Discussion
www.pistonheads.com/sales/64343.htm
Looks a bargain this one.
Looks a bargain this one.
Hi Mike and welcome to the world of the Big Bad Wedge.
You really need to look at a few others to decide if YOU think its good value, anybody on here would be glad to show off their Wedge, where are you ?? somebody will be close to you. If you are anywhere near Staffordshire you can come and look at my 400
Good Luck
>> Edited by badredwedge on Monday 6th February 16:54
You really need to look at a few others to decide if YOU think its good value, anybody on here would be glad to show off their Wedge, where are you ?? somebody will be close to you. If you are anywhere near Staffordshire you can come and look at my 400
Good Luck
>> Edited by badredwedge on Monday 6th February 16:54
Stop him now 
Mike,
A little bit of homework will get you in touch with the owner of this car.
See the wedgepages website Gallery this car is there and the owner is a member of these forums though rarely posts.
I have spoken to him because I also was interested in this car,however he has signed a contract with the Classic car garage wher it is now for them to sell it for him !
He expects a lot less for it but his hands are tied.
This garage is just trying to cream a monster profit rather than a healthy margin.
The car is a very good one with lots of work done to her as you no doubt saw on your visit.
Not sure what your next move should be but i suggest if you want it make him an offer he would find hard to refuse!!!
OH by the way I found nothing at all wrong with the car,just decided to purchase another TVR model.
Good luck and keep us informed.
A little bit of homework will get you in touch with the owner of this car.
See the wedgepages website Gallery this car is there and the owner is a member of these forums though rarely posts.
I have spoken to him because I also was interested in this car,however he has signed a contract with the Classic car garage wher it is now for them to sell it for him !
He expects a lot less for it but his hands are tied.
This garage is just trying to cream a monster profit rather than a healthy margin.
The car is a very good one with lots of work done to her as you no doubt saw on your visit.
Not sure what your next move should be but i suggest if you want it make him an offer he would find hard to refuse!!!
OH by the way I found nothing at all wrong with the car,just decided to purchase another TVR model.
Good luck and keep us informed.
I got the 390SE from Tony @ HHC and so far very very happy with it. Completely different to the Cerbera and even louder .... the neighbours love me.
I think with the older TVR's you either buy one that has had lots of money spent on it and is mint or buy one with open eye's thinking you might have to dig deep and spend money on it. I am currently stripping the sills off and cleaning up all the outriggers, A frames etc which fortunately they are very good but the car has been waxoyled quite heavily in the past which helps, but to be honest i was expecting to have to pay to get the outriggers replaced when i bought it. Any TVR which is almost 20 years old the chassis will be showing its age unless it has had some very careful and loving owners.
I don't think you can go too wrong with a Wedge for £ per smile if you buy right .... buy wrong and any TVR will scare you to death with costs of repair. Regardless of what the mileage is on the car make sure you get a folder full of receipts and old MOT's if you can, this is probably the best way to see if the car has been loved or slightly neglected throughout its life, i am a firm believer of any photographic evidence of any structural work done, if the chassis is a nice coat of fresh paint what is hiding or has the guy actually stripped it back to bare metal, removing all the rust so it will last another 10 years? you decide but if they have photo's of each stage of the work its more likely to have been done right to start with.
Good luck with the hunting and enjoy every minute of it.
I think with the older TVR's you either buy one that has had lots of money spent on it and is mint or buy one with open eye's thinking you might have to dig deep and spend money on it. I am currently stripping the sills off and cleaning up all the outriggers, A frames etc which fortunately they are very good but the car has been waxoyled quite heavily in the past which helps, but to be honest i was expecting to have to pay to get the outriggers replaced when i bought it. Any TVR which is almost 20 years old the chassis will be showing its age unless it has had some very careful and loving owners.
I don't think you can go too wrong with a Wedge for £ per smile if you buy right .... buy wrong and any TVR will scare you to death with costs of repair. Regardless of what the mileage is on the car make sure you get a folder full of receipts and old MOT's if you can, this is probably the best way to see if the car has been loved or slightly neglected throughout its life, i am a firm believer of any photographic evidence of any structural work done, if the chassis is a nice coat of fresh paint what is hiding or has the guy actually stripped it back to bare metal, removing all the rust so it will last another 10 years? you decide but if they have photo's of each stage of the work its more likely to have been done right to start with.
Good luck with the hunting and enjoy every minute of it.
Hey,
Ive just joined the world of wedging!
All the advice said so far is as it is, youll get the vibe when you look at the car but dont buy the first one you see! I wanted the first one i saw just because it sounded so fantastic!
Ive only been an owner for about 24 hours now.....but i love it already!
Ive just joined the world of wedging!
All the advice said so far is as it is, youll get the vibe when you look at the car but dont buy the first one you see! I wanted the first one i saw just because it sounded so fantastic!
Ive only been an owner for about 24 hours now.....but i love it already!
So there you go. Now that a couple of people have sold their cars for very economical prices, others now expect Wedges to be valued at that sort of figure. Didn't think it would take long.
The price at the top may be nearer to real values. Of course, dealer prices may be a little higher than buying privately. If only we could look back at the ads from last summer and the prices cars were selling at then! The REAL world.
JJ
The price at the top may be nearer to real values. Of course, dealer prices may be a little higher than buying privately. If only we could look back at the ads from last summer and the prices cars were selling at then! The REAL world.
JJ
firefox1712 said:
So there you go. Now that a couple of people have sold their cars for very economical prices, others now expect Wedges to be valued at that sort of figure. Didn't think it would take long.
The price at the top may be nearer to real values. Of course, dealer prices may be a little higher than buying privately. If only we could look back at the ads from last summer and the prices cars were selling at then! The REAL world.
JJ
Face it JJ, these are old cars. Plenty of other things are as quick or quicker, as loud or louder and just as eye-boggling to look at - according to taste. Younger buyers tend to want more modern looking cars and with Chimaeras and Griffs coming down in price it is bound to have an effect on Wedge prices.
Buy one because you want one, pay whatever you feel you need to get the car you want, be a man and live with the consequences: that's my ethos. I have a shed of an Esprit that causes peoples jaws to drop when they hear what I paid and what I've had to do to it, but I did it for me, not for them or the next owner. A mint car with no faults wouldn't entertain me: for a start what would I do on the long winter nights...?
gotta say wedg1e, i think you have hit the nail on the head there... its not wedges which are losing value, its all cars...its great when buying cars, but selling is always a nightmare in my experiance!
I bought my wedge cos im not always as sensible as maybe i should be....but as they say, if you want something sensible, then buy yourself an anorak!
I bought my wedge cos im not always as sensible as maybe i should be....but as they say, if you want something sensible, then buy yourself an anorak!
firefox1712 said:
So there you go. Now that a couple of people have sold their cars for very economical prices, others now expect Wedges to be valued at that sort of figure. Didn't think it would take long.
The price at the top may be nearer to real values. Of course, dealer prices may be a little higher than buying privately. If only we could look back at the ads from last summer and the prices cars were selling at then! The REAL world.
JJ
head ostrich sand in ... rearrange to suit , sorry JJ wake up and smell the coffee!
I think JJ does have a point though. I mean, without getting into politics and just examining the raw details here, what other car of such high performance, in so few remaining numbers, could you buy for what some of the current Wedges are selling for just lately? I don't think its the fault of the owners either who are selling them too cheap - afterall, you can't force people to part with more money than they want to. The reason for the low amounts of money changing hands is probably due to people just not wanting them *that much*.
Cars like the 390's are indeed 20 years old, and there is much newer stuff out there now, for similar money, that would out perform and out handle a Wedge. Perhaps not in sheer grunt, but around the twisty bits I would say the overall journey time would be similar. They are old fashioned, clatter around, have poor equipment in the cabins and naff build quality. What I do find tragic though is that they fetch so little money even though they are so very rare. How many are left now I wonder? Lets just say 40 or 50 remain, be that 390's or 420's etc etc (probably less). If the car had a Ferrari badge on the front, they would probably be worth 40k each (random guess), but being Blackpools finest they only make a tenth of that. They just never had that "image" at the time of manufacture that caught peoples imagination as a car they really wanted to own, like perhaps a Ferrari or Aston did. Sure they looked nice and shiny at the dealerships, but the name "Trevor" just couldn't compete with Enzo and the like...
With Griffs and Chims making less than 10k now, its only the real enthusiasts like us mob who appreciate the Wedges, and you know what, that to me is the best part of it all. Like someone else has already said, forget the money, forget the competition, forget the spotty teenage boys who would rather spend their 8k on a Jap tin top. Let them go and do that, because you can guarentee that they won't be smiling at every gear change, wind in their hair, exhaust note barking. When our cars were new, nothing on the road would have kept up, and all of that performance is still there for us to enjoy.
I too wish my car was worth more than it actually is. With a different badge I would be rich! However, even after 9 years of owning a "mere" 350i, I have no desire to change it for anything else. No other car could have gotten me so much power, so much noise, with an open top, that could be maintained on a shoe string, and yet cost so little money. For that reason alone, I think all us owners are very lucky people indeed.
I guess its a double edged sword - none of us would probably even own these cars if they were twice or even 3 times the price that we paid, so we should be thankful that the low prices make such cars accessible to us. I know thats not good for resale and people who bought them a couple of years ago will obviously loose a chunk of money since the market is now low, but what you loose in money you gain in memorable experiences. And lets also face it, the money we have saved in expensive parts, servicing, engine rebuilds *ahem* and having rust treated probably makes us the real winners.
Cars like the 390's are indeed 20 years old, and there is much newer stuff out there now, for similar money, that would out perform and out handle a Wedge. Perhaps not in sheer grunt, but around the twisty bits I would say the overall journey time would be similar. They are old fashioned, clatter around, have poor equipment in the cabins and naff build quality. What I do find tragic though is that they fetch so little money even though they are so very rare. How many are left now I wonder? Lets just say 40 or 50 remain, be that 390's or 420's etc etc (probably less). If the car had a Ferrari badge on the front, they would probably be worth 40k each (random guess), but being Blackpools finest they only make a tenth of that. They just never had that "image" at the time of manufacture that caught peoples imagination as a car they really wanted to own, like perhaps a Ferrari or Aston did. Sure they looked nice and shiny at the dealerships, but the name "Trevor" just couldn't compete with Enzo and the like...
With Griffs and Chims making less than 10k now, its only the real enthusiasts like us mob who appreciate the Wedges, and you know what, that to me is the best part of it all. Like someone else has already said, forget the money, forget the competition, forget the spotty teenage boys who would rather spend their 8k on a Jap tin top. Let them go and do that, because you can guarentee that they won't be smiling at every gear change, wind in their hair, exhaust note barking. When our cars were new, nothing on the road would have kept up, and all of that performance is still there for us to enjoy.
I too wish my car was worth more than it actually is. With a different badge I would be rich! However, even after 9 years of owning a "mere" 350i, I have no desire to change it for anything else. No other car could have gotten me so much power, so much noise, with an open top, that could be maintained on a shoe string, and yet cost so little money. For that reason alone, I think all us owners are very lucky people indeed.
I guess its a double edged sword - none of us would probably even own these cars if they were twice or even 3 times the price that we paid, so we should be thankful that the low prices make such cars accessible to us. I know thats not good for resale and people who bought them a couple of years ago will obviously loose a chunk of money since the market is now low, but what you loose in money you gain in memorable experiences. And lets also face it, the money we have saved in expensive parts, servicing, engine rebuilds *ahem* and having rust treated probably makes us the real winners.
Digga: That's the rub. The average family saloon can do 130 mph, practically every car released these days has a convertible option, and the 'shiny-shiny' mentality means that people don't want last year's model, let alone last century's. Throw in the fact that fewer and fewer people seem to want to know what a spanner is, preferring to let the dealers do the fixing, and you have a dwindling pool of middle-aged men with (perhaps) more money than sense, chasing a shrinking supply of 'unusual' cars... because they want to be different.
Not because the cars are good, unfortunately. I suspect the few wedges that are genuinely quick and handle really well, have had so much money thrown at them that the owners wouldn't admit how much (at least not in front of their wives).
And another thing: sometime you should take a look at an Esprit of the same era. Then wonder what all the fuss was about. Looking back through magazine road tests of Lotus' and TVRs, the faults were spotted and noted. Yet they were glossed over with the promise of so much more than the sum of the parts... but fundamentally they were overpriced.... I hesitate to use the word 'tat' but I'm struggling for an alternative.
I know from talking to my dad's mate who works for TVR, some of the grief they had trying to pacify customers who DID take the cars back and complain. Twenty years later it still goes on!
Don't misunderstand me: I love my Wedges. But not for being the fastest, best-handling, most gorgeous things on the road, that accrue in value with every passing mile. They're a kind of grown-up cross between Meccano and Scalextric...
And finally... I found this pic of me with the first TVR I ever drove. Clock the reg. plate...
>> Edited by wedg1e on Tuesday 7th February 01:11
Not because the cars are good, unfortunately. I suspect the few wedges that are genuinely quick and handle really well, have had so much money thrown at them that the owners wouldn't admit how much (at least not in front of their wives
). And another thing: sometime you should take a look at an Esprit of the same era. Then wonder what all the fuss was about. Looking back through magazine road tests of Lotus' and TVRs, the faults were spotted and noted. Yet they were glossed over with the promise of so much more than the sum of the parts... but fundamentally they were overpriced.... I hesitate to use the word 'tat' but I'm struggling for an alternative.
I know from talking to my dad's mate who works for TVR, some of the grief they had trying to pacify customers who DID take the cars back and complain. Twenty years later it still goes on!
Don't misunderstand me: I love my Wedges. But not for being the fastest, best-handling, most gorgeous things on the road, that accrue in value with every passing mile. They're a kind of grown-up cross between Meccano and Scalextric...
And finally... I found this pic of me with the first TVR I ever drove. Clock the reg. plate...
>> Edited by wedg1e on Tuesday 7th February 01:11
Well....
Some of you may still be missing the point.
Several cars have sold recently for relatively low sums of money because their owner/vendors ASKED for low amounts of money at the outset - and many Wedgers expressed their surprise. These prices are quite a bit less than that which they were selling for last summer.
As I have said previously - if the seller is happy and the buyer is happy then that is the perfect deal; be it at £5,000 or £10,000 or £100,000!
JJ
Some of you may still be missing the point.
Several cars have sold recently for relatively low sums of money because their owner/vendors ASKED for low amounts of money at the outset - and many Wedgers expressed their surprise. These prices are quite a bit less than that which they were selling for last summer.
As I have said previously - if the seller is happy and the buyer is happy then that is the perfect deal; be it at £5,000 or £10,000 or £100,000!
JJ
If i worried about my 400's value it would ruin the experience of ownership for me.
I always wanted a wedge shaped TVR, for the memories 1st of all i guess. I used to live in Ferhurst in the 80's..so may well have seen some of your cars new!
2nd, because of the shape...not much else on the road looks quite the same.
3rd, for the noise. Rover V8's rock.
4th, for the relative simplicity of ownership. (I scratch my head just looking at my Cougar engine)
5th, performance. Saying that, i had real difficulties pulling away from a new Gold TDi..someit or other on the A1M recently.
To sum up..i love picking my son up in it from school. The kids think 'wow' and you can see the dads looking without making it obvious they want to look...great.
Maybe the Wedge has yet to have it's finest hour....r.a.d.i.o.....
I always wanted a wedge shaped TVR, for the memories 1st of all i guess. I used to live in Ferhurst in the 80's..so may well have seen some of your cars new!
2nd, because of the shape...not much else on the road looks quite the same.
3rd, for the noise. Rover V8's rock.
4th, for the relative simplicity of ownership. (I scratch my head just looking at my Cougar engine)
5th, performance. Saying that, i had real difficulties pulling away from a new Gold TDi..someit or other on the A1M recently.
To sum up..i love picking my son up in it from school. The kids think 'wow' and you can see the dads looking without making it obvious they want to look...great.
Maybe the Wedge has yet to have it's finest hour....r.a.d.i.o.....
My thoughts are that most of us owners are of the age that we can remember the Wedges when they were in production and lusted after them cos at the time we were too young to drive and obviously couldn't afford one anyway - the years drifted on - we had our first car (probably a second hand mini) until we could actually afford something reasonable (probably a cortina) untill eventually mid age crisis sets in and bingo some distant memory is stirred up in the old grey matter!! a Wedge it is!!
PS. I bought my 350i about 12 years ago for £12000 from a dealer (my only car until I bought the SEAC) £1000 a year plus bills......now that is cheap FUN. Not worth more than 3K now but who cares?
On the other hand, bought the SEAC for £10250 (absolute bargain IMHO). Value now PRICELESS. Value if I were to sell it, depends on how many people want one at the time and how many are available. It would have absolutely nothing to do with what It cost me.
PS. I bought my 350i about 12 years ago for £12000 from a dealer (my only car until I bought the SEAC) £1000 a year plus bills......now that is cheap FUN. Not worth more than 3K now but who cares?
On the other hand, bought the SEAC for £10250 (absolute bargain IMHO). Value now PRICELESS. Value if I were to sell it, depends on how many people want one at the time and how many are available. It would have absolutely nothing to do with what It cost me.
You cant justify the cost and expense of any Wedge, ask Wifey, but if you want one you should have one, I for one dont intend to get to my 70s and look back to think, I wish I had .......done this or done that. Very sad. Wedgers who let their cars go for less than someone else thinks they may be worth are no doubt doing it to get to the next thing they want, another car, boat, caravan, ti-bride, and why not ? Life is for living so FFS LIVE IT plenty of time to sit about when you are dead and Mr Blair is counting your money
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