Sad old git (British) in Spain loves TVR & Marcos
Discussion
Hello Everybody,
My name is Simon, I am 50 (where did all the years go?), six foot seven (so I do not fit in all cars) and live in Spain. I have always loved cars, mainly British and classic, of which I have owned too many to list. I have always had to do it on a budget except in the eighties when I owned three Aston Martins.
I have now decided before I fall off my perch or get too infirm to get out of bed to buy a sports car.
Unfortunately as always it boils down to budget. I might be lucky and have 25,000 GBP to spend - if this is the case I would love to buy a Marcos Mantis. Has anyone got any personal experience of owning and using one of these cars? How would a chap of my size fit in to one of these? Also I believe if you own a car you should use it rather than look at it, so how easy is it so live with one of these?
More than likely my budget will be 5,000 - 10,000 and in this case I am considering a TVR Chimaera, Griffith or Cerebra. My preference is the Cerebra but I have heard nightmare reliability stories on these - not that any TVR scores high points on reliability.
So after all of this waffle my question is; WHICH TVR MODEL IS THE MOST USER FRIENDLY OR HOW DIFFICULT IS IT TO LIVE WITH A CERBERA? (WHICH IS THE MOST USER FRIENDLY USABLE CERBERA)
HELP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Simon
My name is Simon, I am 50 (where did all the years go?), six foot seven (so I do not fit in all cars) and live in Spain. I have always loved cars, mainly British and classic, of which I have owned too many to list. I have always had to do it on a budget except in the eighties when I owned three Aston Martins.
I have now decided before I fall off my perch or get too infirm to get out of bed to buy a sports car.
Unfortunately as always it boils down to budget. I might be lucky and have 25,000 GBP to spend - if this is the case I would love to buy a Marcos Mantis. Has anyone got any personal experience of owning and using one of these cars? How would a chap of my size fit in to one of these? Also I believe if you own a car you should use it rather than look at it, so how easy is it so live with one of these?
More than likely my budget will be 5,000 - 10,000 and in this case I am considering a TVR Chimaera, Griffith or Cerebra. My preference is the Cerebra but I have heard nightmare reliability stories on these - not that any TVR scores high points on reliability.
So after all of this waffle my question is; WHICH TVR MODEL IS THE MOST USER FRIENDLY OR HOW DIFFICULT IS IT TO LIVE WITH A CERBERA? (WHICH IS THE MOST USER FRIENDLY USABLE CERBERA)
HELP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Simon
If your budget is £10K or so I would look at the Chimaera. You'll get the nicest car for the money that way - they're better value partly because so many were made! (In comparison to other TVR models)
Can you live with one as a daily driver? Yes. But I'd keep a cheapo runner as well out of preference. Most Chimaeras did not have aircon. In Spain you will be wanting that feature.
Can you live with one as a daily driver? Yes. But I'd keep a cheapo runner as well out of preference. Most Chimaeras did not have aircon. In Spain you will be wanting that feature.
I ran a chim for 4 years,It never broke down once and the only money i spent on it was service parts.
I have a cerb now and i do have to budget for things going wrong with it and at 6 foot 7 it might be a bit of a struggle for you. With a budget of 10k i would be looking for a well sorted chim.
I have a cerb now and i do have to budget for things going wrong with it and at 6 foot 7 it might be a bit of a struggle for you. With a budget of 10k i would be looking for a well sorted chim.
Agree with Mat - a Cerbera is significantly more costly to run than a Chim or a Griff. Also ( to the best of my knowledge) there are no Cerbs living in Spain and they do require quite a lot of TLC from a mechanic who knows his stuff
On the other hand there are a few Chims (2 in Gib alone)and Griffs in Spain and with the Rover bits when Pedro at the garaje looks under the bonnet he won't be saying "No se nada" !
When you get the car look out for the TVR trackday that takes place every year at Guadix. The Gib boys will probably be there and there are at least 3 Griffs which could turn up
On the other hand there are a few Chims (2 in Gib alone)and Griffs in Spain and with the Rover bits when Pedro at the garaje looks under the bonnet he won't be saying "No se nada" !
When you get the car look out for the TVR trackday that takes place every year at Guadix. The Gib boys will probably be there and there are at least 3 Griffs which could turn up
d18mca said:
At 6'7 I think you would struggle to fit into any TVR with any degree of comfort.
I know quite a few big lads who have TVR's with no probs at all. Lets not forget PW was a big lad himself, so during his ownership I can hardly imagine TVR producing a car that the top man couldn't fit in!I'm 6'6" and quite well built, and have no problems in my Chim, in fact it is one of the most comfy cars I have ever driven , once you've figured out the best way to get in and out you're sorted, I make it look easy which has really confused the poor few souls that have had the cheek to bang on my window with road rage.Get one you,ll love it , in fact any TVR .
Have a look at:
http://tvrblog.blogspot.com/
They have a list of a lot of the LHD cars. They carry a premium so gird your loins when you check the price.
http://tvrblog.blogspot.com/
They have a list of a lot of the LHD cars. They carry a premium so gird your loins when you check the price.
Another vote for a Chimaera. To be honest, even in this country with all the TVR resources available, I still probably wouldn't buy a Cerbera under 10k. If you had more, plus a rainy day fund and patience, then a Cerb would be more considerable. I personally would play it safe and stick with Rover/Ford mechanics, but can fully understand the appeal of a Cerbera.
6'8" here and 20 stone and fit comfortably in my Tuscan. Remember that Peter Wheeler was 6'7" and a big bloke so he made sure all the cars made under him he could actaully fit in. 
Regards reliability, they're as reliable as you want them to be. Keep on top of maintenance and they're fine.....and compared to Marcos????
Regards reliability, they're as reliable as you want them to be. Keep on top of maintenance and they're fine.....and compared to Marcos????
I stand corrected re the comfort /size problem.
I am only 6'3 and have had a Tuscan, Griff and a Sag.
The problems start if you have to become a passenger.(drink related)Apart from the Tuscan,I found the rest fairly restictive for passenger travel ,so someone at 6'7-8 as a passenger would be intereting.
Thankfully I'm not usually the passenger.
I am only 6'3 and have had a Tuscan, Griff and a Sag.
The problems start if you have to become a passenger.(drink related)Apart from the Tuscan,I found the rest fairly restictive for passenger travel ,so someone at 6'7-8 as a passenger would be intereting.
Thankfully I'm not usually the passenger.
Thank you everyone for help and advice, I have never joined one of these forums before as I feel guilty if I do not respond.
It looks like you have made the decision for me. I think it will be a Chimaera, I have actually owed three TVR,s before in the 80's and 90,s, two automatics not through choice they were just very cheap. They were both 280 SE's and one was a coupe and the third one was a 400SE. I did fit in all of them and would guess that a Chimaera would be of similar size internally.
I loved the 400SE and had great fun with it but I found with all of them that they leaked water when it rained and the water collected in the front footwell and I never found out where it was coming in from which infuriated me.
I would like to consider a Cerebera but won't as I think I would be asking for trouble as I live in Spain and TVR mechanics are very rare down here but I am very familiar with the Buick/Rover V8 which has been around for nearly as long as me and as far as the Air-con issue is concerned I do not think it would be a big problem as I would predict that I would mainly drive it with the hood down. Although when it rains here in Spain it really pours down.
We will have a second car as we are a family of five so it won't be an everyday car but I would intend to use it as much as possible.
Once again thank you for your help.
Simon.
PS; I AM NOT A PUB EXPERT, I AM A BODEGA EXPERT
It looks like you have made the decision for me. I think it will be a Chimaera, I have actually owed three TVR,s before in the 80's and 90,s, two automatics not through choice they were just very cheap. They were both 280 SE's and one was a coupe and the third one was a 400SE. I did fit in all of them and would guess that a Chimaera would be of similar size internally.
I loved the 400SE and had great fun with it but I found with all of them that they leaked water when it rained and the water collected in the front footwell and I never found out where it was coming in from which infuriated me.
I would like to consider a Cerebera but won't as I think I would be asking for trouble as I live in Spain and TVR mechanics are very rare down here but I am very familiar with the Buick/Rover V8 which has been around for nearly as long as me and as far as the Air-con issue is concerned I do not think it would be a big problem as I would predict that I would mainly drive it with the hood down. Although when it rains here in Spain it really pours down.
We will have a second car as we are a family of five so it won't be an everyday car but I would intend to use it as much as possible.
Once again thank you for your help.
Simon.
PS; I AM NOT A PUB EXPERT, I AM A BODEGA EXPERT
Admittedly that can be a nause, but that's because the battery is in the passenger footwell you can have it put in the boot via a mod , but how many times you gonna have a 6'+ bird in your opposite seat.
d18mca said:
I stand corrected re the comfort /size problem.
I am only 6'3 and have had a Tuscan, Griff and a Sag.
The problems start if you have to become a passenger.(drink related)Apart from the Tuscan,I found the rest fairly restictive for passenger travel ,so someone at 6'7-8 as a passenger would be intereting.
Thankfully I'm not usually the passenger.
I am only 6'3 and have had a Tuscan, Griff and a Sag.
The problems start if you have to become a passenger.(drink related)Apart from the Tuscan,I found the rest fairly restictive for passenger travel ,so someone at 6'7-8 as a passenger would be intereting.
Thankfully I'm not usually the passenger.
Hahaha, I'm sure he's still suffering the nightmares, anyway how was the 'Ring'
and not someone you want to get paired with if your forced to do firemans lifts
It still makes me laugh when mini scaley mitts tryed to shoulder barge you, it was like he had run into a brick wall.
YHM
TVRMARKUB said:
t1blk said:
I'm 6'6" and quite well built,
and not someone you want to get paired with if your forced to do firemans lifts
It still makes me laugh when mini scaley mitts tryed to shoulder barge you, it was like he had run into a brick wall.
YHM
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