TVR Griffith

Fast Facts

• Best model: 5.0-litre
• Worst model: 4.0-litre
• Budget buy: 4.3-litre
• OK for unleaded?: Yes
• Will it fit in the garage? (mm): L3900x W1869mm
• Spares situation: Generally good
• DIY ease?: Very good
• Club support: Excellent
• Appreciating asset?: Yes; prices are picking up
• Good buy or good-bye?: Look at it as a cut price Cobra..

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TVR’s Griffith is a cut price Cobra in the making and there’s no better time to buy one than right now. Here’s all the griff on how to do it right Listen to those who prop up the bar at the Red Lion pub and the chances are that you’d never even consider buying a TVR – ever. After all, they apparently leak like sieves, are guaranteed to break down at least once a week and they’re only driven by those who are built like Viz magazine’s Buster Gonad. But the reality is rather different; not only are these cars more usable than you’d think, but they’re not inherently unreliable – as long as they’re properly looked after. The problem is that TVRs are too often bought by people who are used to the reliability of a modern mass-market car. They think they can simply get in and drive it, get it serviced every 10,000 miles and thrash it mercilessly without it breaking. In reality a Griffith will take very hard use – but you have to service and care for them much more often than a highvolume sports car because these are specialist machines – a bit like the Lotus Elan which celebrates its 50th this year. Buy a TVR with your eyes open and you’ll see just how fabulous a Griffith can be. Indeed we reckon it’s a cut price AC Cobra and more in tune with modern roads.

History

The unveiling of the Griffith prototype at the 1990 British Motor Show meant TVR could leave the Tasmin and S-Series cars behind, and move into a new era of much more powerful, aggressively styled cars. This first car was essentially a rebodied V8-S, with a chassis that could cope with little more than 240bhp. TVR boss Peter Wheeler knew the Griffith would ultimately offer much more than this, so a new platform had to be devised. The solution was to base the new car on the Tuscan racer’s frame, and at the 1991 motor show a completely rejigged Griffith was unveiled. The first cars were delivered in 1992, with either 3948cc or 4280cc Rover V8s, producing 240bhp and 270lb ft or 280bhp and 305lb ft respectively.

In that first year of production, a couple of dozen big-valve 4.3-litre cars were also made, along with a tiny number of 4.5-litre examples. But by 1993 Griffith UK production had been halted, although export cars continued to be built. The stoppage was for the factory to gear up for Chimaera production; by the time the Griffith reappeared later in 1993 it was available in 5-litre form only.

From this point on, there was relatively little development of the Griffith. From 1994 a tough Borg Warner T5 gearbox was fitted in place of the less robust Rover unit originally fitted, and from 1995 power steering was available as an option – although it would become standard from spring 1999.

In anticipation of the impending introduction of the Tuscan in 2001, TVR introduced the run-out Griffith 500 SE, with 100 examples offered. These initially sold well, but with a price tag almost the same as the much better developed Tuscan’s, sales ultimately proved hard to come by. These newest cars are also the most sought after now though, so if you get the opportunity to buy one for the right money, seize it with both hands.

Driving

You need only the briefest of stints behind the wheel of a 4-litre Griffith to appreciate that the smallest engine offered is all you need. Sure it sports just 240bhp, but with a 1045kg kerb weight there’s no shortage of urge.

The 4.3-litre unit that came later offers a useful (but not especially necessary) increase in go, while the 5-litre unit that appeared in 1993 could be seen as nothing less than overkill. But hey – too much power is not enough, and if you want something stupidly quick, the 5-litre is the one to go for; it’ll dismiss the 0-60 sprint in little more than four seconds and can top 160mph, while all the time looking gorgeous. But it can be very scary to drive…

When Autocar tested the Griffith 4.3 in 1992, it would be one of the fastest cars driven by the magazine that year. Capable of 0-60 in 4.7 seconds and 30-70 in just 3.9 seconds, the magazine called it ‘hair-bendingly quick’. However, while the car was astonishingly fast, the chassis was criticised for being too crude to cope with the surfeit of power.

So when the Griffith 500 appeared with its 340bhp and 350lb ft of torque – using much the same chassis – it was no wonder that Autocar felt this was a car with too much power. At that time, the magazine had only ever driven one production car that was faster, and that was the Jaguar XJ220 – which cost more than ten times as much. Faster than an Aston Martin Vantage, Ferrari 512TR or Chrysler Viper, the Griffith was ludicrously great value for money, but lacked the sophistication of its more costly rivals.

So if you’re after a Griffith for the effortless acceleration on offer, and you’re confident it’ll be an open-road car only, you won’t get more bang for your buck. Where it falls down is when the conditions get challenging; there are no electronic aids to keep you out of trouble. However, it’s not just when exploiting the available performance that you can come unstuck; in stop/start traffic the Griffith can be a nightmare too. With its oldschool engine the car can be a real pain in urban driving, with a refusal to pull cleanly at low revs and driveline shunt galore. Intriguingly, Autocar reckoned TVR had ‘gone too far’ with the 500, and should have refined the 4.3-litre model instead.

So before you jump in with both feet, opting for a 5-litre Griffith, make sure that it really is the model you want.

Prices

With the demise of TVR and the fact that it’s already a decade since the final Griffith was built, values for these cars are lower than ever. Indeed they’re still a bit unstable, with good 5-litre cars sometimes advertised for the same money as ropey 4-litre examples, so shop around to get the best car for your money. An early (4-litre) Griffith is now down to around £10,000, but for £3000 more you can have a 4.3-litre example. This is one of the most desirable thanks to its lack of catalytic converters, is very free revving, and about as quick as a cat-constrained standard 500, while £18,000 should buy you a good 5-litre edition.

Some optimistic dealers are still asking the thick end of £30,000 for a really good low-mileage Griffith or one of the last 100 limited editions, but you don’t need to pay that sort of money; £24,000 nets you something really nice.

TVR specialist James Agger comments: “The TVR market was hit as badly as any other non-essential car product when the financial crisis hit, and this produced some very realistically priced TVRs for a while. There was a surge around 18 months ago, but things have stabilised this year and a decent Griffith is now a solid investment as the market is now being fuelled by foreign buyers due to the low value of sterling, and cash customers who see Griffith ownership as a more enjoyable way of storing their savings.

“Expect prices to rise, especially as the first cars are now creeping towards classic status and will therefore make them more attractive to buyers in the UK as well as the USA, where Federal laws get far less stringent at 21 and 25 years old’.

Improvements

If you’re a complete power junkie, it’s possible to upgrade the V8 with a supercharger, or if you’ve got one of the smaller engines, you could just slot a five-litre lump in. However, better anchors are also needed; a Wilwood kit is available with vented discs front and rear plus four-pot callipers, for around £1100. Some upgrades produce a car that’s less balanced to drive, so know what you’re buying before parting with your readies. Standard or tuned, it’s always worth beefing up the cooling. A decent start point is a switch to manually over-ride the factory switch. Also a good quality radiator; a two-stage fan-cooled aluminium unit is the best route to take, for around £500.