what else if not a TVR?
Discussion
I've been wracking my brains trying to think of an alternative to a TVR that ticks all the same boxes.
And I just cant.
My thinking is it needs to be...
1) Good looking, depends on opinion but you know what I mean
2) Bloody fast and handle pretty well.
3) a "drivers" car, ok thats subjective too but Im thinking lots of driver involvemnt, like a noble, elise/exige, that kind of stuff,
4) Sort-of-practical, enough space for your luggage, or the proverbial 2 sets of golf clubs. you can tour in it basically
5) "nice" interior, whether the wood and leather olde worlde look from earlier tivs or the metal and hide swoopy alien stuff from the more recent ones is your thing they are all pretty nice places to be.
6) a bit "unique" or "different"
7) "affordable" forget running costs, to buy, subjective again but a new tiv was circa 50k, we're not talking 150k cars here.
we can forget porkers because of no. 6 right away, maybe the elise too (but then the elise fails on 4 and 5 too)
Noble and Ultima fail on practicality and the interior
lambo/ferrari/spyker/other euro exotica all fail due to 100k + purchase prices.
anybody have ANY ideas?
edit: this also begs the question, if there is nothing else like it, why hasnt another company jumped on that "niche" and produced something...
And I just cant.
My thinking is it needs to be...
1) Good looking, depends on opinion but you know what I mean
2) Bloody fast and handle pretty well.
3) a "drivers" car, ok thats subjective too but Im thinking lots of driver involvemnt, like a noble, elise/exige, that kind of stuff,
4) Sort-of-practical, enough space for your luggage, or the proverbial 2 sets of golf clubs. you can tour in it basically
5) "nice" interior, whether the wood and leather olde worlde look from earlier tivs or the metal and hide swoopy alien stuff from the more recent ones is your thing they are all pretty nice places to be.
6) a bit "unique" or "different"
7) "affordable" forget running costs, to buy, subjective again but a new tiv was circa 50k, we're not talking 150k cars here.
we can forget porkers because of no. 6 right away, maybe the elise too (but then the elise fails on 4 and 5 too)
Noble and Ultima fail on practicality and the interior
lambo/ferrari/spyker/other euro exotica all fail due to 100k + purchase prices.
anybody have ANY ideas?
edit: this also begs the question, if there is nothing else like it, why hasnt another company jumped on that "niche" and produced something...
Edited by davido140 on Tuesday 16th October 00:06
I pondered this a while back.
I came to the conclusion that the best option was probably to get 2 cars - maybe a Caterham & a Scoobie.....
Either that or get something impractical like a Noble and open an account with the local FedEx depot for luggage/kids/whatever.
The other one I'm starting to think of is a Corvette or something else American.
I came to the conclusion that the best option was probably to get 2 cars - maybe a Caterham & a Scoobie.....
Either that or get something impractical like a Noble and open an account with the local FedEx depot for luggage/kids/whatever.
The other one I'm starting to think of is a Corvette or something else American.
davido140 said:
it needs to be...
1) Good looking, (tick)
2) Bloody fast and handle pretty well.
3) a "drivers" car, (tick)
4) the proverbial 2 sets of golf clubs. (definately not!)
5) "nice" interior,(tick)
6) a bit "unique" or "different" (thats a big yes)
7) "affordable" forget running costs (well compared to a Ferrari anyway)
anybody have ANY ideas?
For me it is a Lotus Esprit V8. 25k should find you one of the very last made ones.1) Good looking, (tick)
2) Bloody fast and handle pretty well.
3) a "drivers" car, (tick)
4) the proverbial 2 sets of golf clubs. (definately not!)
5) "nice" interior,(tick)
6) a bit "unique" or "different" (thats a big yes)
7) "affordable" forget running costs (well compared to a Ferrari anyway)
anybody have ANY ideas?
hmm some interesting suggestions....
Monaro / VXR, no way its a big saloon. fun to have a hoon in but a squillion miles from a TVR.
Old fezza, not that quick are they? looking a bit dated maybe?
Old Astons (DB7 would be all within the price range we are talking about) again, not as quick as a blackpool rocket are they, more of a GT than a "sports car" (hate that phrase) like a lightweight nible tiv.
The Marcos looks like it might have "legs" shame they went tits up too, and far fewer of those around than even saggys I would guess.
Morgan... hmmm, aero 8 is a marmite car for sure, the +4 (or older styled ones) arent my cup of tea. Arent they stupidly expensive thought (80k?)
Lotus Esprit, marmite cosmetics again I feel, I always liked them though, some might say a little dated. but when did they stop making these?
We could all suggest loads of "older" cars that fit the price bracket, lets say I had 40-50k to spend and it wants to be nearly new (i.e 2004/5 sagaris/tuscan 2 money) but its 5 years from now and the newsest sag is now 7 years old.
Currently there is nothing on the market is there? other than porsches, perhaps thats one of the reasons they are so damn popular... or is there just not a market for em any more? was it really the reliability and build issues that sank TVR or just the fact nobody wanted cars like that any more?
ooh the trident and jensen look nice! my favorites so far.
Monaro / VXR, no way its a big saloon. fun to have a hoon in but a squillion miles from a TVR.
Old fezza, not that quick are they? looking a bit dated maybe?
Old Astons (DB7 would be all within the price range we are talking about) again, not as quick as a blackpool rocket are they, more of a GT than a "sports car" (hate that phrase) like a lightweight nible tiv.
The Marcos looks like it might have "legs" shame they went tits up too, and far fewer of those around than even saggys I would guess.
Morgan... hmmm, aero 8 is a marmite car for sure, the +4 (or older styled ones) arent my cup of tea. Arent they stupidly expensive thought (80k?)
Lotus Esprit, marmite cosmetics again I feel, I always liked them though, some might say a little dated. but when did they stop making these?
We could all suggest loads of "older" cars that fit the price bracket, lets say I had 40-50k to spend and it wants to be nearly new (i.e 2004/5 sagaris/tuscan 2 money) but its 5 years from now and the newsest sag is now 7 years old.
Currently there is nothing on the market is there? other than porsches, perhaps thats one of the reasons they are so damn popular... or is there just not a market for em any more? was it really the reliability and build issues that sank TVR or just the fact nobody wanted cars like that any more?
ooh the trident and jensen look nice! my favorites so far.
Edited by davido140 on Tuesday 16th October 08:50
Hello 
Maserati 3200GT V8 3.2 twin turbo or if you don't like turbos you can always get a 4.2 4200GT but you will lose the boomerang rear lights, 3200GT go for a bit under 30 and 4200GT a bit over, and theres a spyder/convertible option too.
370bhp top book speed of 174mph, a bit too quiet? get sport exhaust tailbox fitted from over £375, only need servicing every 12000 miles or 12 months too, u need to find an independant dealer, Meridian approved Maserati dealer in Lyndhurst charge £110 an hour, whereas Emblem in Poole are superb independant and only charge £67 an hr.
Looks dont match a TVR, but the performance is close, if not better, and practicality is way above. They're not common either!
Maserati 3200GT V8 3.2 twin turbo or if you don't like turbos you can always get a 4.2 4200GT but you will lose the boomerang rear lights, 3200GT go for a bit under 30 and 4200GT a bit over, and theres a spyder/convertible option too.
370bhp top book speed of 174mph, a bit too quiet? get sport exhaust tailbox fitted from over £375, only need servicing every 12000 miles or 12 months too, u need to find an independant dealer, Meridian approved Maserati dealer in Lyndhurst charge £110 an hour, whereas Emblem in Poole are superb independant and only charge £67 an hr.
Looks dont match a TVR, but the performance is close, if not better, and practicality is way above. They're not common either!
.Woody said:
Hello
Maserati 3200GT V8 3.2 twin turbo or if you don't like turbos you can always get a 4.2 4200GT but you will lose the boomerang rear lights, 3200GT go for a bit under 30 and 4200GT a bit over, and theres a spyder/convertible option too.
370bhp top book speed of 174mph, a bit too quiet? get sport exhaust tailbox fitted from over £375, only need servicing every 12000 miles or 12 months too, u need to find an independant dealer, Meridian approved Maserati dealer in Lyndhurst charge £110 an hour, whereas Emblem in Poole are superb independant and only charge £67 an hr.
Looks dont match a TVR, but the performance is close, if not better, and practicality is way above. They're not common either!
But it's an entirely different proposition as for the driving experience - GT not hardcore sports car, could just as well mention AMG Mercs then.Maserati 3200GT V8 3.2 twin turbo or if you don't like turbos you can always get a 4.2 4200GT but you will lose the boomerang rear lights, 3200GT go for a bit under 30 and 4200GT a bit over, and theres a spyder/convertible option too.
370bhp top book speed of 174mph, a bit too quiet? get sport exhaust tailbox fitted from over £375, only need servicing every 12000 miles or 12 months too, u need to find an independant dealer, Meridian approved Maserati dealer in Lyndhurst charge £110 an hour, whereas Emblem in Poole are superb independant and only charge £67 an hr.
Looks dont match a TVR, but the performance is close, if not better, and practicality is way above. They're not common either!
as far as the raw power aspect, I must agree there isnt much, but just throw a sports exhaust on it and you're a bit closer!
...e2a the twin turbos sold it to me when I test drove it! Awesome, completely different from the Tuscan but both were still awesome to drive. I really wanted both, thats one reaosn why I got the wedge too
...e2a the twin turbos sold it to me when I test drove it! Awesome, completely different from the Tuscan but both were still awesome to drive. I really wanted both, thats one reaosn why I got the wedge too
Edited by .Woody on Tuesday 16th October 09:33
if anyone says Porsche I'm leaving.
Surely a nice AC cobra replica would tick a lot of boxes for Griff/chim type owners? Wealthier ones could probably stretch to a Mark IV which means it's the real thing. But many of the replicas are very good so I'm told. For hard top V8 fans the GT40 replicas are thought to be very good too.
Cerbera fans? There's very little out there to recreate that but maybe a Nissan Skyline is an option for people who need some back seats. I had one, it was brilliant and with a little chippery can more than keep up with a Cerb.
Me? My weapon of choice is a Tuscan. I can't really think of anything which will do what the tusc does for me - incredible combination of rawness and usability which looks just as good roof up or down.... I think I'd probably go back down market and get a new mitsubishi evo or something. With more money I'd go for the Jaguar XKR. It's a stunning alternative to the dreadful 911. Trouble is, I'd want the convertible but prefer the looks of the hard top. Either way it's an auto unfortunately so not comparable to the tuscan but I think it would be a joy to live with and own. Instead of raw excitement I'd have a more soothing mode of rapid transport (much more so than a 911 too), stare for hours looks, and a british car to be proud of.
Surely a nice AC cobra replica would tick a lot of boxes for Griff/chim type owners? Wealthier ones could probably stretch to a Mark IV which means it's the real thing. But many of the replicas are very good so I'm told. For hard top V8 fans the GT40 replicas are thought to be very good too.
Cerbera fans? There's very little out there to recreate that but maybe a Nissan Skyline is an option for people who need some back seats. I had one, it was brilliant and with a little chippery can more than keep up with a Cerb.
Me? My weapon of choice is a Tuscan. I can't really think of anything which will do what the tusc does for me - incredible combination of rawness and usability which looks just as good roof up or down.... I think I'd probably go back down market and get a new mitsubishi evo or something. With more money I'd go for the Jaguar XKR. It's a stunning alternative to the dreadful 911. Trouble is, I'd want the convertible but prefer the looks of the hard top. Either way it's an auto unfortunately so not comparable to the tuscan but I think it would be a joy to live with and own. Instead of raw excitement I'd have a more soothing mode of rapid transport (much more so than a 911 too), stare for hours looks, and a british car to be proud of.
If I can convince myself to rise above my common-as-Mondeos prejudice against Porsches, then a 996 or 997 GT3, or perhaps a 993 Turbo, ticks all the boxes for me. It wouldn't get a second glance from the man on the street, but fellow petrolheads would recognise it for what it is.
Edited to add: "Sorry!" to The Pits...
Pete
Edited to add: "Sorry!" to The Pits...
Pete
Edited by pete on Tuesday 16th October 10:02
In no particular order:
1. Ultima Can Am (the name says it all, but not practical though)
2. Cobra replica (practical, gorgeous but not sure of the handling ?)
3. Ferrari 355 (an itch I would like to scratch one day)
4. Corvette Z06 (ticks most boxes)
5. BMW Z8 (beautiful but LHD only)
6. DB7 Vantage (too expensive to run ?)
I know I'll get
down in flames, but I like the 997 GT3RS as well - there I've said it mow it's off my chest I feel much better.
1. Ultima Can Am (the name says it all, but not practical though)
2. Cobra replica (practical, gorgeous but not sure of the handling ?)
3. Ferrari 355 (an itch I would like to scratch one day)
4. Corvette Z06 (ticks most boxes)
5. BMW Z8 (beautiful but LHD only)
6. DB7 Vantage (too expensive to run ?)
I know I'll get
down in flames, but I like the 997 GT3RS as well - there I've said it mow it's off my chest I feel much better.Edited by S5TVR on Wednesday 28th November 11:26
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