As of this writing, I’ve found cars in some pretty interesting places. The classic barn find; a few in junkyards; and most recently, one on an island. But I’ve never had the thrill of buying a house and finding an old sports car in the garage. I am hopeful there’s still a chance it could happen, but the seller of this 1969 TVR Vixen experienced this rush of a barn find for real when he found the car after buying the property from the county. Unfortunately, he doesn’t sound like much of a car guy, so he’s listed it here on Facebook Marketplace for $24,000.
The Vixen is one of the more popular TVR models from the company’s early days, and it helped make the lightweight sports car more of a household name in the states. The S2 was mechanically similar to the S1, which means it likely came with a crossflow engine from a Ford Cortina (of course, many different kinds of engines were swapped into TVRs over the years, especially given its prominence as a racer’s car). The seller notes his car does not come with an engine, which makes the asking price seem somewhat ambitious given the original mill has gone missing.
The interior photos are dark but it looks complete inside. The S2 looked similar to the S1, but had a fairly significant design change. According to the UK TVR Club, the S2 was updated to have the body “…bolted to the multi-tubular chassis rather than being bonded which had happened previously.” The doors and the taillamps were also modified from the S1. The interior photos show bucket seats in good shape and plenty of parts in the cargo compartment, but we really can’t say for sure how good or bad things are under the carpets. The controls, center console, and gauge cluster all appear to be in good shape.
The seller includes this note in the listing which explains that the cosmetic condition leaves something to be desired, but overall, it doesn’t seem like the body has many flaws (at least not visible through that thick coat of dust.) He also emphasizes that despite the somewhat unconventional way he came into owning the TVR, he has a clear paper trail from the county the property is located in, confirming he is the rightful owner of the TVR. This almost undoubtedly seems like a case of someone passing away and the property falling into municipal ownership with no clear heirs to bequeath it to. Whatever the story is, this forgotten sports car deserves another shot at living.
You can buy running cars for this clown’s asking price. They are neat cars and with the normal great power to weight ratio are very fast.
This is due to the BAT syndrome.
Seller claims he can’t find the VIN plate but puts a picture of it in the listing. Frame condition is critical on these. With the info available, it’s a $5K project car at best. Very nice examples can be had for $25K. The ‘sausage nose’ Vixens are very tight inside compared to the later 2500M so anyone over 5’10” and 160 lbs. might not be too comfortable. Has to be a labor of love for somebody. With what it would cost to restore it won’t pencil if you got it free.
I told my brother it shoulda been $2400 not $24k
In November 2019 I purchased a fixer upper built in 1916.
In the backyard was a’70 Buick Skylark that had 90k original miles. Finished the house, sold the Buick.
To say this seller is ambitious is an understatement…
Car is in good shape, but has no engine. Great for pushing in the town Christmas parade.
Have they legalized the “wacky tobacco” in Wisconsin? The seller is definitely out of touch with reality on the asking price. Early examples (a dozen, I believe) used the 1.8L MG-B four and later ones had the Ford Cortina 1.6L engine. Interesting car nonetheless!
I wonder if a Mercury Capri/Pinto 2.0 would bolt up ?
It is not a very “sophisticated” car. It would not take much of a fabricator to install just about any motor you desire.
TVR’s have never been a hot product..$3500…tops..
Depend who you ask. But you are not far wrong on the value!
Other than the missing engine, it looks reasonably complete. I think there is a fair price for it, somewhere south of $5k, maybe around $3000. This assumes that there is enough of the frame left. Seriously what do the TVR educated think?
A letter stating that you own the car is not a legal document to transfer ownership to someone else he/ she needs to take it to the license office and get legal documents. Still scratching my head on how they arrived at such a high price for a Flintstones car
Sure,go ahead and buy it & restore it,& then have someone
claim it that has original paperwork.
Retail pricing from Junk and Scrap Dealers retail price guide.
2 things about this one that raise red flags, 1. no title, and 2. no engine. This to me = no sale. For this to be a deal the owner needs to get a title and install an engine that runs.
You can’t even get your butt in a TVR seat. 24K for this tinkertoy? In a word… NO.
“Clowns, wacky tabacky, Flinstones”, man this is a tough crowd. Suppose you bought an old house and there was a painting inside signed Magritte, you go online and see a Magritte for a million bux and figure you have something. Does that make you a clown for not having any idea about what is hanging on your wall?
C’mon guys, the guy is offerring it on Facebook for goodness sake! Not necessarily a hotbed of collector car knowledge. I’m fairly well versed in obscure sports cars, and I’ve only driven one, and seen less than a half dozen TVR’s. Just for sport,,, why don’t we cut this poor guy some slack and maybe offer up a little more factual information on the car rather than deriding him for not knowing the provenance of what was a limited production marque at best.
To your question yes it does make you a clown. And yes again to the painting example and the “internet”, this clown could have googled this car and been placed firmly in reality with what was found there.
Lesson 1864 kids, the internet is not just for downloading movies, music and nudie pix.
It isn’t?
Dammit!
I’d be curious about the pickup in that garage and if it’s any good.
$24k and no engine, good one!! Posted 2 weeks ago.
I can’t stop laughing! Its not a Griffith1963 -1967? 200 or 400 Series.
Difficult to believe people selling cars today cannot find honesty in their presentations, here a price. Expectations of such an unrealistic price are out of order and really should be rejected upon listing. As such, the law pretty much says a seller can ask whatever the market bears. I say,” there is an ass for every seat”. Best wishes to both buyer and seller!
Probably paid 24k for the property at a tax sale and wants to sell this and have free property.
What others have said $5,000 or so tops. No Title is a very serious problem. No engine, no big deal in my books.
According to the hand written note, he is a functioning illiterate.
Not quite; your comment is a bit over the top.
Would a different drive train effect value? I have one, complaining putting the gear out of an 85 mustang SVO in it.
If done well, I think it would increase the value for this generation of TVR. It certainly would add to the fun-factor!