dodgy grantura 2a from cornwall. DON'T BUY IT.
Discussion
I almost bought, literally to having the £2500 in my pocket a very odd car. The man selling it in the south east of cornwall says it is the first TVR to have a V8 ever. Doing a bit of research on the net will tell you that the V8 car is a MK2a grantura and has a griffith bonnet and suspention mods. He will tell you that the Ford V8 has gone bang and has been replaced with a rover V8 complete with autobox. The car is very smart for a resto project. He will fail to produce any documents which are in a box somewhere. The first owner is TVR and it was really a factory demonstrator. The car is registered as 1966 D and you could well imagine they kept this "griff prototype" for a few years before selling it later. The car left the factory as an 1800s and has lost its original body. The chassis being bowed out for the rover V8 by someone much later. The chassis has been chopped about considerably and must be considered suspect. The rover V8 looks rather standard to me despite having TVR rockers and claims of 400+ hp through a Holley 420 carb. This is plainly rubbish. The car is perhaps the biggest cut and shut for sale possible. Do not fall for the sellers bull. This car will probably fall foul to someone who bought the griffith prototype thinking they had a bargain. What they will have bought is a perhaps dangerous V8 deathtrap. It does look very nice though.
This car is a hacked about 1800s chassis with rover engine and auto box with a 2a grantura body glued on.I was shown a pic of it in original 1800s guise in I think Success against the odds,can't remember the reg number but it all tallied.It was for sale in Truro a good 10 years ago in its current condition,areal bitsa,steer clear
That's right, the original car was a factory demonstrator and that is why the original is prolific in magazines. However, I am wondering if the car in its present state is worth £2500 as it is quite smart, has been rebuilt to non-original spec but they only made 40 of those chassis so if the body was written off, it would have been easier to change it to something which was more common with a rusted chassis. Purists may wince at the thought of their car having non-original brake linings but the fact of the matter is that it is a grantura 2a with V8 power. It would be crazy to drive and probably work better than if it had the original 2a chassis and suspension. I reckon some hillbilly american would probably pay a smart buck for it. Hmmmmmm. I figure the replies which you are thinking of like my original post. It is not by any means something you can call original or as my mate argues, a TVR. It is however a very rude motor car. I think along the lines of minis. How many 60's minis are poking around in later bodyshells? Lots!. They are still registered as early ones. I wouldn't buy one though. Confused. Probably should go and burn the thing out to stop myself thinking about it.
mlarner said: Anyone tempted to buy any old TVR or alleged TVR is advised to contact the Model Registrar of the TVR Car Club before parting with any money.
This particularly applies to V8 engined pre M Series cars!
Melvyn,
Are you the keeper of that registry? How can i get some help? By e-mail?
Kind regards,
Serge Geertse
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