It’s true that british sports cars are unique but french sports cars are great too, I drove a couple of Peugeot 205 GTIs and I even had a 405 Mi16x4, that was a great car 😎
Had a 92 4.3 Griff since 95, which I am struggling to re-commission (now nearly 70 and struggling with joints and finances) - Too frisky as a daily, however a Chimaera in not so precious condition would be great. Griff is a rare Candy Apple over magnolia leather, 22k miles - Already found the alloy tank to be corroded / porous along bottom despite dry storage and about 3 days of rain driving. Replacing discs, pads + servicing callipers. Replacing water pipes with stainless and latest 'rubber'. Replacing all fuel lines with s steel braided, brake lines too. Shall only ever drive as a non daily though - owned 30 yrs, so rather precious :) Still got the Chimaera?
UK and Italy know how to make little and evil cars XD Greetings from Italy!!! Beautiful car, great sound, it reminds me a lot of the Qvale/De Tomaso Mangusta: Small car, transformable(spider) and big v8 inside 👍
Nice Chimaera. Whats the difference between the 4.0, 4.3, 4.5 and 5.0v8? Is there any one engine that is most reliable, or are they all similar? Cheers
Hi - thanks for your comment - car no longer mine however, All are variation of same engine - 4.3 litre was in earlier cars so Chim and Griffith before emissions regs etc - they are rarer BUT desirable as they are more free revving etc - TVR UK Owners Club Website explains - www.tvr-car-club.co.uk/tvr-chimaera.html
The 5 L TVR engine has very little Rover left in it. It’s a bespoke build by TVR Power, and anecdotally is the least reliable, but I know of examples in the club with over 100 K on them that are still used hard with no issues. The 4.0 and 4.5 are mechanically, pretty much standard range Rover engines, with some head porting, and a TVR cam, plus a TVR custom map in the ECU. Given that they are only pulling 1060 kg up the road, and even with the TVR mods, are still in quite a gentle state of tune, they are very unstressed, and generally pretty bombproof. Most of the infamous TVR reliability problems come from the electrical system rather than any mechanical issues, which is not uncommon on any fibreglass bodied cars due to earthing issues. The problems are not as widespread is the reputation suggests, and most of them can be mitigated with updates and wiring refresh/modification.
They're all the same bore size. The different capacities are achieved by altering the stroke. In my view, the sweet spot is the 450. It's plenty powerful enough, revs up fast enough to hit the limiter in the lower gears unless you change gear quickly, and is the only version with cross-bolted big end bearings. The issue that a few 500s have had is the crankshaft snapping. It's not widespread, but when I was looking for a Chim there were just enough reports to put me off. I had my 450 for 16 years, and it never broke down. I bought it for £10750 and sold it for £16700.
They are about for this money but bodywork/general condition maybe not as good as you would want - just need to check chassis condition as underneath can get expensive to put right
@@thedog569 indeed...when being shown around the factory, by Ben Samuelson I think - I saw a load of chassis outside in silver paint and queried the longevity - he replied along the lines ' over engineered and will last for ages....' hmmmm, shame they werent galvanized - what a combo that would be, GRP over Galvanized :)
@@annenonime252 Thanks for advising relaxation BUT you don't need to as I am very relaxed.....your comments are a little confusing....maybe it's a generation thing.....I wish you good luck in the future....dude x
Ha ha ha - wont take driving lessons from Russians after watching youtube videos - Ха-ха-ха - не беру у россиян уроки вождения после просмотра видео на RU-vid
@@russkiipatriot6773 You can't even drive at low speed in a straight line without having an accident. Maybe stop putting vodka on your cornflakes in the morning? 😂
