Wedge/S-series/Chimera @ £5500

[richard300]

Hi, have a friend who fancies owning a TVR as a toy.... he likes the V8S, has a thing for the wedges in convertible form, but has seen a couple of Chims falling into this price range....

The question is.... although he does not mind getting his hands dirty, he wont want to be spending more time fixing things than he does driving, ans so was wondering what the best 'allround' car would be in this price band?

Power isnt the be all and end all, but a good compromise between handling, chassis dynamics and grunt is what he is after.

I dont know an awfull lot about any of these cars, so any thoughts, advice and experiance would be greatly apreciated.


Thanks,

Rich.

[grahamw48]

lol!

Now you've started a potential bloodbath.

They're all great cars. Go and look at some !

[scotty_d]

I bought my chim for 5k knew it needed around 2-3 spent on it spent more like 4k now as i cant stop doing things to it. but if buying a cheaper one make sure the chassis is solid as with mine everthing else it needed was shocks, brakes re-furbed ect ect but i went a bit crazy with mine but it now shows and is a very well looked after car and mine was also a cat d which made it a bit cheaper.

So yes you can get one but make sure he buys with his eyes and wallet open and bringing a grubby one back to glory can be real fun and it gave me a real sence of Achievement here are some before and after pics to help Motivate. My car was pretty sorry for itself had no history with it either but the price was right and did not put me off as i service it myself anyway and do not intend to sell it.


and my list so far there is a bit more now so more like 4k spent on it plus RR sesions ect

TVR mods so far

New silicon ht leads- £30
New coil-£40
New plugs and shrouds-£25
New rocker gaskets-£20
New sump gasket-£10
New GAZ fully adjustable suspension-£500
Polly bushes whole back end-£200
Rose joint ARB drop links-£60
ACT performance silicon hose set-£215
New pistons and seals on callipers all round-£120
Hid lights-£100
New good year eagle f1’s all round-£350
Re-furbed wheels-£150
Door cards re-trimmed in Italian leather-£300
Centre console re-trimmed-£300
Dash burr effect and fan override switch fitted-£20
New carpets-£30
Painted rockers and plenum-£10
Full under seal on chassis-£25
Full 12k service all fluids changed and filters-£200
New drive shaft boots-£40
New drilled discs and EBC yellow stuff pads-£275
Good ridge braided brake hoses-£50
Leven oil cap-£45
Misc bits special tools ect-£150
Total spent=£3300+

when i first got it.




After lots of time hard work and money.

Edited by scotty_d on Thursday 4th June 07:00

[900T-R]

Luvverly

[QuiteQuietCerb]

for this money he s better off getting an S or wedge, cheap chimaeras are more likely to have rusty chassis, which means a lot of money to put right

[sparkythecat]

My mate TOPTON just bought himself a belting S2 for £5k. It's that good, all he needs to do is polish it and drive it.
A £5k Chimaera will need a lot more than polish.

[The Lukas]

sparkythecat said:

My mate TOPTON just bought himself a belting S2 for £5k. It's that good, all he needs to do is polish it and drive it.
A £5k Chimaera will need a lot more than polish.

+1

Depends though from car to car, some cars are genuinely a bargain, most however are hiding things that could be questionable.

[jmorgan]

There will be many biased replies. Best bet, go and see lots. Sit in them, see if you can get a drive. Visit a few meets to get a view on them and question the owners on the pitfalls.




Personally speaking a 4ltr Wedge for my taste.

[grahamw48]

...Have to agree there.

[Pooh]

grahamw48 said:

...Have to agree there.

Me too, I just bought this for £5K



It needs a new radiator and a decent tune up but other than that it seems fine. I haven't driven it much yet because of the radiator but I think I am going to like it.

[grahamw48]

Nice !

Mine must be worth about two grand then.

[Pooh]

grahamw48 said:

Nice !

Mine must be worth about two grand then.

Yours will be worth a fair bit more because mine has done 96K miles.

[Monkey400SE]

I bought my wedge about 6 weeks ago. I also looked at Chims for the same money and frankly they were all dogs. You might be lucky to find a decent one for £5.5k but I doubt it.

[combine]

Pooh said:

grahamw48 said:

...Have to agree there.

Me too, I just bought this for £5K



It needs a new radiator and a decent tune up but other than that it seems fine. I haven't driven it much yet because of the radiator but I think I am going to like it.

Nice .. very nice wedge !

[clive f]

never driven one myself, but know of a few people who say that the v8s is better handling than the chim, but obviously nore grunt than the v6 s, may be worth considering?

[Pooh]

combine said:

Nice .. very nice wedge !

Thanks

[redgriff500]

My Dad is a classic car dealer so I've driven a few TVR's in my time.

At the minute he has a nice S2 for approx £4500 and a 4.3 Chim for £5950 (IIRC)

I must admit the S2 does absolutely nothing for me and is just an old car.

The Chim is genuinely fast and a nice car to drive that I'd be happy to turn up anywhere in.

I haven't 'inspected it' but the body and chassis seem good, the carpets and roof are a bit dodgy in places and the mileage is high.

However for £1500 more than a nice S2 you get a hell of a lot more car.

Best to go and have a look at a few... problem is no one wants to let you drive their car and thats the only way to choose IMO.