TVR v8s LHD
TVR v8s LHD
Author
Discussion

Bernied

Original Poster:

25 posts

225 months

Thursday 13th December 2007
quotequote all
Hi Folks,

Wondering if they ever produced the V8s in a left hand drive. How many are out there and what do you think they should cost? There is a guy in France asking 30,000 euros but that seems completely unreasonable.

Now that they are over 15 years old I was thinking of trying to import one to Canada.

V6ish

370 posts

228 months

Thursday 13th December 2007
quotequote all
Hmm, not sure tbh. I have noticed a kink in chassis support beam that allows the steering rack to fit under it, and it has the same on the left hand side. I always assumed this was for left hand drive cars but maybe it is simply to reduce production costs.

So in answer to your question, dont know, but theres a usless reply to ponder on wink

GreenV8S

31,017 posts

313 months

Thursday 13th December 2007
quotequote all
I've seen them occasionally on the continent, I wouldn't be surprised if there were a dozen or so over there. As for value, it's worth whatever anyone's prepared to pay for it. You could get in touch with the Dutch TVRCC and ask what the situation is?

ronc

6 posts

228 months

Thursday 13th December 2007
quotequote all
Sure there are LHD's.
I drive one! I know of at least 5 of these in Holland.
As far as i know about 40 were built.
Prices of LHD are higher than RHD.
I have seen prices from 18.000 upto 30.000 Euro.
Wish you good luck to find one.

Bernied

Original Poster:

25 posts

225 months

Thursday 13th December 2007
quotequote all
Thanks for the info folks, I'll keep checking

I think I found a spot where they indicate there were 26 V8SC's made in LHD. I'll keep to looking to see if I can figure out how mand V8S's where produced. I was worried the one I saw for sale was a conversion.

I might even entertain the idea of driving a RHD over here in Canada given the significant price difference. If I ever decide to do a body off restore then I could convert to LHD.

Bernied

Original Poster:

25 posts

225 months

Thursday 13th December 2007
quotequote all
One more question. What does it mean when some ones say's private plate included in a sales add?

GreenV8S

31,017 posts

313 months

Thursday 13th December 2007
quotequote all
Bernied said:
One more question. What does it mean when some ones say's private plate included in a sales add?
In the UK you can buy and sell registration numbers, and some people spend lots of money buying registrations that can be made into words, names etc. If you're planning to export the car that probably won't interest you but you might be able to negotiate a discount for them to keep the registration.

Le TVR

3,097 posts

280 months

Friday 14th December 2007
quotequote all
Bernied said:
There is a guy in France asking 30,000 euros but that seems completely unreasonable.
Problem is that TVR never did proper EU approvals for each country and it is very difficult to import one and get it registered here.
Therefore they are very rare and prices reflect this. Plus there was a 10-15% extra for the LHD version.
Also France suffers from unrealistic second hand car values generally.

All in all, its a seller's market.

I have seen also '97 LHD Chimeara 400 at 45k euro which is ridiculous.

ketvrin

3,504 posts

238 months

Friday 14th December 2007
quotequote all
Bernied said:
Hi Folks,

Wondering if they ever produced the V8s in a left hand drive. How many are out there and what do you think they should cost? There is a guy in France asking 30,000 euros but that seems completely unreasonable.

Now that they are over 15 years old I was thinking of trying to import one to Canada.
Or you could convert from RHD to LHD as Olav did... not for the faint hearted though wink

have a look at his website for details...

http://olavbergman.nl/index.php?option=com_content...

Martijn

52 posts

265 months

Friday 14th December 2007
quotequote all
A LHD V8s for sale in the Netherlands at BV Nimag (TVR Dealer) not cheap though:

http://www.autoscout24.nl/Details.aspx?id=hgf21pla1je


And from dutch TVR Car Club members, no V8s' but several other LHD TVR's

http://www.tvrcarclub.nl/advertenties.html


Good luck!

hvdweerden

1,739 posts

229 months

Friday 14th December 2007
quotequote all
And a V8S in Germany which looks very nice with low mileage, but still expensive at Euro 24.900

CLICK

Good luck !

br, Han

Bernied

Original Poster:

25 posts

225 months

Friday 14th December 2007
quotequote all
Thanks for all of the responses folks.

For the price of the LHD drive continent models it would be cheaper to buy one in the UK and do a restoration and conversion.

I've seen the RHD versions advertised from 7,000-10,000 sterling which is $14,000 to $20,000. The LHD seem to be from 25,000-30,000 euros which is $36,00- $43,000. That leaves me with $20,000 to do a restoration assuming that was my budget. That's a heck of a difference.

Olav could be on to something. I saw his sight. Very nice work. Hey Olav interested in converting a v8s for me? smile

Once a vehicle is over 15 years old you can import it into Canada without meeting all of the previous safety requirements. So I have to stick with a 93 and older.

I'm really starting to think nothing wrong with driving a RHD for a while..

ketvrin

3,504 posts

238 months

Friday 14th December 2007
quotequote all
Yes give it some stick and you'll be looking through the side windows anyway biglaugh

K

Olav Bergman

215 posts

242 months

Monday 17th December 2007
quotequote all
Hello Bernied,

Does you v8s have the early sweeping type dash? That would be easier than the later types to convert I think. Recreating the dashboard was, I think, the most labourintensive job, and I found it hard to get the covering right.
Geeee, those prices are pretty steep but...mmm I understand why that is. Good plan then to try the conversion.
I'm a bit bussy for a conversion at the moment. And I still haven't completely recovered from my conversion adventure. As soon as the waking up screaming at night and the mumbling to myself for hours during the day starts to go away we'll talk..

Tvrcarparts had new v8s left hand drive steering racks. You will definitely need one of those. I don't know how many he has left, so that would be a starting point.

In the end I think it is worth it!

Cheers

Olav



Sweet Thunder

220 posts

250 months

Monday 17th December 2007
quotequote all
Olav Bergman said:
Recreating the dashboard was, I think, the most labourintensive job
yes

Olav Bergman said:
I still haven't completely recovered from my conversion adventure. As soon as the waking up screaming at night and the mumbling to myself for hours during the day starts to go away we'll talk..
yikes

Olav Bergman said:
In the end I think it is worth it!
drivingcloud9biglaugh

I now know what you mean Olav, I'm right in the middle of the conversion, and there's still some smash to be done. Although the project is quite do-able, it means a lot of work!

Bernied

Original Poster:

25 posts

225 months

Monday 17th December 2007
quotequote all
I can imagine the conversion was a fair bit of work. I have not yet acquired a car but hope to do so some time in 2008. I'm not in a huge rush. The request for doing the conversion was in jest. I'ld probably end up doing the work in my back yard here in Toronto when the car needs a frame off restoration. It is going to be a summer car for me so I could live with it being RHD for a while. I'ld be interested to see how you built the form for the dash and the gauges. It looks like you had access to some form of stamping press to make the templates for the guages.

I'm pretty impressed with this forum and the depth of knowledge of the people who post here. What a great resource..

Olav Bergman

215 posts

242 months

Tuesday 18th December 2007
quotequote all
Hi Bernied,

I should, and will, write something a bit more detailed on my website about the conversion. The form/templates for the gauges was made of sheets of lead used here for the sealing of roofs (on houses). The shape of lead is easily chanced and I used some selfmade simple tools to get it right. I describe it Here

I understand you where not too serious about your request... my waking up screaming etc is not completely true either :-)

I am wondering whether the v8's where made with the sweeping dash at all. Anyone know about this?

now at least I know I should have converted a v8s in stead of the v6....value-wise that is :-) Well maybe..i just might.....mumbel-mumbel....

freddy quick

52 posts

292 months

Thursday 3rd January 2008
quotequote all
BERNIED,

I've found my LHD V8S in Germany two years ago for a very good price and would bet you'll find another one for around €20k in Germany these days. I'ld prefer to pay a premium for a rust free low milage LHD car in Germany instead of a rusty RHD basket case for very little money requiring a lot of restauration/conversion work. They're out there you just have to find them.

Please let me know if you need assistance.

Best regards,
Stephan

Bernied

Original Poster:

25 posts

225 months

Thursday 3rd January 2008
quotequote all
Hi Stephan,

I'm eying one in Germany as well. How tough is it to export from Germany, I'm a little concerned about the language barrier and dealing with the bureaucrats. I do have a good friend who is fluent in German who could act as a translator but that would be as a last resort.

What was your experience.

Thanks,
Bernie

freddy quick

52 posts

292 months

Friday 4th January 2008
quotequote all
Bernied,

no experience in importing to Canada from Germany - I'm from Germany ;-))

I imported lot's of cars from all over the world incl. Canada and it was always very easy. Just find a carrier who is experienced in importing classic cars to Canada and let them do the job. That's easy, saves you a lot of time and nerves and will be cheaper than paying schoolmoney to gain knowledge you don't need anymore afterwards.

If you need a worldwide shipping company just let me know and I'll ask the company that did the job for me getting a car from Canada to Munich.

Stephan