TVR Chimaera 4.0

Click Here for Full Screen Image - Click Here to Download Image

Founded by Trevor Wilkinson in Blackpool way back in 1947, TVR made its first cars in 1949 powered by 4-cylinder engines from Coventry Climax, BMC or Ford.

In the 1960s and 70s a switch was made to V6 engines but the real glory days of the firm came in the 1980s and 90s when, under the stewardship of Peter Wheeler, TVR adopted tuned Rover V8 engines slotted into beautifully sculpted fibreglass bodyshells. Lightweight and powerful, these were fantastically exciting sportscars which eschewed modern technology like traction control and ABS brakes in favour of old school driving thrills.

Launched in 1992, the Chimaera was typical of the breed with a 240bhp 4-litre V8 that could hurl it to 60 in just 5 seconds on its way to a top speed of 152mph. Intended to be the long distance tourer of the range, it used the same backbone chassis as the more hardcore Griffith but with slightly softer suspension and a much larger boot that could comfortably swallow the luggage of two people.

Powerful disc brakes at each corner kept everything under control while suspension was independent all round with unequal-length double wishbones and coil-over gas dampers assisted by anti-roll bars. An essential part of the driving appeal was the spine-tingling exhaust note which rose to a brutal howl at high revs and made it almost impossible to drive the car slowly, so addictive was the soundtrack when provoked!

This particular car was supplied new by TVR Team Central of Birmingham in March 1997 and has only covered some 61,500 miles to date with a good service history comprising no fewer than 11 stamps up to 48,873 miles in 2009 at which point the service book runs out of pages. Bills on file show subsequent maintenance including the fitment of a new clutch in August 2010 at around 50,000 miles.

The vendor purchased the car via Brightwells about two-and-a-half years ago and immediately entrusted it to a local TVR specialist for a thorough check over which included the fitment of a new ECU, new battery and a Category 1 Cobra alarm immobiliser to keep his new toy safe.

In very good condition throughout with smart paintwork, attractive red leather interior and a good hood/targa panel, the car is said to drive superbly and certainly performed well when we were treated to a lengthy test drive on the occasion of our visit with strong performance, effective brakes, notably good ride, excellent oil pressure and temperature and that addictive V8 howl from the twin exhausts.

Only reluctantly being sold due to a recent spinal operation which means that the mature owner can no longer comfortably use the car, it comes with an MOT until March 2016 plus the aforementioned service records and the original owner’s handbook. Good to look at and even better to drive, this low mileage sportscar is just the sort of toy that any true petrolhead would love to have at their disposal on a summer Sunday and is guaranteed to blast those cobwebs away.