A TVR from an auction, am I out of my tiny gourde?

[DPS 78]

OK who hasn’t wanted a TVR at some point? I know I have for a long time, and never really believed I’d have the opportunity to own one, but here we are, I just got out of mine, I’ve had it for 3 days, and I thought I’d share my excitement.

The people
So I’ve known my mate R for over 20 years, and he’s the most practical guy I know. With very little previous spannering knowledge he took a pretty standard, slightly tatty Saab 93, swapped the engine out for the 2.3 litre, remapped it, did some repairs and switched out the interior, now it goes like stink and will wheelspin through 3rd gear, so a bit of fettling isn’t too much of a problem for him. Plus he’s got a spare space in his garage which is a bonus.

For my part, I love cars, hey, I’m on this forum, but have not much practical knowledge. But I’ve saved a few quid over the years, mostly through my penchant for parsimony. I’ve had a few good cars; a 350z was a highlight, but I’ve also taken some risks. Yep I bought an RX8 (sharp intakes of breath in the room), and it worked out fine (only car I’ve ever sold for more than I bought it for). I also bought an E60 M5, and dodged a bullet because just after I sold it apparently everything went wrong, and the buyer was pretty unhappy about it. Cue some rude text messages. I’m genuinely sorry for the guy. Plus my wife hated it (too big and too lary apparently!). Weird.

The deal
So we the agreement is this; I’ll stump up the money, he does the work on it, we go halves on the costs, and we share the joy. Whether we sell up in a year or two or one of us ‘buys out’ the other we’ll see down the line. Probably depends on the car. We get on well enough that I don’t anticipate any arguments.

The car
OK the bit people are actually interested in. Well done for sticking with it.

All the forums will rightly tell you not to jump into TVR ownership, drive plenty and pick the best. Make sure you check a list of things outriggers/ electrics/ all the usual stuff.

So we ignored it all and did none of these things.

But we’re not idiots.

We’re looking to buy at the bottom end of the prices , and give ourselves a few quid in pocket that we can use for parts. So R finds a Chimaera for sale at an auction. I haven’t been to an auction in about 25 years, R is new to it. We take a day off work and off we head. Worst case scenario it’s a day of checking out cars, no problem with us.

The auction web site suggests it’s a minter, but boy-oh-boy have they over-estimated. The car needs work. Quite a bit of it. We have a good look round it whilst the early lots are going through, and there’s undoubtedly some problems; the interior is soaking wet, the rear bumper has some major scrapes on it, the dash is falling off, one bit at a time, there’s quite a bit that’s obviously needed, but the engine at least seems to be running fine, and it actually hasn’t covered that many miles. Which is backed up by MOT history. We decide our maximum bid is a good £1,000 lower than we’d said in the car on the way there.

Bidding is slow all morning. As I watch a huge variety of stuff go through the auction, I’m starting to become optimistic for a bargain, but of course it gets to Lot 124, a TVR Chimaera 4.0 in black, and the bidding is furious. Suddenly everyone’s awake. We’ve set our limit, R waves his hand in pretty quick succession, bids end… and it’s ours! We sneak in just under our top bid, leaving us just a few quid in pocket. Cue huge grins, quite a bit of excitement, and some rapid phone calls to insurance company and the bank. And then wives.

And we’re handled the keys!* Driving a car with no ABS, no Airbags, no Traction Control, for the first time, as the darkness draws in and the roads are wet, well it’s an education, but WOW what a sound, everything else kind of falls by the wayside for a bit and it’s time to just enjoy.

So the car is tucked up in R’s garage, and the fettling/ internet research/ checking youtube videos has begun. R has started work, and I have high hopes.

We’re already planning on going to the Goodwood Festival of Speed 2020 in it, and can’t wait.

So if you’re still reading, thank you so much for staying the course. Here’s a pic of me taking my son round the block in our new pride and joy.

• how on earth there doesn’t appear to be any anti money laundering regulations I’ve no idea, but that’s boring, sorry.