Happy annniversary...?
Discussion
Just realised that it's 25 years last weekend since I put up a post on the Domino TVR group that went something like "Oh dear... I've bought a 390SE" 
In that time I've driven it a paltry 31,000 miles and spent about £5100 on parts and materials - and uncountable hours working on the damn thing!
There isn't much of it I haven't worked on in some way, though I avoid bodywork as I'm not good at it - repaired some previous bodgery on the front spoiler (which I think had already been replaced before I bought the car) and the rear bumper after I reversed it into a petrol forecourt bin in Leicester in about '04... but there are numerous chips and scrapes which make it look untidy, and the interior is 'lived-in', shall we say. In fact some may recall it won 'best rat' at an early Wedgefest
It could really do with a new windscreen as a previous owner up around Glasgow used it as his company car for a few years in the 90s (hence the 96K it had done in 13 years by the time I got it) and it spent a lot of time on motorways. It was very high mileage at the time, many wedges were still sub-20K then, but I'm guessing many of them will have caught up by now.
On the whole though, and contradicting all those experts who 'know' how unreliable TVRs are, it has never left me stranded. Yes, it's had issues that made getting home an adventure (worn-out alternator brushes in Leeds) and an overfuelling issue that almost drained the tanks in less than 100 miles en route to a 'Fest (bad solder in the ECU; pulling half the injector plugs off was the temporary fix) but I have never had breakdown insurance, or ever needed it.
Of course it leaks - rain gets in, gearbox oil gets out, there's a chuffing noise from a manifold... you get out of it smelling of leather treatment and exhaust fumes. Strangers walk up in car parks and tell you how they once had one of those TR7s... it's not a TR7, you say, it's a TVR... yes that's right, they say, a TVR TR7... a magazine reviewer once said of Wedge owners that they will forgive their cars anything for the sake of the good days. Actually he probably meant any TVR
In another couple of years it'll qualify as a Historic vehicle (assuming the rules don't change the week before it's eligible, which is the sort of luck I have) - by which time I aim to be retired, also being a bit Historic myself. I remember in my teens, looking over my dad's shoulder when the local paper had an article about the then-new Tasmin convertible, which as I recall was the only car in Britain where the drophead was cheaper than the fixed-head. Cor, I said. Bloody hideous, said the old man. Ironic really, as he later drove an '83 Sierra, which for a while was Ford's unloved visual equivalent to the Tasmin. History forgave the Sierra of course, though not the TVR. But who wants what everyone else has? If every Wedge has had an average of ten owners and they built about 2500 of them, that's only the population of a small town who have ever driven one. I like it that way.
I also like the way the bodyshell was autographed by the three blokes who laid-up the glassfibre, and the way you take off a panel and it has 'DH 335' scrawled on the back, so the chaps on the line would know which car the freshly-upholstered bits would fit when they came back from the seamstresses. The glovebox lid is, of course, also autographed by Mr. Winterbottom himself. We all know he didn't have much input into the 'big wedges', but he started it.
My 390 was first registered on 7th September 1987, so there's another anniversary - the old bus will be 38 on Sunday.
I can feel a drive out coming on...
In that time I've driven it a paltry 31,000 miles and spent about £5100 on parts and materials - and uncountable hours working on the damn thing!
There isn't much of it I haven't worked on in some way, though I avoid bodywork as I'm not good at it - repaired some previous bodgery on the front spoiler (which I think had already been replaced before I bought the car) and the rear bumper after I reversed it into a petrol forecourt bin in Leicester in about '04... but there are numerous chips and scrapes which make it look untidy, and the interior is 'lived-in', shall we say. In fact some may recall it won 'best rat' at an early Wedgefest
It could really do with a new windscreen as a previous owner up around Glasgow used it as his company car for a few years in the 90s (hence the 96K it had done in 13 years by the time I got it) and it spent a lot of time on motorways. It was very high mileage at the time, many wedges were still sub-20K then, but I'm guessing many of them will have caught up by now.
On the whole though, and contradicting all those experts who 'know' how unreliable TVRs are, it has never left me stranded. Yes, it's had issues that made getting home an adventure (worn-out alternator brushes in Leeds) and an overfuelling issue that almost drained the tanks in less than 100 miles en route to a 'Fest (bad solder in the ECU; pulling half the injector plugs off was the temporary fix) but I have never had breakdown insurance, or ever needed it.
Of course it leaks - rain gets in, gearbox oil gets out, there's a chuffing noise from a manifold... you get out of it smelling of leather treatment and exhaust fumes. Strangers walk up in car parks and tell you how they once had one of those TR7s... it's not a TR7, you say, it's a TVR... yes that's right, they say, a TVR TR7... a magazine reviewer once said of Wedge owners that they will forgive their cars anything for the sake of the good days. Actually he probably meant any TVR
In another couple of years it'll qualify as a Historic vehicle (assuming the rules don't change the week before it's eligible, which is the sort of luck I have) - by which time I aim to be retired, also being a bit Historic myself. I remember in my teens, looking over my dad's shoulder when the local paper had an article about the then-new Tasmin convertible, which as I recall was the only car in Britain where the drophead was cheaper than the fixed-head. Cor, I said. Bloody hideous, said the old man. Ironic really, as he later drove an '83 Sierra, which for a while was Ford's unloved visual equivalent to the Tasmin. History forgave the Sierra of course, though not the TVR. But who wants what everyone else has? If every Wedge has had an average of ten owners and they built about 2500 of them, that's only the population of a small town who have ever driven one. I like it that way.
I also like the way the bodyshell was autographed by the three blokes who laid-up the glassfibre, and the way you take off a panel and it has 'DH 335' scrawled on the back, so the chaps on the line would know which car the freshly-upholstered bits would fit when they came back from the seamstresses. The glovebox lid is, of course, also autographed by Mr. Winterbottom himself. We all know he didn't have much input into the 'big wedges', but he started it.
My 390 was first registered on 7th September 1987, so there's another anniversary - the old bus will be 38 on Sunday.
I can feel a drive out coming on...
Edited by Wedg1e on Wednesday 3rd September 00:28
york33 said:
Happy Anniversary Ian :-)
I'm only 5 years ish behind you, though I suspect you've driven yours more than I have mine!
Beat you to the 'historic vehicle ' status, though it is still in the garage!
I wasn't a million miles from your place a couple of weekends back, although on the bike, not in the car.I'm only 5 years ish behind you, though I suspect you've driven yours more than I have mine!
Beat you to the 'historic vehicle ' status, though it is still in the garage!
For the life of me I couldn't remember where you are other than a long straight narrow road through farmland... not many of those round your way
Took the 390 over to my mate's caravan north of Keswick last weekend, didn't miss a beat. That one trip was more miles than it's done in total for the last three years I think
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