Right Hand Drive

"CaptDale - is secretly British" (captdale)
09/11/2017 at 12:00 • Filed to: TVR, Chimera, Pub2Pub, right hand drive

Is really easy to drive. And I got to find this out by being lucky enough to be given a chance to drive a TVR Chimera. Yes I am writing this from the grave. But seriously it was surprisingly intuitive even with still driving on the right side of the road it was easy to handle and shifting with your left hand instead of right felt just as natural.

*reshared for weekday Oppo

TVR Chimera

Pub 2 Pub

How did I get to have such an amazing experience? Well a plucky group of friends from England are doing quite the road trip. They started off driving the TVR from England to the northernmost pub in Norway, then shipped the car to the US where they have been wildly racking up the miles making their way across to California before they head south through Mexico and into South America where they will go to the Southern most pub. Surprisingly and luckily the only issues they have had are a broken headlamp cover and a bad rear shock (knock on wood) which they are getting fixed before traveling onto Mexico.

Just a little dirty

This car has been places

The real issue is the Dodge Charger they bought in New Jersey as a chase vehicle and a people carrier, since all 5 of them don’t fit in the TVR, has been having TCM (Transmission Control Module) issues. Thankfully we all met up at !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! ’s shop and he helped them diag the issue so they can take it to a proper shop this weekend.

Stolen from their FB, the TVR with their chase Charger and the SR-71 (Oppo’s favorite plane)

Ground speed check anyone?

Beautiful cream and green interior (yes that is carpet on the door panels)

Even the gauges glow green

It was fun finding how to get into the car and then finding the way out was interesting, but they said I was the fastest to find it yet. The window switches are in a weird place, the ashtrays make little sense, the climate control dials are hilarious, and the knobs are all real metal. So in the spirit of friendship after all the complaints of driving through Death Valley and how hot the controls got in the sun I gave them my set of leather driving gloves to get them through passing the equator.

Oh the amount of bugs I can’t even imagine.

Just looks so good dirty and driven

If you want to follow Ben and his friends transverse the americas you can follow their !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! and !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! and !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! . Here is the BBC news clip about their expedition.

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DISCUSSION (23)

Svend > CaptDale - is secretly British
09/09/2017 at 12:37

Those plucky Brits.

We keep doing stuff like this, though it’s usually from the northern most point of of Europe to the southern most point of South Africa.

CaptDale - is secretly British > Svend
09/09/2017 at 12:39

Usually, but nothing like a hop, skip, and a jump across the pond to really make a trip special.

You might have a heart attack at the state of their vehicle’s cleanliness.

Svend > CaptDale - is secretly British
09/09/2017 at 12:49

I’d be shocked initially, then ecstatic and set into two days of fun.

How did you enjoy the car?

CaptDale - is secretly British > Svend
09/09/2017 at 12:56

Ha ha, I bet they would really enjoy seeing it clean again.

It was truly a lot of fun. I have never seen a newer TVR before. I’ve been to a couple shows where onse from the 60's would be there, but nothing like this. It was so cool and I loved all the quirky shit going on inside and it is truly a pretty car. Was genuinely easy to drive even on the wrong side. I mean everyone says it’s so hard, but going from manual to manual it’s so easy and the pattern is the same and it wasn’t that murderous a car. Drove smooth other than the clank from the broken strut. Cemented my plan of going to GB, buying a Tuscan 2S and traveling across Europe then shipping it home. Which admittedly will be the hardest part of that whole trip.

Svend > CaptDale - is secretly British
09/09/2017 at 13:12

Careful, your starting to sound more British. You’ll be drinking tea soon, not the iced kind. You’ll be eating pickled eggs with your fish, chips and mushy peas.

Kinja'd!!!

CaptDale - is secretly British > Svend
09/09/2017 at 13:18

1. Tea should only ever be served with boiling water

2. Tea is better than coffee

3. My favorite bar back home makes the literal best pickled eggs.

Though I don’t know about mashed peas... Like why are they mashed? Do people there just not eat peas unmashed?

Svend > CaptDale - is secretly British
09/09/2017 at 13:40

Lol. They aren’t mashed, they are mushed. Take some dried marrowfat peas, soak them overnight with water and some bicarbonate of soda. Then boil them. Add a touch of mint for a subtle change. They are great.

CaptDale - is secretly British > Svend
09/09/2017 at 13:46

Hmm, that seems like a lot of work for what looks like Dad forgot to get potatoes to mash and he got the frozen peas out, microwaved them hot and mashed them instead and told his kids they were green potatoes.

Svend > CaptDale - is secretly British
09/09/2017 at 14:02

Not really. Before going to bed, put dried marrowfat peas in a bowl, add the bicarb and enough water to cover the peas, then sit to one side over night. When you want to cook then, boil them and then let them simmer till the desired consistency. Job done.

Here you can buy them canned to go, frozen to be heated, etc...

Kinja'd!!!

Chariotoflove > CaptDale - is secretly British
09/09/2017 at 14:11

Lucky you. That is so cool.

CaptDale - is secretly British > Svend
09/09/2017 at 14:25

Hmm, odd.

CaptDale - is secretly British > Chariotoflove
09/09/2017 at 14:26

It was seriously awesome!

Svend > CaptDale - is secretly British
09/09/2017 at 14:37

Not really. Think pea and ham soup only thicker and without the ham.

I went out for lunch with a couple of Polish friends, they refused to even touch them as, they said it looks like ‘cows vomit’.

CaptDale - is secretly British > Svend
09/09/2017 at 14:42

Oh ok, that doesn’t sound bad.

Come on! They have to at least try them. I mean how can you not try a food at least once?

Svend > CaptDale - is secretly British
09/09/2017 at 14:48

Seriously, they refused point blank to even try it. They covered it up with a napkin and ate the rest.

Having stayed with them in Poland, there were some questionable foods I didn’t want to try either. I gave it a go though.

404 - User No Longer Available > CaptDale - is secretly British
09/11/2017 at 12:09

Kinja'd!!!

CaptDale - is secretly British > 404 - User No Longer Available
09/11/2017 at 12:17

Sounds kinky

Nauraushaun > CaptDale - is secretly British
09/11/2017 at 16:01

I hate when companies take a tried and tested idea like a door handle and mess it up.

I love when TVR do it.

CaptDale - is secretly British > Nauraushaun
09/11/2017 at 17:38

It was fabulous. and the window switches where you can’t see them, etc. Such a glorious thing.

Nauraushaun > CaptDale - is secretly British
09/11/2017 at 23:21

yes YES. I hope they keep it weird on the new ones. These cars aren’t to be practical (ie. beige). They’re to be exciting at every turn

CaptDale - is secretly British > Nauraushaun
09/12/2017 at 11:28

I very much agree. If the new one isn’t hard to get out of and you NEED the owner’s manual to operate it, then it isn’t a real TVR.

Think! aka anotherburner111122223333 > CaptDale - is secretly British
02/17/2018 at 19:06

He (They?) made it:

https://oppositelock.kinja.com/nothernmost-bar-to-southernmost-bar-in-a-tvr-1823106901

CaptDale - is secretly British > Think! aka anotherburner111122223333
02/19/2018 at 10:33

I KNOW!! The BBC article about them was the second most read article on the BBC site when it came out.