Has anyone ever taken the roof off a cerbera.
Discussion
My dream TVR, would be a cerbera convertible.
A Cerbera, with the roof off.
Yes, I know some may say, the Chimaera fits that bill.
They look very similar from the front, the rear and the side views.
But the cerbera, is lower, wider, longer.
As more curves, and looks like a chimaera on steroids.
I’m not going to mention the interior or under the bonnet, they are definitely different.
Has anyone anywhere ever taken the roof off a cerbera?
(I have read somewhere, that the body is not stiff enough, if you take the roof off)
A Cerbera, with the roof off.
Yes, I know some may say, the Chimaera fits that bill.
They look very similar from the front, the rear and the side views.
But the cerbera, is lower, wider, longer.
As more curves, and looks like a chimaera on steroids.
I’m not going to mention the interior or under the bonnet, they are definitely different.
Has anyone anywhere ever taken the roof off a cerbera?
(I have read somewhere, that the body is not stiff enough, if you take the roof off)
My dream TVR, would be a cerbera convertible.
A Cerbera, with the roof off.
Yes, I know some may say, the Chimaera fits that bill.
They look very similar from the front, the rear and the side views.
But the cerbera, is lower, wider, longer.
As more curves, and looks like a chimaera on steroids.
I’m not going to mention the interior or under the bonnet, they are definitely different.
Has anyone anywhere ever taken the roof off a cerbera?
(I have read somewhere, that the body is not stiff enough, if you take the roof off)
A Cerbera, with the roof off.
Yes, I know some may say, the Chimaera fits that bill.
They look very similar from the front, the rear and the side views.
But the cerbera, is lower, wider, longer.
As more curves, and looks like a chimaera on steroids.
I’m not going to mention the interior or under the bonnet, they are definitely different.
Has anyone anywhere ever taken the roof off a cerbera?
(I have read somewhere, that the body is not stiff enough, if you take the roof off)
CanoeSniffer said:
Apart from the styling, they’re totally unrelated cars- in fact the Chimaera - Cerbera step change was probably TVR’s most transformative period of the 90s what with the introduction of their own engines, so many more bespoke parts etc. It’s almost misleading that they share the same styling cues, far too many times I’ve seen the phrase ‘Cerbera convertible’ or ‘hardtop Chimaera’ used to describe one or t’other.
It’s an interesting idea, the swooping roofline with those huge windows is a big part of the design- and I think hides quite how crazily long and low the Cerbera actually is. My initial thoughts are that any change to the roofline could result in something that looks quite out of proportion and odd.
Also worth noting that it’s not purely fibreglass above the windowline, there’s an intrinsic rollcage engineered in (though whether that’s made of hollow tubing, gnarly grade steel or cardboard tubes I have no idea- TVR and all).
I quite agree with you.It’s an interesting idea, the swooping roofline with those huge windows is a big part of the design- and I think hides quite how crazily long and low the Cerbera actually is. My initial thoughts are that any change to the roofline could result in something that looks quite out of proportion and odd.
Also worth noting that it’s not purely fibreglass above the windowline, there’s an intrinsic rollcage engineered in (though whether that’s made of hollow tubing, gnarly grade steel or cardboard tubes I have no idea- TVR and all).
They are indeed totally unrelated cars. (Although share the same styling cues, but the cerbera been crazily long, low and wide.)
A Cerbera is not a hard-top chimaera.
And a Chimaera is not a Cerbera convertible.
That’s why my dream TVR would be a Cerbera with the roof off.
Completely off, not a sun roof or targa.
Has anyone ever taken the roof off a TVR Cerbera?
ukkid35 said:
Wow that looks great.
Love the headlights, and paint work.
I wonder what it looks like with the targa removed.
Maybe that would be the best way to go.
Buy a Cerbera which had been involved in an accident were it had rolled or had roof damage.
And cut the roof off.
I wonder if anyone had down that ?
C350Akra said:
How much money do you have? Anything is possible if you throw enough money at it. Given the structure of a Cerbera I doubt it will be easy or cheap to come up with an effective top removal and will not be an investment you would get a return on.
I would never sell it.I’m not sure on the weight difference.
But I would imagine, structurally the cerbera and chimaera. Would not be much different .
plasticman said:
The problem is the roll cage .Even if removing did not affect the structural rigidity of the car you would struggle with insurance . This is the main reason for me starting with Tamora or Tuscan when I made the Sagaris convertibles .
I hadn’t thought about the insurance.Yes I imagine you would struggle to get it insured.
A sagaris convertible, would be the ultimate convertible TVR
The photos of your car during the build, do look stunning.
Have you any photos of your finished sagaris convertible with the roof off.
Thank you.
GT6k said:
TwinKam said:
Great pic, I'd been searching for something like that, where did you find it?
Now does anyone have a similar render for the framework behind the rear headrests?
I drew it in solidworks when i was trying to design a proper rollcage to meet competition rule for sprinting, I measured up several cars to get all the dimensions and it is pretty close to correct but the bends are difficult to measure accurately. I don't have a solidworks licence anymore but I will put the file here for anyone who wants it. https://1drv.ms/u/s!AvCucYc7_gGngb0hTf_QUeiPMfuk2g...Now does anyone have a similar render for the framework behind the rear headrests?
The diagram is taken from the file 'Both sides slant' Also in there is a document of all the information i could find and lots of photos of several cars including a couple of racers which clearly show all the tubes and the rear seat frame structure.
There's also a picture here http://www.wreckedexotics.com/accident/1946?c=mo52 which is the only time you get to see the whole rear frame.
Yes great pictures, and explanation.
So how did they overcome this on the chimaera.
What extra structure does the chimaera have .
Edited by GT6k on Tuesday 9th February 15:33
Edited by GT6k on Tuesday 9th February 15:34
Edited by GT6k on Tuesday 9th February 15:55
So how did they overcome this on the chimaera.
What extra structure does the chimaera have .
GT6k said:
Previous experience with a Spitfire/GT6 and having seen some other poor roof chops is that the issues are scuttle shake and whether the A post is stiff enough to support the doors. Cerbera doors are a lot longer then Chimaera ones and all that weight is going to be supported on a single tube sticking up from the outrigger.
Would the closed door harder panel to stop it flexing too much, solve that problem,Or fitting a lighter weight door. It’s made out of fibreglass, so perhaps minimal door trim.
C350Akra said:
jazzybees said:
C350Akra said:
How much money do you have? Anything is possible if you throw enough money at it. Given the structure of a Cerbera I doubt it will be easy or cheap to come up with an effective top removal and will not be an investment you would get a return on.
I would never sell it.I’m not sure on the weight difference.
But I would imagine, structurally the cerbera and chimaera. Would not be much different .
This is a plan of the cerbera frame. (Thank you GT6k)
It does show the cerbera having the protection designed into the whole top ( “A” post to “B” post, left and right sides.)
It also shows the front screen, having a structure round it.
I wonder if that would be enough support.
Also taking to account the cerbera having longer doors.
Byker28i said:
Three threads on this? Genera TVR, Cerbera and now on the Typical Cerbera history thread?
Crumbs,Sorry, I did slip up there.
It did start on the typical cerbera history thread,
But I realised, that I had slightly distracted from original post of that thread.
So I started its own thread.
But I wasn’t too sure where to put it.
So I asked the question, in the cerbera thread and the general tvr thread.
Which in a way, is not too bad.
Because I am getting two different set of answers, from different sets of people/posters.
Which I thank all for their input.
https://thumbsnap.com/0qmUSJUF
I hope that link shows a photo of a Cerbera facing a Chimaera
I’m not sure it would look terrible.
From the outside, it as similar stying to the chimaera.
But to me, it looks lower, wider, longer, and just more meatier, beefier, curvy, and awesome.
I hope that link shows a photo of a Cerbera facing a Chimaera
I’m not sure it would look terrible.
From the outside, it as similar stying to the chimaera.
But to me, it looks lower, wider, longer, and just more meatier, beefier, curvy, and awesome.
Ukkid35, thank you for highlighting the photo.(rather then going through the link.)
All I need now, is someone to photo shoot a Cerbera, without the roof on.
In the meantime.
Some one at TVR must have had a similar idea.
Because Tvr made a longer, courier, more rounded off version of the wedge, with 4 seats.
Back in 1989/90.
Called the Speed 8
All I need now, is someone to photo shoot a Cerbera, without the roof on.
In the meantime.
Some one at TVR must have had a similar idea.
Because Tvr made a longer, courier, more rounded off version of the wedge, with 4 seats.
Back in 1989/90.
Called the Speed 8
ChristAlmighty said:
Sorry if I’m resurrecting a dead thread here, but I love the idea of a Cerbera “spider” / convertible. I’ve been very fortunate owning quite a bit of exotica over the years - Lambo, Aston, McLaren etc. But I’m getting really tired of spending increasingly silly money not just on the purchase, but the on going servicing/running costs, not to mention the absolutely catastrophic depreciation!
There’s nothing really special about a factory-spec modern supercar… anyone with dough can buy one. What, as I’m getting older, I find more and more interesting, is something custom, unique… special. A TVR modernised, all faults fixed, retrimmed, engine wheels handling etc etc, to spec, see,s way way more exciting, probably at considerably less than half the price of a modern exotic. Plus all the fun of a manual, old-school driving experience.
So, that aside and let’s say cost no object (within reason), could a Cerb be made a spider - something along the lines of an Aston V12 Speedster I read about a few years back? So no need for a horrible folding fabric hood, nut maybe a separate hardtop (that could be fitted manually) so as to largely maintain the shape for winter driving? And no, I wouldn’t expect it could be stored in the car… this would be garage stored only.
Any thoughts on the above, gratefully entertained…!
There’s nothing really special about a factory-spec modern supercar… anyone with dough can buy one. What, as I’m getting older, I find more and more interesting, is something custom, unique… special. A TVR modernised, all faults fixed, retrimmed, engine wheels handling etc etc, to spec, see,s way way more exciting, probably at considerably less than half the price of a modern exotic. Plus all the fun of a manual, old-school driving experience.
So, that aside and let’s say cost no object (within reason), could a Cerb be made a spider - something along the lines of an Aston V12 Speedster I read about a few years back? So no need for a horrible folding fabric hood, nut maybe a separate hardtop (that could be fitted manually) so as to largely maintain the shape for winter driving? And no, I wouldn’t expect it could be stored in the car… this would be garage stored only.
Any thoughts on the above, gratefully entertained…!
Hi ChristAlmighty. definitely apologises not needed for resurrecting this thread.
It is great to see someone who also loves the idea of a Cerbera convertible.
Im sure it can be done.
Gazzab said:
jazzybees said:
Hi ChristAlmighty. definitely apologises not needed for resurrecting this thread.
It is great to see someone who also loves the idea of a Cerbera convertible.
Im sure it can be done.
And the rear side quarter’s
Re-trim the edges.
Re-strengthen/stiffen underbody, especially If any body shake/movement .
Gazzab said:
No work on the roll cage ? No softop?
Good points.Although, I personally would not have a roll cage/bar.
I would not want anything to get in the way of the flowing lines of the car.
Soft top, yes, of course.
That would be fabricated and fitted, to follow the original lines of the cerebra .
- tbh, as a Cerbera owner, I think that's a better solution, unless you want an AJP engine/don't want the Rover V8.Gassing Station | Cerbera | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff