The TVR Chimaera was introduced from 1992 and was intended to be the long distance tourer of the range and as such was longer, more spacious, had a larger boot and apparently had softer suspension than its stablemate , the TVR Griffith. However when you compare the cars they are very similar mechanically with the running gear being virtually identical.

The TVR Chimaera is the entry point to TVR motoring. It has been designed to be every bit as much of a Grand Tourer as a sports car with the emphasis being evenly split between ride and handling, torque and horsepower, practicality and light weight. At the same time as BBC Top Gear magazine was enthusing, "TVR completely blitzes the opposition, in any gear, from any speed to any speed," Autocar was attesting that, "The Chimaera is great fun to drive even when you're just tootling along."

Ten years of development have resulted in the perfect evolution of the breed. The Chimaera evolved into the ideal embodiment of the modern British sportscar. The car is a piece of sculpture, not designed on a computer, which is immediately obvious on first sight. Great emphasis has been placed on purity of line with no external fuel filler cap, boot release or even door handles as the doors open on the press of buttons under the door mirrors. In 2001, the car was lightly facelifted and now features a new nose with faired-in headlights and a mildly restyled tail.

Power is supplied by a TVR Power variant of the mighty Land Rover 3.9 litre V8 engine, available in 4.0, 4.3, 4.5 and 5.0 versions and this propels the Chimaera effortlessly to its top speed of around 160 mph. Typical power for the original TVR Chimaera 4.0 litre was 240 bhp but that could be optionally increased to 4.3 litre with 280 bhp in 1992 with a further option of big valve cylinder heads. In addition to the variants available to the TVR Griffith the TVR Chimaera was also available with a 4.5 litre capacity with 285 bhp. In 1993 the TVR developed 5.0 litre with 340 hp became standard for the TVR Chimaera and latterly this became available for the TVR Chimaera but did not become standard fitment.

It was of the TVR Chimaera that Jeremy Clarkson wrote, "It's spacious cockpit is a dream too, with wood, leather and polished aluminium styled by someone who truly understands interior design." The new Cerbera-style seats of the Chimaera are leather as standard and feature a removable squab for when you want extra lateral support on the racetrack. The Chimaera also now boasts all aluminium switchgear as well as comprehensive instrumentation of which you can specify the colour. This is part of an almost bewildering array of choices that customers could make when ordering a car which included ten thousand colours for the paintwork, more than forty for the leather, fourteen for the carpet, five for the hood, twenty for the stitching and even five different materials for the dashboard from burr walnut to engine-turned aluminium.