Some time ago there was a thread on the Chimaera Forum that included a member in Hong Kong - Winston and his '96 Chimaera 500. One of our members, Andrew Wood (Forum username: Winkeywood) was a bit of a veteran of Hong Kong and exchanged a few lines with him and, through that, looked through a few other related threads that showed some of the 8 or so cars that are out there. Andrew thought at the time that he must look him up when he next returned to Hong Kong and thus Hong Kong Phooey* was born, the first International Gathering of TVR Enthusiasts in the Diamond Jubilee year. Andrew takes up the story...

Despite the mental note that I lodged away at the back of my head, it was pure co-incidence that led to both of us exchanging thoughts on another Chimaera thread at the end of January, just as I was heading for Hong Kong on business. I added something to the thread to say I was coming and we ended up exchanging emails and text messages. Business and complicated travel arrangements then got in the way of us being able to agree when I arrived, but Winston finally caught up with me as I was almost on my last free day.

The weather was great, this was the first clear day after a week of mist and low cloud. I decided to head for The Peak that overlooks Hong Kong Harbour - on the old Peak Tram that's been serving Hong Kong since 1888 (to be honest the tram’s had a lot of refurbishment and bears only passing resemblance to the original, but the route’s the same). Half way up I got a call from Winston: he was recovering from a Burns Night party at the Conrad Hotel (another co-incidence as this is where I was staying) and I was nursing an equally sore head from a night out in the legendary Lan Kwai Fong district. Like all TVR nuts we quickly started talking cars, much to the confusion of others on the Tram.  We agreed to meet for lunch at the top of the Peak. Lunch was at the historic Peak Lookout which preserves well its 19th Century origins as a tram station. This was a chance to talk TVRs over lunch and a beer and to get the low-down on the origins of the very few TVRs there are in Hong Kong.

Winston started his love affairs with TVRs in the early 90’s when he was living in Birmingham. His first was a S3C closely followed by a V8S and finally moved onto a Griffith before he was relocated back to Hong Kong.  Winston’s current Chimaera was temporarily off the road having lost a bolt from one of the serpentine belt pulleys whilst out with some of his other TVR friends. This meant he was restricted to his “family truck” for a few days but it did have the bonus of him being able to bring his two very lovely little daughters with him.

I was immediately struck be the fascinating story behind these Hong Kong cars – most brought to the region in the boom of the early ‘90’s by a Mercedes dealer who appeared to have little idea of how to look after the cars. They are now maintained by a true mechanical genius and TVR enthusiast – a man who still maintains and repairs Ferraris and Porches but retains his passion for the TVRs. So much so that he even flew to Blackpool, did the mechanics course, bought the spares manual etc and returned to Hong Kong.

I don’t pretend to understand the full story behind the cars, but I did want to see them, including Winston’s 500. We headed off to Aberdeen Harbour – what used to be a fishing port 20-30 years ago, but now is surrounded by tall buildings and a fair share of rather large yachts. We pulled into the backstreet garage, whose extensive workshop is effectively one floor above the main street, and there it was; a petrol head’s dream view. A yellow E-Type FHC, a Dino, a Ferrari 360, a replica 427 AC Cobra by DAX and yes, six Chimaeras (1x500’s and 2x400’s road going, 1 left hand drive 500’s and 2 race cars)

Here’s where I hand over to Winston for the details:

In 1995 CRIC motors (Concours Renaissance Of Immaculate Classics, can you believe it!) imported 6 TVR Chimaeras (3 x 500’s and 3 x 400’s) and offered them for sale at HK$966,208.00 each. In those days that amounted to approximately £77,000, in the UK they were about £35,000 each. Despite the huge 65% first registration tax, the profit margin was extreme. One enterprising local imported a Chimaera 400 privately directly from Blackpool a few months before CRIC’s cars arrived.

Out of the original 7 Blackpool cars; 1 was exported back to the UK (still up and running and in the hands of a fellow TVRCC member), 1 written off leaving 5 in road worthy condition. CRIC motors eventually went into liquidation in the late 90’s.

Andy Ng, the mechanic mentioned above and owner of Inter-Auto, first became involved with the TVRs  in 1998 when an owner of a Wedge broke down outside his garage on Hong Kong Island. Andy sauntered across the road with an offer of help. Since that day Andy has been the mainstay of the Hong Kong TVRs. He became very involved with TVR Malaysia and passed on the many of the hard won modifications that had evolved with the Hong Kong cars operating in a high temperature city environment. His many visits to TVR Malaysia  to learn about TVR’s was reciprocated by TVR Malaysia’s Production Manager visiting Hong Kong, primarily to visit his relatives but somehow always included a blast around the city and New Territories in a TVR.

In 1999 Andy imported 5 more TVR Chimaeras from Malaysia and offered them for sale at a much more realistic price. Of those 5 Malaysian cars, One is being converted for the track and one, a left hand drive car remains unsold. Andy also imported Two Chimaera race cars following the liquidation of TVR Malaysia. These race cars are still under going modifications and have yet to see a circuit in China.

CRIC motors also imported Two Cerberas in about 1998, one was exported to the USA and subsequently written off in San Francisco and the remaining cars where about remains a mystery despite the odd sighting in and underground storage garage somewhere in Hong Kong. There had also been the occasional sighting of a Griffith but as yet the history and the owner remaining unknown.

There are also a few classic TVRs in and around Hong Kong that occasionally see the light of day. 

After 2002, Hong Kong tightened its emission control policy and no more TVRs were allowed to be imported. However, the remaining 8 already registered and roadworthy Chimaeras are now safely in the hands of true enthusiasts.

There is a corner of a foreign city that is forever resounding to the sound of Blackpool Thunder.

Andrew Wood and Winston Lai

* For those members who perhaps think the title of this article is somewhat flippant, "Hong Kong Phooey" was the name of a famous 1970s childrens' Saturday morning TV cartoon series created by Hanna-Barbera back in 1974.