The TVR Chimaera was introduced at the 1992 Birmingham Motor Show and was instantly hailed a success. Based on the award-winning Griffith, the Chimaera went into production in February 1993, then fitting into TVR's model line-up between the V8S and the Griffith.

The name Chimaera refers back to Greek mythology which speaks of a fire-breathing monster thus named with the head of a lion, the body of a goat and the tail of a serpent.

The Chimaera is powered by a 285 bhp 4.5 litre engine or the 340 bhp powerplant out of the Griffith 500. This gives effortless performance which fits the Chimaera's dual role of Grand Tourer and sportscar.

New at the 1996 Motor Show was a subtly revised Chimaera with a fresh nose and tail which bring it into line with the Cerbera. In addition, it now features much of the extraordinarily high quality aluminium switchgear from its 2+2 sister which will see it ready to meet the challenge of many years' production yet.

While still very much a sportscar, the Chimaera is more of a grand tourer than any other model in the TVR range with somewhat more benign handling characteristics and a larger boot.

However, the Chimaera's handling has not been left to chance with a chassis developed directly from that of the racing TVR Tuscan. With strong disc brakes all round, the Chimaera stops as well as it goes.

The TVR Chimaera is TVR's best-selling model and has reinforced TVR's position as Britain's largest sportscar manufacturer.