You Cannot TRULY Understand Britain Till You Know TVR - Chimaera 500

If you truly want to Understand Britain looking at Rolls Royce, Bentley and Aston is not enough.. TVR is as British as it gets but from the opposing end of the spectrum, the Chimaera is as British as it gets and the wild child of British cars. Today I drive the Chimaera 500 and see if the wild reputation is truly deserved!

[chrisnorthall]

i had one, it used more water than petrol, it leaked, it had electric issues, no driver aids, the roof was drafty and it was always looking to kill me... . It was brilliant!

[ianashton]

Had an S, V8S and a Griffith 500, all 3 were great cars and reliable apart from minor gremlins. Did loads of touring in them and never had a breakdown. What I really loved about TVR’s was they were classless, people would talk to you and ask questions whereas with some marques you get looked on as being a flash git.

[samrodian]

Sounds gorgeous! Incidentally the Buick engine was originally designed as a marine engine, thus the reason it was made from all aluminium and not Detroit iron!

[onlyhuman]

TVR's philosophy was "put the most powerful engine you can find under the bonnet and make a featherweight chassis and body without any unnecessary electronic aids and complicated gadgets "..and after that pray to God to stay alive driving it.

[garymansell]

I owned a 450 for 13 years and after owning a 991, 997 and two 55AMG the TVR was my favourite. It never let me down always put a bug smile on my face and It had soul. Yes it didn't handle quite as well as the 991 but it was my best friend. My advice.... Buy the best you can afford and look after it and fix issues as they come up. Things do go wrong from time to time but you bond with them. In return you will have a car that you will be so connected with and raise your pulse. I miss that car. 😢.

[johnmandragon]

My uncle had one of these in period. I was only about 10 or so at the time and it was an absolute rocketship. It sounded amazing and I had never been in something so fast. He, and that car, sent me on course for a lifetime of loving cars.

I remember sitting it in one day and I pressed the cigarette lighter in, when it popped out the entire mechanism popped out with

[fragu]

I needed to get a TVR when I was young as I saw my first TVR in London in the 90’s… and was blown away!😊 Being German, it has proven to be a difficult task as for the German TÜV and other regulatories. Still, a strong desire always finds a way and I bought my first TVR at Fernhurst TVR, a Chimera 450, just about 10k miles on the clock and exported it to Germany…. ever since I was in love with British sportscars, and happily owned an Elise, an Exige, an XKR, a Morgan and some more…. Love England and moved to London 15 years ago, fab country and people…

[billwalsh]

Back in 1969 I had the opportunity to do a small bit of playing with an Americanized TVR Tuscan. Classic TVR chassis with a Ford 390 cu inch V8. It was a brute. Nothing truly refined about it. When cold and the choke was on it idled at 35 mph in first gear. It belonged to a small Sports Car dealer in Charleston, South Carolina.

One night at about two in the morning we were sitting around the office and a siren went by. I looked at Don, Don looked at me and we both looked at Byron. Byron said "Not only no but hell no!" Sitting out front we had the TVR, a Ferrari 270 and an Iso Griffith. The Griffith was probably the slowest of the three at about 160/170.

Charleston Corvette Club had the backing of one of the biggest dealers of the day. There were some pretty terrifying Corvettes in the club. But if you took the TVR into town and a Corvette was likely to be sitting next to you at a stop light it would do anything to not have to face off against the TVR.

We finally sold it to an FBI agent.

As a mechanic I have driven some of the best cars in the world at one time or another but nothing ever scared me like that lovely, wonderful, TVR Tuscan. It holds a special place in my heart.

[andymacgregor]

I have just bought one in the last week! Been dreaming of getting one for 20 years and I love it. No driver aids and simple mechanics

[MasterMalrubius]

The exhaust note is definitely on point. The green and crème color is spot on too. Seems like a real good deal.

[wombatsauce]

Loads of fun! I feel the only thing missed was a quick peek at the madness that is the exhaust collector in front of the engine. A co-worker and friend of mine had one of these from new many years ago and let me tag along on several drives. It was a traditionally bonkers metallic yellow with purple interior. It reminded me of a mix of pure artwork and some sort of Miata-inspired supercar built atop a racing chassis by a complete madman. Just wonderful! All these years later still one of the most memorable cars to blast down a twisty road.

[davidvitan]

Many many years ago I travelled the UK and saw one just like that (actually I heard it first and only some time later actually SAW it). Best sounding road car I've ever heard, to this day

[parrotraiser]

The big consideration when buying a Chimera is corrosion in the chassis. It is not so much underneath the vehicle as embedded in it. The plastic body may appear flawless while the tubes are filigrees of oxide. It is possible to repair or replace the chassis, but judging by the videos I've seen, the exercise can be classified as "non-trivial".

[jpsportscars]

Love my Chim 4L, great fun to drive and never let me down. Something quite unique being part of the TVR community, defo puts a smile on ya face.

[superchargedv]

Miss my TVR. Tried to kill me twice, bits fell off it. Loved it ❤

[RobBarter]

I bought a 400HC back in 96, then a 500 in 98. Had them over a total of 8 years. And truthfully the most reliable 8 years of motoring I've ever had. I've had a lot of Landrovers since then....

[fizmo]

I started my TVR obsession with a Chimaera 450 in an almost identical colour combo to the car in this vid. It needed a chassis refurb, and while pricing that up a bargain popped up on a Tuscan, so I sold the Chim and took a gamble on it. Turned out to be a really good car. I have since added a Cerbera 4.2 V8, so have an example of each of the engines TVR built in-house. Those later cars are much more bespoke than the Chim, and it absolutely blows my mind when I think of what such a small company managed to achieve. They lacked the polish of the supercar competition but they had every bit as much soul, and in a straight line the TVRs were on the money.

Really glad you enjoyed the Chimaera Jack - they are lovely burbly woofly things that as you say make great tourers, especially with that massive boot. They are really simple cars as well, and if you avoid the TVR tax that suppliers will charge for parts by doing some research into which parts bin TVR raided in the first place they are very cheap to run and DIY friendly.

[ayrshiresoundman]

So glad to hear your opinion on the Chimaera. Great but under rated cars, 7 years later I still miss my 500, which I sold, fully working, MOT'd for £9500!!

[Fitness-hpwm]

Incredible cars. Almost identical to mine, except mine is the 450. I was going to sell it as it's sat in the garage, keeping dry for 6 months, but after watching this... Bring back the sunshine!! Great video as always!

[jmarthecorkes]

Great video Jack!
Had a Chimaera 400 prior to my 500 - this was also great.
They're certainly performance car bargains!