Discussion
Now I hope I am not going to be shot down in flames here but: there seems to be a great cameraderie between wedge owners, what are the advantages of wedge ownership over say Chimaera or Griffith cars. Most are cheaper but there seems to be a merging of prices around the £7 - £8 mark. I owned a Chimaera for 3 years and it was a great car although some work was difficult to carry out due to tighness of space or relative complexity. Is a wedge easier in this respect. I guess a wedge is much rawer and maybe (sorry) more kit car like to drive whereas the chimaera seemed more factory built. The chimaera is obviously more modern in its shape and rounded interior. Wondering about/considering a cheapish wedge hence the question.
Cheers
Tony H
Cheers
Tony H
Skyedriver said:
Now I hope I am not going to be shot down in flames here but: there seems to be a great cameraderie between wedge owners, what are the advantages of wedge ownership over say Chimaera or Griffith cars. Most are cheaper but there seems to be a merging of prices around the £7 - £8 mark. I owned a Chimaera for 3 years and it was a great car although some work was difficult to carry out due to tighness of space or relative complexity. Is a wedge easier in this respect. I guess a wedge is much rawer and maybe (sorry) more kit car like to drive whereas the chimaera seemed more factory built. The chimaera is obviously more modern in its shape and rounded interior. Wondering about/considering a cheapish wedge hence the question.
Cheers
Tony H
Having been out in both Chimaeras and Wedges I can say that the 350 (that I was passenger in) did feel a little more kitcar-esque than the Chimaera, but the later wedges such as the 400SE feel a lot tighter and more composed and are on a good level with later TVR'sCheers
Tony H
Depending on your size and body shape, the Wedge should be fine and the only problem I have is my shoulder being squished by the doorcard in the wedge as opposed to the more shapely and accomadating interior of the Chimmie
It's a little harsh to use the term 'kit car-like' considering that the Wedge chassis was designed by the guy who production-engineered the chassis for the Esprit, a car that not many people liken to a kit car... but yes, they can be a tad agricultural especially if still running on 1980's suspension components (and I bet the majority are).
Having owned an early Tasmin and an Esprit as well as the 390SE, I'd say if the only thing you want to do is go very quickly round corners, buy an Esprit: even 20-odd year old ones still wipe the floor with the Tasmin derivatives... which is odd when you see how similar the two chassis actually are (engine placement aside - I was thinking more of geometry etc.). Amusingly, people who laugh at the Cortina-derived TVR front end often don't believe you when you point out that the Esprit started with Triumph Herald bits
Esprits in similar condition to TVR wedges of a given age actually fetch similar money though the Lotus interiors are often far worse.
If you have a flying jacket and some goggles and like to use terms like 'contact' and 'chocks away' then go for a TVR wedge. The fact that you had a Chimaera suggests you have a little of the extrovert that is usually a pre-requisite to wedge ownership; you can't tiptoe around un-noticed in one of these unlike the Chimaera with its almost-establishment shape and sound
Don't expect to do it on the cheap though: yes, you can buy a cheap wedge but either it'll be a 4-wheeled money pit or else you'll be off-loading it on Ebay after a few weeks.
They all leak somewhere; parts prices range from the stupidly cheap service items (much like the Chim I suppose) to the eye-wateringly expensive bits like exhaust manifolds; they're not the nicest cars to drive in the dark or rain (or worse, both) - again maybe the Chim equates; everyone and his dog will tell you it's a TR7 (though I had one guy swear mine was a Ferrari
)... but in the words of a road test writer some years back: Wedge owners will forgive their cars just about anything for the sake of the good days.
Mine has never broken down in such a way that I couldn't get home in it (the Tasmin only ever did once, 3 miles from home after the fuel pump seized - and it was 20 years old by then); ah, actually I tell a lie, when the 390's alternator failed I had a flat battery... but with a fully-charged battery I then drove it 70 miles home with a dead charging system - and the alternator cost me £12 to fix. Had I bought a new battery locally it technically would still have not left me stuck
It's a good job it's reliable; I don't have breakdown cover - and I bet not many Chimaera (or Esprit) owners can claim that
Not only that but I've probably met more people, drunk more beer, talked more bollox and written more twaddle through Wedge ownership than any other 'club' I've ever been part of. Not all of us see eye to eye all the time but we're more mates than enemies and there's less of the 'considerably richer than yow' attitude here than with some of the later TVR model owners. Which is not to say that we're all paupers or cheapskates: undoubtedly there are those who perhaps spend more than is wise on trying to improve what could best be improved by a match in the fuel tank and a change of marque but that's their choice and it makes good entertainment for the rest of us
In short, the Wedges are a sort-of big lad's Meccano kit fitted with the biggest Nitro engine we could scrounge; next weekend we're going to fit skateboard trucks to the corners just for the hell of it
Having owned an early Tasmin and an Esprit as well as the 390SE, I'd say if the only thing you want to do is go very quickly round corners, buy an Esprit: even 20-odd year old ones still wipe the floor with the Tasmin derivatives... which is odd when you see how similar the two chassis actually are (engine placement aside - I was thinking more of geometry etc.). Amusingly, people who laugh at the Cortina-derived TVR front end often don't believe you when you point out that the Esprit started with Triumph Herald bits
Esprits in similar condition to TVR wedges of a given age actually fetch similar money though the Lotus interiors are often far worse.
If you have a flying jacket and some goggles and like to use terms like 'contact' and 'chocks away' then go for a TVR wedge. The fact that you had a Chimaera suggests you have a little of the extrovert that is usually a pre-requisite to wedge ownership; you can't tiptoe around un-noticed in one of these unlike the Chimaera with its almost-establishment shape and sound
Don't expect to do it on the cheap though: yes, you can buy a cheap wedge but either it'll be a 4-wheeled money pit or else you'll be off-loading it on Ebay after a few weeks.
They all leak somewhere; parts prices range from the stupidly cheap service items (much like the Chim I suppose) to the eye-wateringly expensive bits like exhaust manifolds; they're not the nicest cars to drive in the dark or rain (or worse, both) - again maybe the Chim equates; everyone and his dog will tell you it's a TR7 (though I had one guy swear mine was a Ferrari
)... but in the words of a road test writer some years back: Wedge owners will forgive their cars just about anything for the sake of the good days.Mine has never broken down in such a way that I couldn't get home in it (the Tasmin only ever did once, 3 miles from home after the fuel pump seized - and it was 20 years old by then); ah, actually I tell a lie, when the 390's alternator failed I had a flat battery... but with a fully-charged battery I then drove it 70 miles home with a dead charging system - and the alternator cost me £12 to fix. Had I bought a new battery locally it technically would still have not left me stuck
It's a good job it's reliable; I don't have breakdown cover - and I bet not many Chimaera (or Esprit) owners can claim that
Not only that but I've probably met more people, drunk more beer, talked more bollox and written more twaddle through Wedge ownership than any other 'club' I've ever been part of. Not all of us see eye to eye all the time but we're more mates than enemies and there's less of the 'considerably richer than yow' attitude here than with some of the later TVR model owners. Which is not to say that we're all paupers or cheapskates: undoubtedly there are those who perhaps spend more than is wise on trying to improve what could best be improved by a match in the fuel tank and a change of marque but that's their choice and it makes good entertainment for the rest of us
In short, the Wedges are a sort-of big lad's Meccano kit fitted with the biggest Nitro engine we could scrounge; next weekend we're going to fit skateboard trucks to the corners just for the hell of it
What Wedg1es trying to tell you is that as a Wedger, you become the slightly eccentric, completely barking, nutty old blacksheep of the TVR family and one who insists that the car didnt come with a roof section when purchsed!
And yes agricultural was the word I was looking for!
Long live Wedgedom
And yes agricultural was the word I was looking for!
Long live Wedgedom
Edited by jagdpanther on Thursday 25th October 00:00
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I had a very early Series 1 350 which appeared to be better built than my current car - probably due to the fact that it was one of the first.
I have since driven a Chimera, a Griff 500 and a Tuscan S6 suffice to say that othing compares to dtiving my current car which is nearing its total body on restoration. Maybe its the extrovert nature, the chocks away attitude that Wedgie is so right about. Every time I start my car it provides that unique sense of occasion common to us all Wedge owners.
Alas, I love the curves of the Griff and Tuscan. May be I'll end up ownng one in the future - but for my money it has to be my wedge and after suffering 2 years of restoration blues because I dont have a garage, next year will see the joys of wedge ownership manifesting itself in abundance....
I have since driven a Chimera, a Griff 500 and a Tuscan S6 suffice to say that othing compares to dtiving my current car which is nearing its total body on restoration. Maybe its the extrovert nature, the chocks away attitude that Wedgie is so right about. Every time I start my car it provides that unique sense of occasion common to us all Wedge owners.
Alas, I love the curves of the Griff and Tuscan. May be I'll end up ownng one in the future - but for my money it has to be my wedge and after suffering 2 years of restoration blues because I dont have a garage, next year will see the joys of wedge ownership manifesting itself in abundance....
.... 
...badum.....tishhh
if you want a cheap "wedge" shaped car with the handling of an esprit buy a Lotus Excel..or the older version eclat/elite.
i´m owning both: an early tasmin and an eclat (also have driven excel and elite).
you cant compare both brands. the tasmin behaves like "cruiser" compared to the lotus. the lotus is always faster and much more crispy in corners.
but the "finish" and assembling-quality of the tvr looks much better.
i´m owning both: an early tasmin and an eclat (also have driven excel and elite).
you cant compare both brands. the tasmin behaves like "cruiser" compared to the lotus. the lotus is always faster and much more crispy in corners.
but the "finish" and assembling-quality of the tvr looks much better.
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