plenty of UK to Germany drives.
The Chimaera is a very 'soft' and comfortable car with plenty of power for those long drives in Europe.
My second I had for only 1 year and bought it to scratch the 'I miss the V8 rumble' itch.
In 2006 I bought a Mk1 Tuscan. Had to sell the Chimaera to pay for the Speed6 engine rebuild (after only 34 miles of ownership.
).Used as a daily but I wrote her off after only 3 years.
After that, in 2009, I bought a Tuscan Convertible which I still have and again, for the first 8 years or so, used as my daily.
In 2015 I bought a Cerbera AJP 4.2.
I loved it but unfortunately, from day 1, I had many problems.
I didn't get a chance to make any trips to Germany in it. just a few drives into Wales.
The drives I had were great and I was sure it would have been a real pleasure on the Continent.
Unfortunately a contract ended out of the blue and so after only 2 years I decided to sell the Cerbera. Hay ho she had to go.
So again back to only 1 TVR.
So, Cerbera, or Chimaera.
I have come to the conclusion that if the Tuscan ever has to go, I will get a Chimaera 4.5 or 5.
Its the flexibility with the roof configuration that makes it for me.
Its funny how I've been day dreaming about the Cerbera while typing Chimaera.
Hard decision, good luck.
Edited by so called on Thursday 19th March 13:42
Edited by so called on Thursday 19th March 16:42
Dream no longer! There is a lovely black one coming to market once all this rubbish virus stops!! On a serious note, yes Cerberas have their foibles no doubt but I think any car can through you a curved ball. An Audi A7 bi-Turbo I bought 18months ago, low miles, ramped and stamped AUC Audi. On a frosty morning you couldn't open the doors, the fuel flap wouldn't release, the mirrors folded 180 degrees the wrong way and you couldn't open the boot! I pointed out to Audi there wasn't much point in having a Quattro if you couldn't go anywhere when it was a little chilly. There weren't terribly happy at that funnily enough and only only managed to sort the fuel flap......I told them my TVR was more reliable, their 'executive orrifice' went right in the huff!
sticky.
sticky.
AceOfHearts said:
That looks like my perfect spec Cerbera!
I would be tempted to ask for a swap with my 415 bhp turbo Chim, but ive had it for 12 years now (since I was 19!) and don't think I could bare to part with it even though it doesn't really get the use it deserves.
12 years! I remember when you first got it like it was yesterdayI would be tempted to ask for a swap with my 415 bhp turbo Chim, but ive had it for 12 years now (since I was 19!) and don't think I could bare to part with it even though it doesn't really get the use it deserves.
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