The 50k 10 Year Project / Show Car

Been done to death but I'd still do a 4x4 MK1 Golf GTI running a 20valve turbo. I'd probably put a full modern interior inside it with aircon and a nice sound system. I doubt it would take 10 years and 50K though. 20K and a year would be doable if you had enough spare time.
 
sigma said:
Buy a £50k TVR and find another £50k for repairs/upkeep.
Click to expand...

TVR running costs aren't generally especially high relative to the performance. Obviously they cost more to run than a Ford Focus, but generally speaking;

Generally speaking, the older models (Chimarea/Griffith and earlier) largely used off the shelf parts. Availability is an isuse for some parts, but in the main, the parts availability, especially consumables, is pretty good and/or there are alternative solutions available. The problem parts are things like wing mirrors and lights, which were taken from common cars of the time (Citroen BX, Ford Fiesta etc) but are now hard to track down.

The more recent models (Cerbera onwards) are more expensive to run as the parts are more bespoke. Things like brakes are more expensive, but they're just off the shelf AP Racing parts. Engine servicing and maintenance costs jump up compared to the RV8 models and you'll need to use specialists, but I can't imagine they're any more expensive than a Porsche for example.

Reliability stems from questionable cost cutting measures and failures when they were new - such as the infamous issues with the Speed6 engines, which stems from TVR making changes to the engine design to save manufacturing costs iirc and storing unprotected chasiss outside, so they were already rusty before even being used. Now that they're 20+ years old, specialists have figured out how to rectify these issues and most owners have had engine rebuilds, chassis refurbs etc by now. Top Gear etc probably didn't help matters either!

The chassis situation is a double edged sword, as yes, it may require rust treatment/welding/refurb, but it's a lot easer to do this with a body on chassis, than a monocoque design. So it's swings and roundabouts really and shouldn't really need doing on a regular basis as they're generally weekend/summer cares now.

Most will be better now than they were new from a reliability standpoint and a lot probably bettter cosmetically too.
 
Last edited:
sigma said:
Probably cost less than most 'modern' cars though :) especially an older BMW or Mercedes. Getting a Porsche serviced by an OPC isn't exactly cheap.
Click to expand...

I've just been told a single hydraulic pipe has split on my ~13 year old Z4 roof. BMW want £840 for the part as it comes with wiring looms and all sorts.
 
jellybeard999 said:
TVR running costs aren't generally especially high relative to the performance. Obviously they cost more to run than a Ford Focus, but generally speaking;

Generally speaking, the older models (Chimarea/Griffith and earlier) largely used off the shelf parts. Availability is an isuse for some parts, but in the main, the parts availability, especially consumables, is pretty good and/or there are alternative solutions available. The problem parts are things like wing mirrors and lights, which were taken from common cars of the time (Citroen BX, Ford Fiesta etc) but are now hard to track down.

The more recent models (Cerbera onwards) are more expensive to run as the parts are more bespoke. Things like brakes are more expensive, but they're just off the shelf AP Racing parts. Engine servicing and maintenance costs jump up compared to the RV8 models and you'll need to use specialists, but I can't imagine they're any more expensive than a Porsche for example.

Reliability stems from questionable cost cutting measures and failures when they were new - such as the infamous issues with the Speed6 engines, which stems from TVR making changes to the engine design to save manufacturing costs iirc and storing unprotected chasiss outside, so they were already rusty before even being used. Now that they're 20+ years old, specialists have figured out how to rectify these issues and most owners have had engine rebuilds, chassis refurbs etc by now. Top Gear etc probably didn't help matters either!

The chassis situation is a double edged sword, as yes, it may require rust treatment/welding/refurb, but it's a lot easer to do this with a body on chassis, than a monocoque design. So it's swings and roundabouts really and shouldn't really need doing on a regular basis as they're generally weekend/summer cares now.

Most will be better now than they were new from a reliability standpoint and a lot probably bettter cosmetically too.
Click to expand...
My best mate bought a Cerbera Speed 6 last year. The first thing it presented him with was an engine rebuild quote of £13,000. In the end he bought a used engine for around £4,000 but the bill overall was still enough to give your average motorist an aneurysm.

Looks nice though.
 
Last edited:
Lopéz said:
My best mate bought a Cerbera Speed 6 last year. The first thing it presented him with was an engine rebuild quote of £13,000. In the end he bought a used engine for around £4,000 but the bill overall was still enough to give your average motorist an aneurysm.

Looks nice though.
Click to expand...

I agree it's a massive cost and the potential for engine bills definitely put me off the speed six and ajp8. You'd hope any issues have been resolved by now and it shouldn't be too bad relatively speaking. Hopefully no further big bills if the engine is still all sorted with the known fixes.

I think part of the problem is they're £20-30k cars, with the performance of much more expensive cars, but they also have the running costs of those much more expensive cars. Definitely need to go in with your eyes open. I don't think a £13k bill would be looked at so critically if someone bought a tired 911 turbo for example. Obviously you wouldn't be happy, but I think people would be more accepting of the running costs. This is probably a combined of perceived value of the car and I've no real data on this, but I imagine perhaps more affluent buyers.

Had it been rebuilt previously? If not, I'd be budgeting for a rebuild in the purchase cost. I can't imagine many havent been rebuilt by now. If it has had a recent rebuild at a reputable specialist, I'd be surprised if it needed another one.

I suppose my post above should probably have been caveated with a disclaimer about going in with your eyes open and making sure all the known big ticket items and fixes have been done. In the same way Id hope people would be checking invoices for the IMS on a 911 or an engine rebuild on an RX7. The high cost of the rebuild comes with the low volume built, limited number of specialist and availability of parts. It's a bit of a captive market.

In retrospect, from a business perspective, the in house engines were probably a significant part of their downfall. An off the shelf engine would probably have been a much safer and wiser decision. Volume and budgets were too low to properly develop and test the engines. The customer cars weren't essentially live test vehicles and this is where a lot of the reliability stigma stems from.
 
Last edited:
I'd love an NA 20B or 26B to go in my RX-7. Don't know if you can even manage that for £50k these days!
 
Last edited:
adam cool dude said:
Buying a TVR is like buying an RX7/8 but at a more expensive entry point.

Buy it knowing you have to rebuild the engine then all is okay. From what I have read the speed 6 is quite a reliable engine once it has had the right modifications done to it.
Click to expand...
It was a cracked block in his case, but the specialist said it was a real mess overall even without that.

All sorted now but not a great experience for the wallet!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom